I was still seething, having trouble removing the glass shard Hiei had found in my leg. I couldn't believe the perv had started to take off my bottoms without so much as a warning! Even if he had no interest in me THAT way, it was still awkward as all hell.

I had kicked him in the face on instinct. I felt a little bad about it, but he should have warned me!

Ugh! Giving up, I flopped down on the bed and muffled a shriek of pain.

Ow.

I gingerly raised myself back up.

That was a bad idea. It seemed there was a lot more glass ground in the wounds on my back. I sighed. It looked like I'd need someone to help me, after all. But this time definitely not a certain prickly assed fire apparition.

Hiei glared at the Demon shinobi. What did Jin mean that they knew where the girl came from? Hmph. Looks like Hiei's instincts had been right on to not trust the pair.

"Please explain," Kurama said coldly after a long moment of silence.

Toya answered him.

"As I'm sure you've guessed, there is a reason that Jin and I are in the area. After losing to Team Urameshi in the Dark Tournament, well, you could say that our Shinobi faction kind of fell apart."

Jin interjected, "What with de stinky biggie being blown away zip by Urameshi, Gamma dyin', Ruka pissin' herself an' quittin' and then Risho's disgrace, well dat only leaves Toya an' I to pick up de slack."

"And with our losses, work hasn't been flowing in like it used to, so we came up here after being called for a job 4 days ago."

"And who exactly called you for this job?" Kurama asked, his green eyes narrowing.

"A female apparition in a blue cloak is the one who explained the job to us. She said that she worked for some sort of scientist." Toya trailed off. Things were silent for another awkward moment.

Hiei was glaring at the two, attempting to quell his rising bloodlust.

Jin cleared his throat, a guilty sweat drop on his cheek. "De job was to find 'n abduct a young human lass wit' silver hair."

Quick as a flash, Jin grasped the back of Toya's shirt and lifted both himself and the ice master so that they bumped the ceiling, as a nanosecond later Hiei's blade buried itself in the wall they had just been standing in front of.

"Easy, Jaganshi, we didn't take de job!"

Hiei glared up at them, trying to suppress the growl in his throat. His desire to kill was so strong, even he was a bit perturbed. The dragon on his arm tugged at the bindings. He had to calm down.

"And just what made you refuse if you're so hard up for work?" Hiei asked, yanking his blade from the plaster as Botan let out another groan of despair.

"We might be mercenaries, but there is a code that we follow. It includes doing no harm to children." Toya was the one who answered him. The Ice Master had shown a semblance of honor during the Dark Tournament, so Hiei conceded that there was a slim possibility that they might be sincere.

Jin scoffed as he floated himself and Toya back down, though he was clearly ready to swoop away again if need be. "She ain't no wane, dat's fer sure, but de client described her as 'young.' Plus, ter be 'onest sometin' didn't fale roi 'bout de job. De air was musty 'round the doll."

Hiei's eye twitched at Jin's comment about the girl. True, she wasn't a child, but he didn't like the way the wind master spoke about her.

"When we found her, she had bruises around her wrists and ankles from being restrained." Keiko said worriedly, "do you think that the person who tried to hire you to find her is the one who kept her prisoner?"

Jin nodded, his usually jovial features somber. "Aye, like Oi said, wind wasn't kind 'round dat doll. Had a scent of decay, Oi didn't right like."

"Do you think the same person who tried to hire you sent those guys today?" Hikari's quiet voice startled everyone.

She stood in the door to the hallway, having snuck up without any of them noticing.

"Ah, Hikari!" Botan exclaimed, "how much did you hear?"

"Pretty much all of it." She regarded the Shinobi with suspicious eyes.

"I'm not going back." She announced, glaring at the two. "I don't remember what happened to me, but every instinct I have is screaming at me to not let anyone take me back."

"Easy lass, we promise we ain't 'ere to take ye."

The girl just narrowed her eyes at Jin's assurance. Hiei had to hide his smirk. Jin looked crestfallen.

"Under the assumption that these are the same people who tried to take Hikari today- this woman, did you get her name?" Kurama asked, temporarily distracting the others. At least Hiei wasn't the only one with rising bloodlust. Kurama seemed eager to punish the people who endangered his mother.

Toya and Jin nodded. "She called herself Nagisa. However, in our business, real names are hardly given. That could easily be a fake name." Toya explained. "I'm afraid we really didn't get a great look at her face. She was wearing a shawl of some sort. I'm sorry that we can't tell you all more about her. Since we didn't take the job, our knowledge is rather limited."

Kurama closed his eyes thoughtfully. "I suppose it's a start, at least." He sighed. "For tonight, I think it might be best if we all stay in one room. In case they attack again, I don't want to be caught off guard or separated from the women." The others murmured in agreement, and Botan excitedly declared the night a "sleepover!" Hiei rolled his eyes.

"What about those two?" He growled, jabbing a thumb at the Shinobi.

"These guys are cool," Yusuke spoke up. "They saved Keiko and me when I was out after passing Grandma's test, and then they saved Hikari and Kuwabara earlier. I think if they wanted to take Hikari, they would have done it when I was busy fighting the bad guys and Kuwabara was passed out."

Jin and Toya smiled gratefully at the Detective, but Hiei and Kurama were not as trusting.

"We don't mean any of you any harm, and if you'll have us, we don't mind staying on as extra help."

Hiei scoffed at Toya's offer. No way they would let them stay. Especially the damn imp...

"Sure, we'd love to have you!" Hiei and Kurama almost fell over at Yusuke's quick response.

"We don't need their help," Hiei growled in protest as Kurama coughed politely to hide his irritation.

"Awe come on, guys, it'll be nice to have extra muscle around. It'll mean more protections for Hikari too."

Only if they don't take her in the middle of the night, idiot.

Hiei glared at the Detective, trying to convey just how stupid he was being. But alas, nothing was getting through his fathead. It made Hiei especially uneasy that he wasn't able to read the minds of the Shinobi. Then, at least, he would be able to tell if they were planning something.

Kurama sighed and dipped his head in defeat, a sweat drop on his temple. The Detective's blunder earlier today had clearly only shaken, not destroyed Kurama's ridiculous faith in the moron. Hiei wasn't so quick to forgive, but he knew when he was beaten in the group dynamic. They all followed the idiot for an inexplicable reason.

His eye twitched. Guess he wouldn't be sleeping tonight after all.

Hiei watched the girl. She had a worried expression on her face. She seemed to be thinking intensely about something, chewing on the inside of her cheek. He was going to lower his guard and read her thoughts when she shifted her stance and winced.

He twitched towards her on impulse, but then stopped himself. He doubted she had been able to get that last shard out of her leg by herself. He wrinkled his nose a little. She had already made it clear that she didn't want his help. He was also still irritated with her for kicking him in the face.

He continued to watch as she sauntered over to Keiko while the others discussed the logistics of the evening. She whispered something in the human's ear, and Keiko turned to her with a panicked expression, catching Hikari off guard. Keiko got Shizuru's attention, who stood up and came to them. After a quick word, the two taller women flanked the smaller and escorted her back into the bedroom.

"Maybe we should go to the hot spring before we leave? I mean, with all the excitement, we haven't really had the chance." Botan suggested.

Kurama raised a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, a dip in the healing springs might be just what we all need, with Yukina's energy running low and me not having a decent supply of herbs. Hikari especially has all those small cuts from earlier today. If it were any other hot spring, I'd say it would be a bad idea from all the potential bacteria, but considering the healing spirit energies concentrated here, I'm pretty confident it'll help her mend."

Hiei's eye twitched. These dolts were going to give him an ulcer. They were really talking about going to the hot springs? They could face another attack at any moment.

A muffled shriek came from the bedroom, and everyone jumped up. Hiei, being the fastest, was at the door to the bedroom in a flash. He kicked open the door, which splintered. He heard Botan hiss behind him.

Shizuru and Keiko looked up, wide-eyed. Keiko held an elongated shard of glass in tweezers. Hikari was lying on the bed, a pillow crushed to her chest, gritting her teeth in pain. Shizuru was positioned at the foot of the bed, clearly having been holding the girl down as they removed the shard.

The girl was in her underwear, a frilly, lacy red thing. Hiei averted his eyes in an attempt to spare her dignity. She yelped as she noticed him and tried to hide under the pillow she held. It's not like he cared, but her being embarrassed made him embarrassed.

But then a small geyser of blood from her hip made Keiko give a little scream of panic. He quickly grabbed some gauze. Essentially shoving Shizuru off the bed, he tried to staunch the flow. She cringed away from him, but this time he was taking charge. He gripped the inside of her plump thigh tightly, not allowing her to wriggle from his firm hands.

"Ah, Hiei, maybe one of us should do it-" Keiko's suggestion was cut off by Hiei's glare. He and the women both noticed the audience at the door at the same time. Jin's and Yusuke's faces beet red as they stared at the girl's exposed bottom. Kurama was having a hard time getting between them to help, the two dunces had sandwiched themselves in their eagerness.

A loud, quick slap from Keiko dislodged Yusuke, which sent both him and Jin crashing down onto Kurama.

Was this some sort of slapstick routine?

Kurama wiggled himself out from underneath the two morons with a hand from Shizuru and a quick to float Jin. Yusuke might have been down for the count after that hit.

Hikari was doing her best to hide herself, and Hiei rolled his eyes. Sighing, knowing how mortified the silly human probably was, he grabbed his shirt and tore it away, leaving his chest exposed. He draped the fabric over her so that at least she wouldn't be so self-conscious.

"FUCK, this is exactly the circus I wanted to avoid!" Geysers of humiliated tears spurted from her eyes.