That night, Hiei did a lot of thinking, just like Kurama suggested. Deep down, he knew the fox-demon was right. You hate it this way…I know you want to be her brother, Hiei. But that can't happen unless you tell her the truth.

Hadn't Hiei always been jealous of those who were close to their families? Kurama with his mom, Kuwabara with his sister…even Yusuke's mom had been heartbroken when Yusuke died for the first time, according to Yusuke himself. That was one of the things that made him decide to come back in the first place. Yukina was Hiei's only flesh and blood, and yet…

Whenever Hiei imagined telling Yukina the truth, it never went well. He saw her face fall in disappointment, her cheeks flush with shame…The problem was, when he first met her, she was just as sweet and kind as he had pictured her to be. But the way Yukina talked about her twin, like he was some kind of hero? Hiei could never live up to that. He'd taken more lives than he'd saved. It would be a disservice to her, he always thought, to tell her who he was.

But what if Kurama was right, and all that was just in his imagination? What if a real-life brother standing right in front of you—ex-con or not—was actually better than a dream brother, no matter how perfect the vision was? The most important thing was that their family would be together, and that was what Hiei wanted most. No more secrets.

Speaking of keeping secrets…Hiei figured that if Yukina's present was to be a revelation of the truth, he should probably tell her at the party. But wouldn't Kuwabara have to find out, then, too? Knowing him, he'd probably be upset he wasn't told earlier, and that really would upset Yukina. No, Hiei would have to tell Kuwabara before the party, before he told Yukina. That way there would be no hurt feelings, ergo no easily avoidable disturbances, on the big day.

…

Kuwabara went to high school five days a week, full-time, just like Keiko did. But ever since he had started officially dating Yukina (sometime last June), he'd gotten an after-school job as well, and Hiei could tell that it was so he would have money to spend on his new girlfriend, and perhaps savings if they decided to move in together or something, the way Hiei and Kurama had. Of course, Hiei and Kurama had become engaged last September, shortly after Kurama broke up with Kim, so that was different. But Hiei knew he had to confront Kuwabara before he lost his nerve, and resolved to do it the very next day. No matter how annoying Kuwabara was, Hiei knew he loved Yukina so much that he would do anything for her. And he clearly made her happy, too. So he really did deserve the truth.

Hiei didn't know when exactly Kuwabara's school ended on Wednesday, and when his part-time job began, but since he had often waited for Kurama to come home from school, he knew it was sometime in the afternoon. Finally, when the sun was starting to set, and Hiei was waiting in a tree, there he saw Kuwabara walking down the path, his book bag slung over his arm. Hiei jumped out of the tree and landed on his feet in front of Kuwabara, causing him to stumble backwards in shock.

"What the heck?!" Kuwabara yelled. "Hiei? What are you doing here?"

Hiei just stayed silent, not knowing how to begin.

"Well?" said Kuwabara indignantly. "If you're going to jump out of a tree, you could at least—"

"Silence, fool," Hiei interrupted him. "If you really want to know why I'm here, I have a message for you about Yukina."

Kuwabara was instantly at attention. "Yukina? What about her?"

"I've…I've found her brother," said Hiei quietly, staring down at the pavement.

"What?" Kuwabara got his second shock of the afternoon. "Are you sure?"

"Believe me, I'm sure."

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Kuwabara, his face brightening. "Let's go tell her!"

"Wait," said Hiei, grabbing Kuwabara by the back of his shirt. Kuwabara kept running for a few more seconds, then finally ground to a halt. "Not yet."

"Why not?" Kuwabara asked, wrenching himself out of Hiei's grasp.

"Because it's someone she already knows," Hiei told him. "Someone…someone who didn't want to tell her until he got invited to her birthday party."

Hiei hoped Kuwabara would take the hint with that alone, but of course he didn't.

"I think I would know if some strange demon was invited to Yukina's birthday party, Hiei," he said, casting the fire demon a disbelieving look.

"Listen," said Hiei impatiently. "Don't you remember that night a few years ago when those psychic teenagers held Yusuke captive in that old mansion? And he had to guess which one of us was an impostor? And it was you?"

"Yeah...why?"

"Well, one of the questions he ended up asking me was who my sister was, but it was a trick," said Hiei. "He knew the real Hiei was the only one who wouldn't answer the question, because I was keeping my sister's identity a secret from you...until now," he finished, staring directly into Kuwabara's eyes.

"You have a sister?" said Kuwabara, and that was when Hiei lost his patience.

"Oh, it's me, you imbecile!" he shouted. "I'm Yukina's long-lost brother!"

Kuwabara looked at Hiei as if he'd just sprouted a second head.

"W-What?" he said. "But…but you're Hiei!"

"No shit," Hiei snapped. "But I'm also Yukina's brother."

"Wow, man." Kuwabara looked too surprised to be angry he wasn't told earlier. "I can't believe it."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't make something like that up," said Hiei. "But you can't tell her, because I'm going to surprise her with it on her birthday. Kurama said it would be a good gift."

"Kurama knows, too?"

"Actually, everyone knows except you and Yukina," Hiei admitted. "It was in the video Koenma gave to Yusuke before he went to rescue her, but Yusuke says you left to go find Yukina before the tape ended."

"You've known for that long?!"Kuwabara demanded. "All of you? Why didn't you tell me? You knew I wanted to help her find her brother! I'm gonna get Urameshi for not telling me sooner!"

"Don't be mad at him," Hiei said, suddenly feeling strange. It hadn't really hit him until then how difficult it must have been for his friends to keep his secret—a secret he really had no business keeping in the first place. "Don't be mad at any of them. They were just doing what I asked. I'm the one who wasn't mature enough to tell my own sister who I was. It was my job to tell her."

"Yeah, and you should have," said Kuwabara. "She was looking for you. She talks about you an awful lot, you know."

"Really?" Hiei's voice was small. "What does she say?"

"Mostly that she really wants to find you," said Kuwabara, "but I wanted to help her find you, so I had her give me some details about…about…"

"About what?" Hiei didn't like the look on Kuwabara's face. Did that big oaf actually feel sorry for him?

"That really sucks, man," Kuwabara said quietly. "All the stuff she told me about her brother being pitched off a cliff and left to die…No wonder you don't want to talk about it."

"I don't want your pity!" Hiei snapped, flaring up at Kuwabara. The two of them had been at odds for so long that seeing the "nice" Kuwabara come out was rather disconcerting, especially when something so personal was being discussed. "And no, I don't want to talk about it, so just shut up and forget it!"

"Uh…okay, I will," said Kuwabara, blinking a little more than normal (he knew when Hiei meant business). "I gotta go to my after-school job now. Bye."

And with that, Kuwabara was off, faster than Hiei had seen him run in a while, but probably not to make it to his job on time.

Kurama often said that Hiei needed to learn to understand how he felt and express it through words, instead of just defaulting to "angry" if what he was feeling was more like hurt or discomfort. But that was so much more difficult than it sounded. Hiei didn't want anyone to feel sorry for him, but especially not Kuwabara. That was like reaching rock bottom. And how did he not realize that Yukina would have told Kuwabara everything she knew—just like she'd told Hiei, when she was trying to get him to find her brother? It was just embarrassing.

And yet, Hiei realized, this was something Kuwabara would have found out eventually. One way or another, Yukina would learn the truth, either by someone telling her, or even by figuring it out herself. She just deserved to hear it from Hiei, because as her brother, it was his duty. And this Saturday, he was going to fulfill that duty, whatever the cost may be.