Hello and welcome back to chapter 2! Please enjoy reading and as always please comment and let me know your thoughts. I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, only my original characters.

Thanks for visiting!

Chapter 2

Hiei paced restlessly outside the doors of Koenma's office. The Spirit World Prince had asked, after much initial explanation, to be able to speak to Hana alone. The girl had been strangely calm during the entire discussion, quite the opposite of how Hiei expected human girls to react to such strange circumstances. She had taken the news of being a Seer surprisingly well along with the knowledge of the existence of demons and spirits. She had looked slightly tense when Kurama and himself were both presented as examples of the former. But overall she hadn't dissolved into tears nor had she screamed or carried on in any other visible way. For some reason that had given Hiei reason to feel proud...of the human.

Or maybe the word was surprised. He still wasn't sure sometimes with feelings.

Hana had looked to Hiei when the request came for a private discussion. Purple eyes had searched red and seemed to find an answer because she had turned back and murmured her assent.

He hadn't liked it. He hadn't liked it as soon as she said yes, and liked it even less when the doors had closed behind her. So he was pacing-and waiting. And he could sense that damn fox's eyes on him.

Yusuke, Kuwabara and Botan were on the other side of the hallway, discussing some innate human thing called 'Ice Skating' which Hiei inferred was what he had seen Hana doing at that ice building earlier. Hiei had been listening slightly, but wasn't interested overall, it just kept his mind off of his irritation. But the distance of their companions gave Kurama ample time to begin the line of questioning Hiei knew that the fox had been suppressing ever since the fire demon had brought Hana to Kurama's house.

"Hiei. We need to talk. Immediately." The fire demon tensed at the tone of voice present within Kuram's words. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, a similar feeling to when he was in a fight and about to dodge a slash to his rear. Kurama continued, "You have staked a claim on her."

Hiei froze completely to stare at the fox. "What're you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb. It's quite beneath you. You've already enacted the bond, I just want to know why." Kurama paused, waiting for Hiei's answer.

Hiei continued to state at the fox, waiting for some trick to his line of questioning.

Kurama for his part continued to search Hiei's face after his blunt command, then his eyes widened, shock painting his bright features. "Unless...no. You didn't know...did you...did you know that you even did it?" The shock and surprise was evident in his tone.

"Did what?" Hiei ground out, his temper rising.

Green eyes narrowed and at once Hiei could feel the fox's energy swirling. "Did you know that you chose her?" He growled. "Did you know that you placed a claiming bond on her?" His voice was lowered so deep into his chest that it was more a physical vibration than sound. "Did you know...did you not stop and think that she was mine to choose?"

Hiei had been about to step back when that one word caused his hackles to raise. Mine. Hana was mine he thought to himself. The word felt right in his head and suddenly several things clicked into place. The moment he had first locked eyes with her in Kurama's living room weeks ago, the sudden loss in his chest that had only gone away when he had seen her again. His irritation at being separated from her-at seeing others move to touch her. He had chosen Hana as a potential bonded partner, something not so rare in the demon realm as a whole, but very rare between a human and a demon. Something that would be almost unheard of. Something that was precious and sacred. Something Hiei had never intended to make.

Hiei looked back at Kurama and could see the rage and anguish in the fox's eyes. Turning at odd intervals from green to gold and back again, a sure sign of Yoko begging to be let out. Kurama had wanted Hana for a mate. He had wanted to bond with her. That was the reason for keeping her away from the demon world, or any of his teammates. It was instinctual, something a mate would do to protect their partner. And Kurama had been doing that for years.

And Hiei had obviously royally fucked up all of Kurama's plans.

Hiei looked the fox in the eyes allowing his mental shields to drop so that Kurama could see the truth to his words. "It...wasn't my intention. I don't know how it happened. Ever since I looked into her eyes that first day...I've felt something missing, something that was returned when I saw her a few hours ago. It wasn't my intention to form a bond. I honestly don't even know how I was able to do it without knowing...it wasn't my intention." He whispered the words, struggling with himself as he discovered their own truth. It was as close as he could bear to get to an apology.

Kurama looked furious for a moment, murderous...and then seemed to deflate. He knew as well as any demon that it was a complete taboo to interfere with a claim on a bond until the bond was either rejected of fulfilled. To interfere with a bond in progress was one of the only truly taboo things in the demon realm, in fact. In the case that both parties would agree they would be bound together much like a human marriage, not only emotionally, but also physically.

"What's up your butt, Kurama?" Kuwabara had wandered over undoubtedly sensing the rising tensions, Hiei could admit that the human's timing was about the only sharp thing he had.

"Nothing." Kurama bit out, but his powers were once again subdued and Hiei could tell that though his friend was deeply wounded by the action, he didn't blame Hiei. After all, he could only blame himself really, for taking so long to place his own bond.

Much like anything else in Demon World, it was kill or be killed, survival of the fittest and with regards to choosing a partner it was often survival of the swiftest.

Before Kuwabara could try to push the fox any further, the doors to Koenma's office opened and Hana stepped out with the teenage-version of the Prince.

Hiei's breath caught slightly and his tension eased at the sight of Hana, unharmed. He scowled slightly, this was something he definitely wasn't used to. And he still wasn't even sure if it was what he wanted. But that too was a thought he would have to examine later.

"Well, I know I didn't say this before-but good job everyone. You located our Seer-Hana." Koenma said. "Now comes step two! As I am sure you know, psychic power has to be harnessed and it has to be trained. That's why I am placing Hana in the care of Genkai for the time-being. She will live with her at her temple and once she has gained full control of her powers, she will join us here to work with the Spirit Detective force."

Hiei frowned at the ease in which Koenma had made those decisions, seemingly without much council from anyone else much less from Hana. But before he could say anything a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"That, I won't agree to." Hana's voice stated quite matter-of-fact.

"But...but…" Koenma said. "But we just talked-"

"I know that this was all a part of your grand plan, but this is my life." Her voice was steady but Hiei's eyes could see her fists clenched at her sides and the tension in her frame. It made him want to go to her, see if he could help in any way. But he didn't, frozen as he was by her protest. He had to see what she would say next. "I am an Olympic-class athlete and I won't give up the years and blood and sweat of training and miss my chance just because I can suddenly 'see the future'" She made quotation marks with her fingers, "-a supposed gift I never asked for and certainly don't want. I will represent Japan in the next few months as I have promised myself I would since I was five. And nothing-nothing-will get in the way of that. So I don't care what arrangements you have to make, but I am staying in my city to complete my training." She took a deep breath before continuing. "And after I finish my competition...then you can complete your training." She looked the Prince of the Spirit world dead in the eye and Hiei had to stifle a full grin as he saw Koenma's reality crumbling down around him with nothing he could do about it.

"Well, looks like the Ice Princess has spoken." Yusuke's voice rang out, laughter breaking out under each syllable like sun after rain. "What's plan 'B', Koenma? She refuses to stay with Grandma until after the Olympics which...are in about four months. And I don't believe that you can make a human-even a powerful psychic-obey the request of Spirit world without a good reason. So the way I see it, if you don't want your Seer falling into the wrong hands, we need to accomodate what she wants." He smirked with obvious pleasure at something not going according to plan. Hiei raised an eyebrow at the strength of Yusuke's deduction.

"I appreciate the help, Yusuke...but don't call me Ice Princess. Ever." Hana said with some humor in her tone.

Hiei relaxed even more once he saw that she was alright. Then, he made his move. "She won't need Genkai right away. I will teach her how to control her abilities-the basics-until she needs to move to someone with more...human expertise."

Everyone stared at him-with the exception of Kurama who he believed was looking away from the whole scene.

"You will?" Botan's skepticism seemed to speak for most in the room.

He ignored the reaper and continued. "I was the one who found her and I helped her subdue her power initially into something she could control." He shrugged feigning nonchalance, though inside he was smirking with pleasure. This was the perfect opportunity for him to figure out just what was happening with the whole 'bond' situation away from prying eyes. "Might as well finish the job. Besides," he paused to sweep his gaze over towards Hana who was looking at him intently, "it might be better for her mind to have a teacher who is already familiar with the extent and feel of her power."

Koenma was thinking through the situation, trying and failing not to panic and blow the whole operation and thus his access to Hana. "Yes, yes that's fine. Hiei will teach her until after these...Olympic Games things. Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara will take turns guarding her from possible abduction from demons. You four," he pointed at the other males in the room, "have a new mission. Is that clear?" He then turned to Hana, "And the moment this thing is over you come back here to continue the plan A! Is that clear?"

Hana cocked her head at the Prince and seemed to think it over. She took her sweet time before leveling him with another look and sticking out her hand which Koenma took. "It's a deal." 'For now'. Though the last two words were silent, Hiei caught them and for a fraction of a second actually grinned.

They were all seriously fucked if this human woman really came into her full power with that attitude. Finally something he could enjoy.

"Kurama, you will tell no-one of this...bond. Especially Hana." Hiei had said before they had left Spirit world to begin their newest mission. The fox demon had tensed his shoulders and full-on glared at Hiei. "Let me finish." Hiei breathed before continuing. "She's been through so many changes already. I will tell her when the time is right...but first I need to let her adjust to everything else before I get into this," he gestured vaguely at himself, "too. I don't know what's going to happen but if there's a chance that it could work out…" he shrugged "I'd like to just see, alright? Let me do this in my own way, in my own time."

Kurama hadn't said anything for awhile, but finally nodded though his teeth were clenched tightly. Hiei started to walk when he felt Kurama grab onto his arm roughly-most out of character for him. "If you do this...you do this right, do you understand me? If you don't then all teamwork or previous friendship aside-I will kill you."

Hiei blinked rapidly as his mind replayed the conversation from the previous day. He had never seen Kurama so intense about anything before. But he thought he could understand why. Though it had been totally unconscious on his part, the choice to make the psychic bons, when the thought of Hana being someone else's partner filtered through his mind, it made his vision flash red with intensity and anger. He really needed to figure out what was going on inside of his head.

"Sooo...from one kind of practice to another, huh?"

Hiei had been so absorbed in his thoughts he hadn't heard Hana approach. She was done with skating practice for the day, Hiei could smell the fresh soap and water on her skin indicating a recent shower. She had located him sitting on a low wall outside of the ice rink (the term supplied by Yusuke when Hiei had asked what the building was called), where they had agreed to meet after each day to practice psychic control exercises for one hour before she would go home to bed.

Hiei nodded and pushed himself from the wall. "There's a place we can go that's close-by, and on the way back to your house." '

Hana nodded and followed his lead, quiet.

As they walked, Hiei kept stealing glances at her, while also avoiding the strange desire to move closer to her. He had found several things already about her that he liked. He admitted from the first day that he found her to be attractive-and for a human quite strong. He had noticed well-defined, though small, muscles as he had watched her practice. He noticed that her movements were quite graceful, like a dancer's and that the movements that she made during her skating took excellent precision and control of motor functions and balance.

Otherwise he liked her long hair and striking purple eyes. He liked that she was calm, and mentally strong. She may have been the first human that he didn't automatically dislike on sight which was quite an achievement for his sensibilities.

"We're here." He intoned as they reached their destination. It was a secluded park that he had taken the liberty of warding against both psychic energy getting out, and demons getting in unless given specific permission.

Hana blinked at the clearing and said, "Is it safe to practice here? You remember what happened last time. You said I could get both of us killed if I'm not careful." She seemed unsure, nearly afraid which caused Hiei's senses to heighten to a protective edge.

He turned to her and gently grasped her arm, carefully guiding her into the warded area. He felt the energy as they passed through, causing him to shiver slightly. He felt Hana shiver too and was pleased that she had been able to sense the change. It was a good place to start.

"You will be safe in here. Nothing can go out and nothing can get in unless I say it can. Therefore, others will be safe as well. You burned off a large amount of energy that you had stored during the initial psychic storm yesterday. You won't be able to get results like that again unless you either store it up-or you learn to control it enough to unleash it all at once. Any practice we do today and over the next few weeks won't be anything like yesterday."

Hana let out a held breath of air all at once in obvious relief, and looked down towards Hiei's hand which still grasped her arm. She looked back up into his eyes posing a question to him though it was silent. Why is he being so kind to a complete stranger?

It took Hiei no time at all to answer her. "Because I want to be. I find I get the best results by doing what I want."

Her purple eyes widened in surprise. "Did you just…?"

Hiei nodded. Might as well start there. "I'm a telepath. It's one of many psychic abilities that can manifest in both humans...and demons."

"And you're a demon."

Again he nodded. "I'm a fire demon and I was born in Demon Word, also known as the Makai. But through certain...events I've come around to helping out the Spirit Detective, Yusuke with certain...tasks."

"I'm one of those tasks." She said, oddly resigned. "You wouldn't be here unless it wasn't a job you were told to do. Makes sense. I hope I'm not too much of a bother." She shot him a false smile at her own expense.

"No." He found himself saying, needing to have her understand without freaking her out. "I volunteered for his assignment because I wished to. You are no bother to me."

Hana just stared at him, unsure what to do next before saying, "Well, what's the first lesson, Sensei?"

Kurama found himself out of sorts over the next two weeks. He did his best to suppress the odd surges of blind anger and deep sadness. He played over and over again the events of the last month. He had planned to place a psychic bond on Hana himself that very night that Koenma had told them about the existence of a Seer. But the whole plan had been ruined.

He had to try to explain to her instead-in as much detail as he was able-why his teammates had been at his house, giving as many excuses as he could without outright lying. But it was no good, she could always tell when he was keeping something from her and his inability to tell her the truth had backfired and he could see the hurt in her face.

They had grown apart over the past years since he joined Yusuke's team. Especially during the Dark Tournament and the months of training leading up to it. And then the incident with the whole barrier between the human and demon worlds weakening had happened. There had barely been any time for him to see his own mother much less Hana. He hadn't wanted anyone to see her with him-to associate with him, during that period for her own safety. It had all been to protect her so that when it all calmed down, he would be able to stake his claim on her and they could move on with their lives.

But he had been too slow, all his preparations were for nothing. And to think, Hiei had connected the bond with a look. Without even knowing he had done so. Kurama resisted the urge to break something. But he forced himself to relax. He still held out a small sliver of hope that their bond would fail, but he also found his more rational side rejecting even that hope. He cared deeply for Hana, he wanted to see her happy more than anything. He knew that Hiei deserved that too. He knew he couldn't do anything to disrupt the bond unless it was broken. He knew he would be truly cruel if he wished for it to fail.

But damn, did it have to hurt so much?

"Alright, Kurama. Talk." Yusuke was the one currently on duty during the night with Kurama. They were stationed outside of Hana's house, waiting for her to come back from her nightly practice with Hiei.

"About what, Yusuke." He signed, resigned, wanting to be anywhere else than about to have the conversation he knew the Detective would bring up.

"About all this," he waved a hand vaguely to imply Kurama's entire being. "All this feelings shit. You know I'm not too good with those so out with it."

"I think you'll have to be more specific, Yusuke. I don't know what you're referring to."

Yusuke rolled his eyes. Kurama must be worse than he thought for Yusuke to pick up on his foul moods. "You're pissed about something. Which, for you, isn't something that happens every day. It's only gotten worse in the past week and you aren't talking to anyone about it. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Hiei is the only other one of us who knows. I only picked up on it yesterday when you snapped at me. Kuwabara has no idea as usual that anything is wrong."

Kurama couldn't help but twitch at the sound of Hiei's name, but Yusuke continued on not noticing.

"So, sense you're not talking about it, I figured I'd do us all a favor and drag it out of you before it gets any worse. So, do me a favor and just spit it out."

Kurama pressed his lips together with annoyance. He really didn't want to talk about this. But he knew Yusuke and the man wouldn't give up until Kurama gave him something. So Kurama settled on half the truth.

"I suppose I'm just...disappointed." He said carefully. "In myself. I had the Seer under my nose for an entire month and Hiei was the one who found her. I've known her for years, in fact, and I never noticed anything." Disappointed was perhaps the understatement of the century, but he didn't feel like listing a stronger emotion and possibly inciting more curiosity.

Yusuke was studying his face carefully. "So what you're saying is you're pissed at yourself for not finding her and by the fact that Hiei ended up doing it?" He sounded unconvinced.

"Yes...I'm disappointed that Hiei found her." And bonded to her before I could. He added silently at the end of the sentence.

"Huh. Well, don't be too hard on yourself Kurama!" Yusuke slapped him on the shoulder in a jovial way. "We can't all be perfect all the time! I'm honestly just glad we found your friend before other demons could make ribbons out of her!"

Kurama inwardly sighed, glad that Yusuke had bought his excuse. But he was also in agreement with his last statement. They were incredibly lucky that no-one else had managed to find Hana. It had only been two weeks but Hiei had given some information relating to the true psychic nature of her powers. In short: they were immense and extremely difficult for her to control.

Koenma's initial assessment was that the Seer would be like some massive library-like guide to the past, present and future. Information able to be checked out at will at any time or for any person. In reality, it was much, much, more complex than that. It required energy training that was more time-consuming than simply checking out the right book and expecting the information to be there.

But further discussion and thought on the topic was postponed by the arrival of said Seer and her current demon teacher. Kurama and Yusuke jumped down to greet the duo, Kurama willing his mood to stay as neutral as possible.

"Hiei, Hana, how'd it go tonight?" Yusuke asked as Hana unlocked her door and the four made their way into her house. Luckily Hana's father worked nights so he wasn't around much while her mother lived in another city and had since her parents divorced five years ago.

Hana smiled slightly and shrugged. "I honestly don't know, but Hiei seems to think I'm progressing."

"You would progress further, faster, if you weren't so exhausted all the time." Hiei said bluntly. "But you are progressing."

"I know, I know, but until after qualifiers, I don't have much of a choice." She replied with an air of having had this conversation many times before in the past few days.

Kurama trained his eyes for a moment on the shorter demon before taking time to really look at Hana. She did look tired, but he saw that it was deeper than that. He could see the tightness of skin around her eyes and how pale she looked. He could see that she was swaying on her feet, unsteady for one normally so graceful.

"You're pushing yourself too hard, you need to take it easy and focus on one thing at a time." Kurama told her.

She frowned at him, taking several deep breaths before replying. "Too hard? Take it easy? What the heck else am I supposed to do?! I'm doing the best I can Suichi!" she still had trouble calling him Kurama even after all she had learned. "I'm sorry it's not working for you, but I don't have the luxury of allowing my entire life to be upended by this...this...crap! Demons and Spirit world and little Princes who come in and tell me that suddenly I have to give up all of my life goals for some powers I never asked for!"

Suddenly he could see that he had inadvertently lit a fuse to her temper that must have been simmering just under the surface. Now it was a full rolling boil.

"This couldn't have come at a worse time! I've been training for this my entire life and just when I think it might finally be smooth sailing until after the qualifiers it turns out I'm a freaking Seer?! Like, what even is that? All I wanted was to skate until I was too old to compete and then retire and own a private training business for other Olympic hopefuls. I wanted to design other people's routines, choreography! Now it looks like I'll be telling strangers' fortunes for an entire aspect of civilization that I didn't know existed until half a month ago!"

She was breathing hard after her rant. Her eyes shone with unshed tears of frustration as she shot him a death glare. Then Hana abruptly turned to march up the stairs with a quick statement of, "Hiei, thank you for another lesson, Yusuke, good to see you. Good night and see you all tomorrow." And stomped right past him without so much as another glance.

Kurama pinched the bridge of his nose, inwardly smacking himself for his thoughtlessness.

"Good one." Yusuke smirked and Kurama had to restrain himself from smacking him instead.

"Yes, I believe that it would be unwise to continue making her upset at this juncture." Hiei said neutrally. "She is still physically exhausted from her energy outburst and further emotional upheaval will only prolong the healing process." Kurama could tell that Hiei was saying it as carefully as he could, but it still stung in more ways than one. "But I believe," Hiei continued, "That she chose to 'go off on you' as Yuremeshi would say, because she knows you the best. She knows you won't be mad at her for yelling. She will apologize tomorrow."

Kurama looked sideways at the fire demon. "You know her well for only a few weeks." The thought made him taste acid in the back of his mouth.

He shrugged, "Much of what we do in our training takes place in our heads. I've spent enough time in hers so far to have a general idea of how she operates. I suspect that when she is finished we will know each other well." Hiei shrugged again as if it didn't matter to him. "That's simply a side-effect of psychic training."

Again, logical and emotionless. Kurama suspected that Hiei was attempting to make this as painless for both of them as possible. And perhaps with more time Kurama would be grateful for those olive branches. But right now he was still pissed, so he didn't answer.

"So, who's staying with her tonight?" Yusuke chimed in, oblivious to the nuances of the conversation.

"I will." Hiei said with no hesitation.

Yusuke blinked. "But you've done that for the past several nights." He frowned. "What's your angle, Hiei? Was Botan right about you having the hots for her?"

Hiei stiffened minutely at the accusation but managed to reply evenly. "When she is asleep her mind is able to heal and I can assist with that process better if I am in close proximity. That way the training will go faster and we can all rid ourselves of this situation as fast as possible and move on to another mission."

Kurama had to hand it to Hiei, he was quick under pressure. He also noted that the other demon didn't deny the last part of Yusuke's question.

"I guess that makes sense," Yusuke allowed, obviously disappointed that he couldn't tease Hiei further than that. "But we can't afford for anyone to get burned out with constantly watching and waiting for something to happen. Tomorrow night I'll stay, then Kurama and Kuwabara. Let's keep that rotation for as long as it takes to get Hana to Genkai's place after the Olympics."

With that agreement in place, Kurama left Hana's house and continued on home, struggling once more in solitude with his mixed emotions.

Hana plopped down heavily on her bed, pajamas in place, teeth brushed and wide awake. She felt guilt for reacting that way to Suichi (she still couldn't think of him as Kurama). He certainly hadn't deserved it-she knew he was just worried about her. But honestly, she didn't see any other way out of this situation. She knew that she needed to learn to control her powers so that they didn't hurt her or others around her. But at the same time she wasn't giving up on her dream of competing in the Olympics, especially being able to represent Japan when the Olympics were being held in Japan. It was an opportunity that would never come around again while she was still able to skate at her current level.

So, she would simply have to do both. And she would, just like she had achieved everything else in her life: through hard work and applying learned skills.

She decided that she would apologize to Suichi in the morning and rolled under the covers and willed herself to sleep.

Suddenly, she found herself in a strange place. She was in a stadium made of some curious black material. She was standing on a grassy lawn facing a ring of some kind. She studied the scene, realizing that it must be some kind of martial arts tournament. Curious she looked closer having never seen one before.

The crowd was deafening, the spectators shouting and cat-calling. But upon further inspection of who comprised the crowd, she realized with an odd jolt that not everyone appeared to be human. In fact, almost none of the crowd had humanoid features. She saw ogres like those she had seen in Koenma's office helping with his paperwork. She saw creatures with fangs, feathers and even one with pig ears.

What in the world?

"Ladies and demons! Put your paws together for our undefeated champions, Team Toguro!" A fox-like woman spoke into the microphone while dancing around the center of the marble ring.

From the left, a door opened up and several figures came striding out into the sunlight. Hana scanned them, frowning and looking for some kind of point to what she was seeing. Suddenly, she locked eyes with a small man with long grey hair.

He alone seemed to notice her, and he smiled sending a wave of nauseating pain through her skull.

"Hana...Hana!" She felt herself being shaken awake by firm hands in the dark of her room.

Her room. On her bed. Not some creepy tournament with demons.

She could have cried in relief. "I'm...I'm awake, I'm okay."

The shaking stopped and she could hear Hiei breath out in relief. "I could sense the pain you had, I knew it couldn't be too comfortable. Are you alright?"

She groped around in the dark and pulled the chain of her bedside table lamp. The light flickered on and illuminated Hiei's concerned face. Hana felt her cheeks warm when she realized that Hiei was still inches away, crouched on the ground, and she was in her pajamas which consisted of an old t-shirt and sleeping shorts. No bra.

"Yes, yes. It was just a dream. Nothing to worry about." She frowned as she touched her head, the shooting pain gone but the memory of its bite remained. Still conscious of her appearance, she pulled the sheets closer to her body.

Hiei regarded her and stood up from his position on the floor just to sit down on the bed beside her, his leg coming up and brushing against hers though she was still mostly under the covers. She moved away only slightly, unused to being this close to another person.

She frowned and asked him, "Why does it hurt me when I see things with my powers?"

Hiei looked at her and didn't answer for a minute, thinking. "I believe it's like training a physical muscle. When you first start a new physical routine it leaves you sore the next day. Mental and psychic exertion is a bit like that as well. But in your case your powers are too powerful for your current level of stamina. So when you are in unguarded moments such as asleep or just waking up, your powers make leaps that they wouldn't otherwise."

"So you think the pain will go away with more training and time?"

Hiei nodded.

"Makes sense. I really still can't believe that this is happening to me." She leaned back against her headboard in frustration. "This isn't how I saw my life turning out at all."

Hiei was quiet again for some time and Hana was about to say that she was ready to go back to bed when he asked her something unexpected.

"There was a word you used earlier."

"...huh?" She asked, not understanding his statement.

"You said a word earlier. Some human word...one I am unfamiliar with. Some human words I don't know because we don't have the equivalent in Demon World. You said it was something that you wanted to do after you were done competing...what does it mean?"

Hana looked at him hard, trying to think of what she had said in her fit of rage. "Did you mean...choreography?"

Hiei nodded and waited for an explanation.

"Ah. Well, you've seen me skate, right?"

Again he nodded, his eyes intent on hers.

"Well, the movements I make, we call it a 'program', are all designed. Someone plans those movements and the degree of difficulty of the program determines the score and who wins during a competition. The person who plans the program is the choreographer."

"I see. You want to create those for others." He looked like he wasn't sure what he thought about that. Hana found the expression to be unexpectedly cute which seemed totally at odds with his whole persona.

"I want to create something that expresses beauty and strength. And something unique that each skater wants to say about themselves. It's sort of like...art. Do demons have art?"

Hiei chuckled at that. "Not in the way humans think of art. We view art as in the art of war."

"Sun Tzu?" She asked, frowning.

"Who?" Hiei cocked his head and narrowed his eyes at her.

Hana laughed and suddenly didn't care much at all about how tired she was, or the fact that just a few weeks ago, her life seemed to have been completely flipped on its head. She knew that whatever happened that she would figure it out as long as she had people around to help her.

Please again let me know your thoughts! I was inspired by the upcoming summer Olympics in Japan this year. I know that the summer doesn't have ice skating, but I can switch it around for this story! Also, I am not an expert at all on ice skating, but I will do my best to make future scenes believable. Finally, I have been toying around with possibly adding some character appearances with Yuri! on Ice into this fic just for fun, they won't do much to interfere with the plot I have already planned out. If you think it would be cool, let me know!