Hiei was sitting in his bed thinking about how frustrating it was for Aly-Jay to move out of this place. He didn't like it one bit. How else would he be able to keep an eye on her? If she got kidnapped once, it could happen again. He could only trust himself with her safety. He had thought he could trust Kuwabara but obviously that didn't work.

As Hiei continued to sit there, staring out the window, he began to feel like something was wrong. The longer he waited, the worse he began to feel. Depending on his instincts, he got up and quietly made his way to Aly-Jay. He assumed she was in the guest bedroom in Genkai's place and he was right.

Since Yukina wasn't here and the guys were at the other house, Hiei allowed himself to enter her room from the door. At first he just stood in the doorway, watching her sleep. Then he realized she had a frown on her face. That's when he remembered how cold she's been acting around him. She used to be so open and kind. She didn't care that Hiei barely ever talked to her, she would just come up to him as if he was just like the rest of the guys.
Just when Hiei felt like he was being a creeper by watching her sleep he noticed her frown deepen before she moaned a little. Hiei frowned as well as he walked up to her. When he got a better look at her he saw that she was gently shaking her head. She was having a nightmare. Hiei's curiosity began to rise. He looked out the door as if to make sure no one was standing there before taking a seat on an empty part of her bed.

He knew she hated it when he did this but he had to know. Maybe her nightmares were the reason why she's been so cold lately. Hiei watched her and leaned forward a bit. It only took a second for him to see what she was dreaming about.

Hiei didn't know what he was expecting but it wasn't this. He stood off to the side and watched as Aly-Jay started to lose control of her powers. The fear in her eyes were almost as powerful as her demon energy. Hiei could only stand there as her powers exploded and ended up killing everyone. He was stunned by the power and when she began to search for the guys. There were tears in her eyes as she found each and every one of them. But she was too late. Then she found him. Hiei couldn't describe the feeling he felt when she gently pulled him onto her lap and rocked back and forth as her tears finally fell.

So this is why she's been acting differently. She's been reliving this dream over and over again. Hiei, of all people, could related. Just when he was about to leave her dreams, it suddenly changed. It had started off the same but ended up completely different. Curious as to how this one went, he watched as she and the Hiei in her dream began to talk.

"Please, Hiei," she whimpered. "Help me."

"Help you? Why should I help someone as weak as you?"

"But I don't have control over myself..." The pain in her voice tore Hiei apart.

"You don't have control because you were too weak to fight him. If you had only been stronger you wouldn't be in this mess."

"I'm sorry," her voice had gone quiet, soft. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to realize just how weak you really are."

Not even a second later he began to kill her, again. So this was it. This is why she's been acting do... odd. Hiei had no idea that this is what she's been dealing with for the past two years. These dreams... the death... The two of them.

He suddenly felt really warm. Frowning, he looked down at himself to realize that he was on fire. What the hell? He exited her dreams only to realize that her room was on fire. Confused, he looked down at Aly-Jay to realize that she was causing it. Her dreams had caused her fire to react. Without wasting another second he tried to wake her up and take out the fire. He struggled with the two. Her fire wasn't like anything he's dealt with before. He couldn't take them out.

My dreams were always the same. Always. I've just become aware of my surrounding and noticed that the guys were all around me. But it was always changing, never ending. I'm always dying or I'm killing the guys. However, there's always one thing that's the same. I never have control. My fire is always burning everything to the ground.

"Aly-Jay! AJ, wake up!"

I was suddenly shaking. My whole body was out of control. Half a second later my eyes shot open to see Hiei standing over me covered in flames but he didn't seem to have noticed. I quickly sat up to get a better look at him but then I realized the flames were coming from me. Now that I was awake, Hiei turned and tried to take out the flames but he didn't seem to have any luck. I got up and tried to avoid contact from the fire. That didn't seem to matter, though, since I didn't do a good enough job. But I didn't feel a thing whenever the flames danced across my skin.

"Are you just going to stand there?" Hiei yelled at me.

Right. I positioned my hands at my sides and slowly started to rise them up to my shoulders. As I did so water appeared and started to finally get rid of the flames. Hiei was finally able to make some progress with the flames as well. I wasn't sure how he did it but it looked like he was trying to contain it until the space was too small for it to "live". It wasn't long before Kurama and Yusuke had made it up to my room.

"Jeez," Yusuke said as he looked at the damage. "Way to go, Aly-Jay."

I had to look away as the guilt set in.

"I'm sorry," Kurama said. "We would have made it sooner but we couldn't get passed the flames." Kurama looked over at Hiei but Hiei quickly looked at the nearest wall. "Thankfully Hiei was around to try and wake you up before it got out of hand." Hiei looked over at Kurama but now Kurama avoided Hiei's eyes. Weird...

I looked around the room that was now completely black. This wasn't out of hand?

"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I don't know what happened. I was dreaming when..." I couldn't help but look over at Hiei but he quickly looked away when we made eye contact. I didn't know what else to say so I just muttered an apology again.

"It's fine," Kurama said as he stepped forward. "Don't worry, thankfully Yukina is spending the night with the Kuwabara's."

I took a deep breath at that. "Thank god for that. What time is it, anyways?"

"Around two in the morning," Kurama said after he checked his watch.

"Well it looks like I wont be going anymore sleep tonight," I said as I looked around again.

"You could always sleep in your original room," Kurama suggested.

I thought about it for a second. If a nightmare caused all this, would going back to that room be even worse? Unfortunately, I was so tired that I couldn't bring myself to not sleep tonight. After I nodded in agreement we headed off to their place. When we got outside I looked back at the house to see how much damage there was.

"Genkai would have killed me," I said after I saw the damage.

Yusuke waved it off like it was nothing. "You don't honestly think this was the first time there's been some damage to her compound, do you? Some of her buildings have been so damaged that they weren't standing anymore. Besides, I'm sure we'll get it all fixed up in no time." He flexed his muscles playfully. "With all our demon energy we'll get it done within a few days."

Thankfully I was able to sleep peacefully that night, even though I didn't feel completely comfortable. I did feel like I was being watched over though. Maybe sleeping away from the guys was a bad idea.

The next morning was filled with food. It was nice but I felt like the guys could have been a little less obvious with the whole fattening-me-up thing. After I had eaten as much as I could, I went back up to my room to double check some of the clothes I had left behind. I felt extremely lucky that I didn't feel the need to bring everything of mine over to the other house. Especially since I left a sports bra and some workout clothes. Unfortunately, a lot of my sentimental items were lost, like my books.

After I changed, I went downstairs to see Kurama and Yusuke waiting. Both of them were going to see how much I remembered and what else I needed to improve on. At first I was worried that they were going to go straight into the work out after I just stuffed my face with food. Thank god they filled an hour with just stretching.

The hours that followed were filled with hand-to-hand combat. While I was rusty to begin with, I did catch on quick. We also found out that nothing has changed when it came to my defensive style. I struggled until Yusuke put on music but then I was able to get back into a pattern.

It went on like this until lunch time. But by the time we were all hungry none of us had the energy to make something to eat, and I couldn't get away with just eating a banana or something. It only took a second for Yusuke to suggest we go into town for some pizza. I haven't had pizza in years so that sounded like the greatest idea ever.

By the time we were in town and getting our meal, I was too hungry to have any lady-like manners. When I finished my second piece I was able to thinking about things that didn't involve my hunger.

"You know," I said as I leaned back in my seat, "now that I think about it, it seems kind of useless to go all the way into town for a couple slices of pizza."

Yusuke shrugged at that. "What's wrong with treating ourselves every now and then?"

"I guess," I said before taking a sip of my drink.

"There is something else I thought we could do while we're in town," said Kurama and he cleaned himself up with a napkin.

"Oh?" I leaned forward, interested. "And what's that?"

Kurama's cellphone began to ring. "Ah, perfect timing." I frowned in confusion as he answered. My frown deepened when he handed the phone to me. "It's for you."

I slowly put the phone to my ear and said, "Hello?"

"Aly-Jay?" It was my mother. I closed my eyes as I felt completely guilty for not calling her soon. "Now before you apologize, I want you to know that your father called me when you were on your way to the airport. Plus, Kurama noticed that you were really busy settling in so he let me know that you arrived safely." I looked over at Kurama and he quickly avoided my gaze. I was completely speechless. "He also let me know what happened last night. That's why I've transferred some money to your account. You should have enough to get you want you need with a little extra."

"Thank you," I muttered as I felt like I was on a roller coaster of emotion. "I'm sorry for not calling you."

"It's fine," my mother said. "You don't need to apologize."

I suddenly remembered something and then I felt guilty, once again, for not thinking of it sooner. "Hows-"

"Mizu? He's fine. Still safe and sound. Although I can tell he misses you. He spends most of his time in your room."

That only made me feel worse. "I'll come get him-" Oh god, when could I go get him? "I'll get him when I can..."

"There's no rush. He may not love me like he loved you but at least we're getting along. Now you go get what you need before the stores close. I love you and don't worry about me."

I closed my eyes before I said, "I love you to, Mom."

"Good, now you stay safe. I'll see you when I see you."

I laughed softly at that before we said goodbye and hung up.

Kurama took his phone back and put it away. "And now you know what else we can do while we're in town."

"Yeah but... are you sure you guys are okay with following me around town to go shopping?"

"Please," Yusuke said, brushing me off. "Keiko has been training me for a day like this."

I laughed at that a little. "Well, I guess it's a good thing I'm not much of a shopper."

As I tried to finish off my drink, I looked out the window and people watched. I was almost done when I saw someone walking by that looked so familiar. I sat up and tried to get a better look. It wasn't until he saw me and stopped to wave that I realized it was Shuya. I was surprised to see him so all I did was wave slowly.

The guys noticed my wave and turned to see who I was waving at. We remained silent as Shuya made his way into the pizza place. I couldn't help but think how weird it was running into him again. He obviously didn't have any other plans otherwise he wouldn't have came in. I didn't have time to think any more of it as he walked up to our table.

"Hello, AJ," he said with a little curve at the edge of his lips.

"Hi," I said kind of awkwardly. It felt really weird having him around Kurama and Yusuke. But they have lived normal human lives. Maybe I'm just paranoid that everyone will assume that we're demons. I need to stop over thinking...

"So, who are your friends?"

I felt my cheeks go hot. "Right, sorry. Shuya, this is Kurama and Yusuke. Guys, this is Shuya, I met him the other day when I went to town."

Yusuke shook his hand and was generally rather kind to him but it seemed like Kurama was being a little too formal with him. Did he not trust Shuya?

"Are you guys just finishing up?"

I nodded and took the last sip of my drink. "We're actually going shopping now."

"New ballet shoes?" Shuya asked a little playfully. He stepped aside so we could get out of our booth.

"I wish," I said with a little laugh. "Nah, I have to get some new clothes. I kind of had... a little accident."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, of course." As we headed to the door I couldn't help but feel like he wanted to come with us. "So, did you want to join? It might be a little boring, watching me get clothes."

"Sounds like fun to me."

I looked up at Shuya. Was there a double meaning there? I put a little distance between Shuya and I as I opened the door. When I stepped outside I practically ran over Hiei. God, he's got to stop doing that.

As I recovered from almost running over Hiei, Shuya introduced himself. And typical Hiei, he just looked up at him before walking over to my other side. I frowned slightly at him before turned to the rest of the guys. "So, where's the nearest clothing store?"

Kurama and Yusuke lead the way. We talked as we began to make our way to the clothing shops. Shuya was telling the guys how he was born and raised in America while the rest of us asked questions. However, it wasn't hard to miss the tension growing between Shuya and Hiei. I had no idea where it was coming from so I could only assume I was imagining it.

The whole shopping process wasn't long at all. Once I figured out a size, which happened after I picked out a pair of pants then have Kurama hand me the same pants but in one size bigger, the whole shopping thing lasted maybe half an hour. Tops.

"Whoa," Yusuke said as we walked out of the store. "You weren't lying when you said you were a quick shopper."

I shrugged with a little smile as I adjusted the bags in my hands. "What can I say? I have little tricks up my sleeves."

"Here, let me help you," Shuya said when he saw my adjusting the bags.

I was surprised that he, and Hiei, had stuck around. Shuya was able to get along with... well Yusuke, so he didn't really have a reason to leave. That and he seemed rather interested in me somehow. He would always be trying to find ways to keep up conversation between the two of us.

"No, it's fine," I said as I rearranged the bags. "They're not heavy or anything. But they do weigh down on my fingers a little." I could tell that Shuya was going to offer to hold them again so I added, "Besides, I'm stronger than I look." I smiled softly at him.

"Do you have everything you need?" Yusuke asked.

"I think so. If I forgot anything then I can just come back and get it."

"What about those dance shoes from the other day?" Shuya asked. "Do you have enough for those?"

I laughed a little at that. "I can't believe you remembered that."

"How could I not?" Shuya asked with a small smile. "It's how we first met."

I opened my mouth to reply but I suddenly felt some kind of hostile energy coming from beside me. I turned to look and noticed it was coming from Hiei. He was facing away from me but I could see how tense he was. Plus, I could have sworn I could see the energy radiating off of him. Why was he acting this way?

"Is everything alright?" Shuya asked.

I quickly turned back to him and forced a little smile. "Yeah, sorry. I just realized that we should probably start heading back."

"That's a good idea," Kurama said.

Without wasting another second, we said our goodbyes and left Shuya to head back to the compound. The trip was mostly quiet with the exception of Yusuke asking how I met Shuya. I kept my answers short and truthful since I'm sure Yusuke wasn't the gossiping type. We headed straight to our house so I could put my stuff away but as we passed Genkai's home I couldn't ignore the huge burnt hole in the side.

"Are we going to get that fixed?" I asked as we continued to walk.

"Sure," Kurama said. "Why don't we start after you put your stuff away?"

I paused in my walking for a second. "Wait, what? I don't know anything about construction."

Kurama and Yusuke looked kind of amused at my reaction.

"It's okay," Yusuke said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I couldn't help but feel like it was kind of 'sup, bro' like. "We'll find something for you to do."

I narrowed my eyes at him but continued on my way. I didn't bother putting my stuff away; I just placed the bags on my bed. After I changed into something that I didn't mind getting dirty I went downstairs to see the guys waiting. We didn't waste any time and went straight to Genkai's place… kind of. Kurama first lead us to a huge, and I mean HUGE, pile of lumber that wasn't too far from Genkai's place.

"Whaaaat?" was the only thing I found myself saying.

Yusuke just laughed and went to grab seven pieces of wood as if it were nothing. I would have been shocked if I didn't know about his whole demon thing.

"You'd be surprised by how many times Genkai's compound has been attacked and damaged," Kurama explained as he stepped forward. I raised an eyebrow at him but he just smiled at me. "You can start off by bringing some wood to the house. Try taking as much as you can."

I raised my eyebrow again. Is he treating this as some kind of strength training? After Kurama took as many as he could and left, I went over to the pile then hesitated. I know I'm unnaturally strong and everything but I've never actually tested it by doing heavy lifting. Would I be able to lift as much as Yusuke and Kurama?

At first I only lifted one piece to test the weight. When it felt like nothing at all I added another two. I could add more but now I needed to think about my balance as well. Since I had to work on both the balance and the weight, I had to stop at five. I slowly turned so I could head to the house and nearly dropped everything. Hiei was standing right there watching me. Has he been there the whole time?

We just stood there, staring at each other. After I realized Hiei wasn't going to anything I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I waited one more second before walking away without giving him a second glance.

By the time I finally made it back to the others, Kurama and Yusuke were already up in the room I had slept in. It looked like they were getting rid of the out wall and added support. Although I really couldn't say for sure since I know absolutely nothing about this kind of stuff. I did know that there was a huge hole in the house though… When I got closer to the hole Kurama caught sight of me and gave me a little nod. What that approval? I'll take it.

"Just put those with the rest," he called out to me. "Then jump up here to get stuff organized."

I placed the pieces of wood with the rest then moved to stand at the bottom of the hole. When I thought I was in a good position to jump I looked up at my target; which was much taller than me… Oh god, okay I can do this. Wait, maybe I should get a running start. I took a few steps back and tried to ignore the fact that the guys were watching me. After I look a deep breath, I ran. I kept my eyes on my target but right when I braced myself to jump, I looked down to make sure I didn't jump on anything.

I might have been in the air for half a second but my landing wasn't the greatest. My balance decided to take a nap apparently because I stumbled and fell forward onto my hand and knees. Hoping to make it not so obvious I quickly stood. Unfortunately, my hands and knees were completely black. Good thing I changed.

As I tried to wipe my hands "clean" I noticed Kurama watching me with an amused expression on his face. Crap, he saw. "I made it," I said with a little smile.

He laughed softly before gesturing to one of the still existing sides. "See if there's anything worth keeping and throw the rest away."

I got straight to work. It was slow, mindless stuff. Things were getting thrown out more than being kept. When I bent down to grab what might have been a shirt, something caught my eye. There was something under the bed. I hadn't touched the bed yet since there was hardly any damage. Since my clothes were completely dirty—thanks to Yusuke ripping through everything sending dust everywhere—I got down on my stomach and reached to grab a ball type, thing. The moment I touched it I noticed it was made of glass.

Shit, I thought when I realized it was my spirit of words. I had completely forgotten about it. As I stared at it I thought about throwing it with the trash. I wanted to because of the simple fact it was from Mukuro. But my curiosity was getting the better of me and I found myself putting it in my pocket.

"Can I help you?" I heard Kurama say. I could barely see him through the hole that was getting much smaller. Pfft, who needs contractors when you have demons who work ten times faster?

"I sure as hell hope so." My whole body went tense. I know that voice. "We're looking for a certain granddaughter that seems to have forgotten that she has grandparents."

Shit, I thought yet again. I am going to get chewed out. I knew hiding wasn't the answer so I slowly made my way over to the hole. My body got even tenser as I got closer to the hole. Taking a deep breath, I poked my head out. Sure enough, there they were, standing a few feet away from Kurama. My grandmother stood there with her hands on her hips, she did not like to be kept waiting. My grandpa stood to her right looking all cheerful and laid back. Their postures alone screamed grandma and grandpa to me.

"Well, look who it is," my grandmother said as I jumped down. "I hardly recognized you. How long as it been?"

I could only give a sheepish smile as I tried to maintain eye contact. My grandmother was not someone you disrespected. "It's been too long."

"You can say that again. And who's fault is that?"

"Mine," I said quietly. I risked taking a look at my grandpa and regretted that decision instantly. He was giving me a knowing smirk that made me press my lips together so I didn't laugh.

"Good," my grandmother said with a nod. "Now that we've cleared that up, give me a hug."

And just like that she went from scary grandmother to the greatest friend a granddaughter could ask for. We smiled at each other before I stepped forward to give her the hug. When she finally let go I took a step back and looked back at the guys. Yusuke had dropped down and stood next to Kurama. Hiei was nowhere to be found but I'm sure he'll show up eventually.

"Guys, this is my grandmother and grandfather," I said motioned to the correct person. "Grandparents, this is Yusuke and Kurama."

Kurama stepped forward to shake their hands. "It's an honour to meet you. Aly-Jay has been a wonder to work with."

My grandmother raised an eyebrow at me which I replied with an eye roll. "Well," my grandmother said as she took Kurama's hand, "I hope she's been showing more respect to you then with us."

"Grandmother!" She isn't going to let me forget. "I've been training so much that I haven't even had time to talk to mom."

"You haven't even talked to your mother?!"

I threw my arms in the air and opened my mouth to explain when my grandmother gently placed her hand on my cheek. I knew she was only teasing but that touch alone calmed me down. Whether it was our shared link to the element of water or not, her touch always calmed me down. It's always been like that between us. I'll never forget the time when I was little over six and I had just dropped my favourite teddy bear in the dirt of my grandmother's garden. I had instantly crying but my grandmother simply walked up to me and gently cupped my little cheeks in the palm of her hands. My eyes were dry in seconds. I'll always remember the smile she gave me before picking up my bear, dusting it off, and then handing it to me. I looked over at my grandmother and I could tell she was thinking of the same memory.

"Let me guess," Yusuke said as he stepped forward. He motioned towards my grandmother, "You're the fire demon," then towards my grandfather, "and you're the water demon."

My grandparents looked at each other in a way I could only dream of happening if I was with someone for as long as they've been together. They held hands before shaking their heads.

"The opposite actually," my grandfather said.

"Really?" Yusuke seemed really surprised. "To be completely honest, I don't think I've ever met a fire demon that doesn't have some kind of temper."

Both my grandparents seemed amused by that. "I guess you could say I've learned to control my anger," my grandfather said with a smile.

"Well, I know another fire demon that could-" Yusuke paused for half a second when he noticed something behind us. "Oh, hi, Hiei."

I turned to look. Sure enough, there he was, standing there looking as stern as ever. He eyed my grandparents as he came forward which caused me to narrow my eyes at him. Hiei looked like he was analysing them which I couldn't completely blame him for. While I could guarantee they were actually my grandparents, it was harder convincing others of that fact. The only things giving away their age were the wrinkles around their eyes and mouth. Even then, they look more like laugh lines. Oh the wonders of being a demon.

"So, you're Hiei." My grandfather's words brought me out of my daydream. "I've heard so much about you." He stepped towards Hiei as if to give him a hand shake.

Hiei narrowed his eyes at my grandfather, again, before looking at me. It felt like he was trying to read my mind which caused me to narrow my eyes at him. I thought about giving him the finger again but then I thought of something better. While I maintained eye contact with him I sent him a message. You disrespect my grandparents in any way, shape, or form and I will cut you in your sleep. I could tell Hiei got the message by the fact that he narrowed his eyes at me even more. I didn't realize someone's eyes could do that…

With my message received, I made sure to put a cheerful smile on my face before linking arms with my grandmother. I made sure she didn't make any contact with my dirty clothes. "Would you like some tea?" I asked as I smiled up at her.

"Oh, so know you decide to have manners," was her reply as we started to walk away.

I opened my mouth to start defending myself but my grandmother gently poked my side to let me know she was joking. Pressing my lips together firmly, I playfully glared at her. She just shrugged me off. Typical.

"So tell me about this Hiei."

My whole body went tense. "Excuse me?"

"Hi-ei. Tell me about him."

"There isn't much to say." My god, she doesn't beat around the bush.

"Please, I know sexual tension when I see it."

"Grandmother!"

"What? I may be old in years but I'm not that old. That's the fun thing about being a demon."

I opened the door to the room where we usually have tea with guests. She went to go sit down while I went to go make tea. As I waited I couldn't help but wonder what it's like to have normal, human, grandparents…

"So?" my grandmother said, the lack of patience was bleeding out of her voice.

"So?" I said back, dragging out the word.

"Are you going to tell me or not?"

I did my best to keep my voice calm as I put down the tea. "There is nothing to tell." Sure there was tension between Hiei and I. But sexual tension? I don't think so.

I would have continued but my grandfather had walked in. "That Hiei kid really needs to lighten up."

My grandmother shot me a look which only made me roll my eyes in frustration. I'm beginning to sense a habit… As my grandfather settled down beside my grandmother, I went to make sure he has a cup.

The rest of their visit consisted of us talking and catching up while we drank tea. We talked about the guys. I could tell they weren't completely comfortable with the idea of me staying with a bunch of males. But after I made sure they knew everything was fine—and after they had actually met them—they seemed okay with it.

It wasn't until the sun was starting to set when they brought up leaving. I had offered for them to stay the night but they insisted they had invaded my space long enough. We could've argued for a bit longer but I knew better.

After I watched them leave I turned back to head to the house. I paused when I saw all the guys standing there, waiting. Awe crap. What now?