I'd fled to the Ningenkai. I'd had no choice. It was getting harder to run away from the Makai "officials" who wanted me. Who wanted to capture – correction: recapture – me. So, I had entered the Wonderful World of Humans.

I was beginning to think it was a mistake.

Humans are noisy. And my sensitive ears are acutely aware of the fact. Plus, that Spirit Detective was human. Urameshi Yusuke. The one who's chasing me at the moment. Word in the Makai is, he's very strong. But for all the Ningenkai's unpleasantness, what awaited me in the Makai was far worse.

That was why I'd fled.

Wait— why am I explaining this to myself?

She scoffed. Her dark eyes narrowed. All this running away is really getting to me.

She jumped to the top of a small hill, and nearly lost her footing. Kirei. It's raining. And the grass is all slick. She grabbed a nearby tree to steady herself…

…And fell on her rear end.

Subarashî— even the trees are slick. And now, to top it all off, I've fallen flat on my ass. On wet grass. KIREI! Now I'm a poet as well as a fugitive. I hate it when my thoughts rhyme like that.

She stood up slowly, so as not to fall again. She looked around quickly to make certain there were no humans around – at least, no ordinary humans. Then she pulled her black headband off, to reveal a third eye; a jagan. Alright, now to see if they're still following me. I don't even know how many of them that damned detective's got chasing me. And there may still be a Makai presence….

She scanned the area. There was no sign of any human – or demon – presence whatsoever. Good – I've either lost them, or they've given up. Either way, they're gone.

She slipped her headband back over her jagan.

The next thing she knew, she was laying face-down on the ground with someone fairly heavy straddling her. "Got ya!" the – rather wet – someone said triumphantly.

"What the—?" she started. "Get off me, you moron!" she growled.

"Yeah, that's likely," Yusuke said.

She glowered at him. "Fine, then. I'll get you off." She promptly disappeared; Yusuke fell unceremoniously to the ground.

"Wha—how—?" he stuttered. She reappeared behind him, and calmly wrung the water from her long, black tail.

In a moment, a similarly waterlogged Kurama appeared. "Did you—" He stopped when he saw the girl. "…Need some help?"

She looked up at Kurama…

…And disappeared again. Kurama looked mildly surprised; but he quickly regained his senses and darted out of sight. Seconds later, they both reappeared, Kurama holding the girl's wrists securely behind her back. She looked none too pleased.

Kuwabara appeared next; he was panting, and just as wet as the others. "Man, you guys run fast! But why'd you stop? I—" He, too, noticed the girl. "Hey, she's cute. Who is she?"

The girl growled at Kuwabara from under dark, wet bangs. "I do not like being referred to as …cute." Her black, fox-like ears twitched. "It's demeaning."

Kuwabara thought about it. "Whatever. You're still cute. Are you the girl we're supposed to catch?"

Yusuke sweatdropped. "She wouldn't know, you baka! We just got the order like forty minutes ago!"

She looked mildly surprised… and considerably more irritated. "Order? You got an 'order' to capture me?"

"Yeah," Kuwabara replied. "And we might've caught you sooner if Shorty'd agreed to come with us. But he doesn't agree with anything."

"Shorty? Ah – nevermind. The only thing that concerns me at the moment is who the hell are you and why are you trying to capture me?!"

"Name's Yusuke. We were ordered to arrest you by Koenma, I think."

She froze, if she could move in the first place. "Yusuke? Urameshi Yusuke?! The Spirit Detective?!" she went pale. "Oh, shit."

"That's me, the Great Spirit Detective, Urameshi Yusuke, at your service." He smirked. "Now, are you gonna come quietly, or will I have to carry you?"

Kuwabara grinned. "I'll carry her!"

She glared daggers at them both. "I can walk on my own two feet, thank you very much."

Yusuke pulled her wrists together; a ring of reiki enveloped them. "Heheh… I've been working on this attack. I call it 'Spirit Handcuffs.' You like?"

Her ears twitched. Kuso. I have a feeling this is going to be a long day.

Baka on'na, Hiei thought to himself. Why did I ever agree to this?

Oh, right.

To shut her up.

He mentally scoffed. Woman talks too much. "Deity of Death…" it's a wonder no one has killed her already. Botan had talked Hiei into meeting up with the group sent to capture the Makai fugitive. But why do I get such a weird feeling about this…? After all, she's only a prisoner. The Makai prisons are overflowing anyway. They arrest anyone for anything… she probably scratched her nose when they told her not to.

Hiei was running at a slow pace, though no human would be able to see him. Many demons wouldn't have been able to, either.

He heard them. Kuwabara was hard not to hear. A few moments later, he spotted them. They were a good distance ahead, and Hiei wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. He sped up. In about three seconds, he'd met up with them.

Kurama noticed his presence first. "Hiei! You decided to come?"

"Hn," he replied.

The girl stared at him. "…Hiei…?"

What…? That voice…. He turned to look at the girl; Yusuke's so-called "Spirit Handcuffs" were still glowing around her wrists. She was rather wet. It's her…

"What… what are you doing here with" – she gestured at the others – "them?"

He looked into her eyes. She looks just as she did years ago…. "…I often ask myself that same question."

Kuwabara spoke up. "You know her, Shorty?" Everyone stared at him. "…What?! I asked a frickin question! Why're you all looking at me like I've sprouted another head?!"

…So that's who "Shorty" is, eh? the girl thought to herself. I shoulda seen that one coming…. She suppressed a laugh.

Hiei regarded Kuwabara with distaste. "Baka. Of course I know her."

Yusuke grinned. "Old friends?" he asked coyly.

"Yes." The subtleties of Yusuke's statement were lost on Hiei. After all, they were friends. Well… perhaps "friends" wasn't the right word… but he needn't go into detail about that. Not in front of the humans.

Yusuke looked from Hiei to the girl. "Uh… I take it you're not going to run away?"

She smirked, showing her sharp, lethal-looking canines. "Not right away, at least. I may wait until later." She glanced down and over her shoulder at the "Rei Tejô" Yusuke had placed on her wrists. "Besides" – she pulled her wrists apart sharply; the Rei Tejô dissipated – "it wouldn't be any fun to run away from you. There's no challenge in it."

Yusuke was speechless.

…Almost. "But— what— how did you—?" My attack…?! He grabbed her shirt front angrily. "I spent a lot of time perfecting that technique! How can you just shrug it off like that?!"

She growled at him. "Let. Go. Of. Me." she said through clenched fangs. Yusuke did so, immediately. "Get this straight, Detective… I'm a hell of a lot stronger than you are. You're lucky I haven't sliced you into pieces already." She rested her hand on the hilt of her sword.

Yusuke pouted. "Why does everyone want to slice me into little bitty pieces?"

"It's a talent of yours," Hiei said.

"You stay out of this, Hiei! …Ah, hell with it… I've done my part of the deal, I'm going back. Don't you take too long, I wouldn't want her" – he gestured to the girl – "getting 'lost.'" He then proceeded to return to his apartment.

Kurama weighed his chances of winning a fight against the girl, if she decided to attempt an escape. She looks like a Youko… that may not be a good thing to go up against. He laughed inwardly. And of all people, I should know. He followed Yusuke.

Kuwabara stood there a few moments longer. He looked at Hiei and the girl.

They glared at him.

"Hey, Urameshi! Wait for meeeeee…!" he said, and took off after Yusuke. Hiei and the girl watched him run.

"Baka," said Hiei.

"Baka," said the girl.

They looked at each other.

She laughed. "We always did think alike, didn't we?"

"Yeah," Hiei agreed. "So… you escaped again?" To escape from that facility twice, and survive both times… she truly is remarkable.

She smirked. "Yeah, I escaped. And I killed half the bastards in the place on my way out."

"You didn't kill them all?"

"…No. I was lucky to get out in one piece. My mind was focused more on surviving, not killing." She looked down. "I wish I could've killed them all… but that would've been too much to ask for, wouldn't it? Survival and vengeance," she said bitterly.

"Hey." Hiei took her hands in his. "At least you got half of them."

She looked up, and smiled slightly. "You always knew how to make me feel better." You always knew….

His deep, crimson eyes met her dark, mysterious ones. "You're… just as I remember you, Kieda… except—" he ran a hand through her long, black hair. "You changed your hair."

A tear slid down her cheek. "You always did notice… the most inconsequential little things…." She threw her arms around his neck. "It was so hard to escape this time! They almost killed me! They… got hold of me… a-and I almost didn't get away…."

"Kieda…" I'm so sorry…. Hiei held her in his arms. "I wish there was something I could do…."

"Just… just don't let them get me…." Her small body was racked with sobs. "Don't let them take me away again…. I don't want… to be alone anymore…."

"It's okay," Hiei comforted her. "I'll never let them get you. I'll… never let anything happen to you."

Slowly, she looked up into his eyes. "Arigatô," she said quietly.

And then he kissed her. To her surprise, she found herself returning the kiss.

That was when they heard a noise.