"Wanda!?" Rogue exclaimed. She sighed in relief. Still, that didn't mean that she wasn't as mad as hell. That last hex bolt of hers really hurt. Besides, if it hadn't been for that little outburst she might've been able to take down Meibatsu. Sure, she was nearly drowning in a puddle of her own blood, but really…

                "Rogue, keep your voice down!" Wanda hissed. Rolling her eyes, Rogue looked over to her side, the sound of rustling blankets drawing her attention. Kurama was up at looking at her, eyes wide in surprise and relief. She smiled. He had been all depressed and just hearing her voice made him jump as if he had been struck by lightning.

                "Alright sugah, Ah want answers and Ah want 'em now!"

                "I've managed to get in close to both Meibatsu and Yukio,"

                "Wanda, where are you? We'll come as quickly as our strength will allow!" Kurama said. Oh, words could not express just how happy he was to hear her. But now, she has risking so much by speaking with them while in the heart of the strong hold of the enemy. If she were caught…his blood ran cold at the thought of what Meibatsu might do her, let alone what Yukio would do to her.

                "Kurama…for once, I don't want you or the others to save me,"

                "But, Wanda,"

                "Please, Kurama, listen to me. Meibatsu and Yukio are planning a final assault. Either she kills you and the others or she destroys Tokyo trying. Now, I don't know when this is going to happen but – I have to go! Someone's coming!"

                "Wanda wait!"

                CLICK.

***

                 Removing the communicator from her ear, Wanda shoved it down her shirt and into her bra. Slipping beneath the cool covers of the bed, she curled up on her side and pretended to be asleep.

                 Yukio was walking calmly down the hallway when he came to a stop outside Wanda's door. Something tugged at him. Suspicion mostly, but also a small twinge of fear. His surveillance satellites had recorded all of Meibatsu's battles and she and those other two girls were proving to be just as troublesome as Urameshi. And something just seemed strange about her; it was almost too easy for her to have been swayed. But then again, powers like hers would be useful.

                Continuing down his way, the faint sound of opera music caught his attention. Meibatsu's door was just slightly ajar and peaking inside, he found to his amusement, that Meibatsu sat on the chair in front of her vanity, muttering curses to herself.

                As much as he tried to deny it, she was very beautiful, despite the scars that ran around her lips. It was a shame that he had to kill her once she was of no more use to him.

                "Kurama," she growled. "What could you possibly see in this girl? She doesn't seem at all like anything special. Then again you were always a little eccentric."

                Slamming the door open, Yukio burst in an angry scowl on his face. Meibatsu was torn from her thoughts and whipped her head around to look at him. Too slow to react, she could only look up at him with fear as his hands wrapped around her throat.

                "Release me – ugh!" she choked. Pain burst from the small of her back as she was slammed into the vanity.

                "Feeling jealous are we?" he snapped, tightening his grip. "Now, we can't have that when you need to kill him."

                "You know that with one scream I could destroy you and this mansion do you not?"

                Yukio reached into his pocket, pulled out a knife and pressed the blade against her skin.

                "Not if I slit your vocal cords first,"

                She quivered in his grip. Wide eyes were fearfully cast downward at the glistening metal, which was now pressed against her throat. For one of the first times in her life, terror, real, honest terror filled her. To no avail she wished that things had remained the way they were, that Kurama would come to her aid, as he once did those many years ago.

                Lowering the knife, he shoved her onto the floor and stormed out of the room. Laying on the plush carpet, coughing and gasping for air, hot tears welled in her eyes.

                Was she jealous? Of that woman, Wanda Maximoff? For all of her hatred for Kurama, did she still harbor feelings for him? What the hell was wrong with her?! He left her to die. He never cared about her. Then why, why did she still want to be with him again so desperately?

                'That girl…she's taking Kurama away from me! God, you idiot, Kurama! You couldn't begin to understand how badly I wanted to tell you how I felt, but you never saw me as anything aside from a partner. This pain, this turmoil it's all because of you! I must put a stop to it and this pain won't leave me until you die by my hand!!'

***

                Morning was taking forever to come. The hours passed slowly, as if taunting Kurama with how long it was taking before he and the others could do anything to help Wanda. Ugh, he was sure that he would go insane long before the sun rose.

                Hoshiko. Long before she was captured and he was killed, she was by far the most sought after woman in Makai. Beautiful, powerful, and despite her attitude and fiery temper, once you got close to her, she proved to be very affectionate and kind. To him, she was perfect, with no flaws, her amethyst eyes more beautiful then any jewel or treasure they had stolen. Her body perfectly toned because of the many raids she went on (whether or not he was with her). The clothing she wore, with a distinctly Chinese flare to them, flattered her hourglass-like figure, though the dark shades made her skin appear deathly pale, a little bit like Rogue's.

                She had been a wonderful partner. Obedient, quick, and a she made a very good distraction if there were guards. Aside from that, she was like the little sister he never had.

                And then everything fell apart in only two hours.

                He had waited for a week to hear news of what had happened to her, but then, when he heard that King Yama would be the one passing judgment on her, it all seem hopeless somehow. The feelings of remorse had been driving him crazy. He wanted to go back for her, to set her free again. But his mind had been over run by the rumors that she had been executed, and he just couldn't bring himself to go and prove that those were just rumors.

                But what of Wanda? What did she think of him now? Even before she had come up with the idea to fake a betrayal, she had seemed uncomfortable to be near him. Every word that Meibatsu had spoken of her past made him shiver. For all he knew, she may never look at him again. She probably thought that even though the incident occurred nearly 400 years ago, that he was no better then her father. Besides, it was obvious that she was still licking her wounds.

                Looking to his left, he found that Hiei had disappeared. When, he wasn't sure, but when he looked to his right, Rogue was gone too.

                She had gotten up not too long ago. Kurama had heard her soft footsteps on the wooden flooring not even fifteen minutes earlier. After leaving the bathroom, he had watched with interest as she realized that Hiei had wandered off somewhere. Carefully tiptoeing over a fast asleep Tabitha, and undoing the lock as quietly as she could, she stepped out the back door, leaving it open, only slightly so as not to wake up the others when she returned. He smiled slightly to himself.

                The air was cold and there was only a slight breeze as Rogue made her way down the sidewalk. Though still dressed in her borrowed sleepwear, she didn't mind, though she had to admit it was slowly becoming colder. Wrapping herself in hug as she turned the corner, she quickened her pace to a brisk trot. She really hadn't the slightest clue as to where she was going, but something Kurama said; that they were similar in personality gave her a pretty good idea as to where she was going.

                Lucky for she and Hiei both, there was a small park not far from Kuwabara's home.

                It was freezing! Her teeth had begun to chatter together and her feet were numb from cold. Upon entering the park, Rogue quickly took a seat on a nearby by swing, the one beside it, obviously older, squeaked and whined as it hypnotically swung back and forth in the breeze. That was probably why she didn't notice as someone came from behind to lean on the cold metal pole of the swing set.

                "Why are you following me?" said a voice. Standing up and whirling around, Rogue quickly got into a fighting stance, though it was a little shaky from her shivering.

                "Don't flatter yourself, Ah ain't following ya," she replied.

                "You're a terrible liar," Hiei said.

                "Well, it ain't easy to lie when it's so cold outside!"

                "Idiot. You're not wearing any shoes, socks, or a coat, of course you're going to be cold,"

                "Like ya really care,"

                Though facing opposite directions, (since Rogue had retaken her seat on the swing), the two of them turned their heads to glare daggers into one another. Unfortunately, this backfired, at least in Hiei's case, as Rogue started snickering at him, and she lost her concentration on her patented death glare.

                "Just what is so funny?" Hiei asked, breaking the silence.

                "It ain't nothin' much sugah, just that ya look like Wolverine when ya look at me like that,"

                "Did you just call me 'sugah'?" A look of horror, disgust, and shock flickered across his face. This only managed to get her snickering again. Sadly, her snickering became giggling, and giggling became laughing. Eventually, it got to a point where he actually walked up in front of her and pressed one of his hands, protected by his sleeve, over her mouth, in an attempt to try and silence her. The overall shock of his actions got her quiet very quickly.

                He didn't know why, but Hiei held his hand there for a moment after she had gotten quiet. When he finally moved his hand, she sat there staring up at him, stunned. However, most of his attention was on the fact that his sleeve was still a bit warm from where her lips had been.

                "Well…that was…unexpected," Rogue said nervously.

                "To say the least," Hiei replied. Looking back at her, he saw that she still stared at him like a deer in headlights. "I shouldn't have done that,"

                "No, it…it ain't you Hiei…really. It's just that when ya ain't touchable, your not used to people willingly gettin' that close to ya," she said softly, in shaky reassurance. She stood up from her seat. "Ah'm gonna go back to Kuwabara's. See ya in the morning,"

                "I'll go back with you,"

                "No! No…that…that ain't necessary. Ah'm a southern girl Hiei. Ah don't need protection,"

***

                Staring up at her ceiling, Wanda lay awake, thinking about the events of that day. Needless to say, Rogue, Yusuke, and Kuwabara, being as short tempered as they were, weren't going to be very happy when they regrouped.

                She frowned. Would Kurama be angry with her too? Jeez, thinking about that was making a whole wave of guilt rush over her. Though still confused as to why, she just seemed to know (or at least think) that if he was mad at her, that she wouldn't be able to stand all of the guilt.

                But why should she care, for the time of course. After all she was, currently, the "enemy". Oh yeah, she was the big scary enemy whom everyone quakes in fear at. They better quake in fear or she would find other means of making them shake like little, dry, pathetic leaves. Little leaves that would be easily crushed. 'Hurray!' she thought sarcastically. 'My not-so-first evil thought! Now I can work on that evil laugh…'

Author's Note: Hey there everyone! I just wanted to say that you shouldn't get your hopes up for a new chapter updates until early January since I'm going back to Minnesota for my Christmas break, and I won't be back until New Years eve. So, all you loyal people out there who have constantly been reading and reviewing this story, I would like to think of this as an early Christmas (Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice) present okay? Bye! Happy Holidays!