DMG: Ohayo, minna-san! And yes, I am still crawling along at a snail's pace. -_- School is evil. EVIL!!! You'll be happy to note that I finally handed in my Renaissance project! (As if you care about my mountains of homework.) And I put this story at about… 20 chapters, perhaps. REVIEWS!:

AnimeKrazyIdiot: YAY! New reviewer! Thank you, thank you!

Midnightdream51: Somebody should form a Renaissance project support group sometime. I love learning about it, but it's really a pain sometimes, that it is. Eh heh… I hope my plot will be okay… it's not really much of one… but it passes… Hm… Hiei stayed with Kai because he has no real reason to go back to Ningenkai, unlike the others, who all have families. That's it, really. (Unless you just want to call it a plot device. That works too.)

Chihiro: Heh… heh… sorry about that. I have a dirty mind. ^-^;; Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

Rei Akita: ^____^!

Miss Anime Luver: Sure! Go ahead, use it! I'm glad that you're writing a story of your own. I love cats, too. (I have four!) Thanks for asking, though!

Toxic Tears1: ^_^ You're right; I have been neglecting that lately, haven't I?

YaJiRuShi: Eep! Don't worry, more Hiei/Kai stuff coming soon! *cowers behind computer*

kirsa: Ah! Don't worry, homework is evil! I would have more time to update and review other stories if I didn't have any, too. Good luck!

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            Kai's nose was pink and her cheeks were flushed, although her face still remained as pale as ever underneath, Hiei noted as they stepped lightly back to her den over the deep, cold, pillowy white snow. He had been surprised when the first wet flakes had fallen, carpeting the ground. After all, in Ningenkai, it was still late autumn, and winter should not be here for a month yet. When Kai noticed he was thinking this, she laughed.

            "It always snows early here," she said.

            Hiei had never really thought about snow before, he realized. To him, it was a reminder of a past he did not want to remember, of a bitter childhood he was denied. Snow to him was the land of the Koorime.

            But Kai… he had noticed her mood more cheerful as the leaves turned bright, and when the flaming color gave way to white skies and chilly rains. She was always trying to get him to play with her in silly snow games, always laughing at something or other, although never at him.

            Recently, Hiei had learned to attach new emotions to snow: contentment and security, and maybe even… happiness? Or whatever.

             Kai stopped suddenly when she could not feel Hiei's youki beside her. She hadn't really been paying attention… was she the one who wandered off, or was he? Or did he just stop for a bit? That was probably it, she decided. And he probably wanted some time to himself.

            Smiling a bit, she thrust her hands deeper in her pockets and continued to stroll back to her den. Hiei would catch up when he felt like it.

            It was dark by the time Hiei found the heavy wooden door to Kai's den unlocked. He stepped inside, shaking off his snow-covered boots. She had not let up at all on her no-shoes-inside rule.

            Kai was not in the main living room, but there was a blazing fire roaring in the hearth. Hiei was never cold, but the welcoming orange glow from the fire added a warmth to the room that he liked. Deciding not to look for the cat demon (who he knew was in the den from her spirit energy and who might get the wrong idea that he liked her if he went to look for her) Hiei sat on his favorite couch closest to the window.

            A few minutes later, Kai appeared in the comfortable living room bearing a tray with two steaming cups filled with a think, dark liquid.

            "What is it?" Hiei asked suspiciously as he examined the stuff that Kai gave him.

            "I had this the last time I was in Ningenkai," she explained. "Keiko called it 'hot cocoa.'"

            They sipped the 'hot cocoa' in silence, the only sound being the winter wind whistling outside the windows.

            Kai shivered and sunk deeper into the couch. It was always drafty in here during the winter…

            "Are you cold?" Hiei asked, sounding almost bored, but that was his usual tone.

            "Hmm-mm," she answered idly.

            Her eyes shot open when she felt a warm weight settling around her shoulders. She twisted to see Hiei looking determinedly away from her, his face tinged red at the current position of his arm.

            She felt her own face heat up, but ignored the sensation. This was her chance! This time, he was going to let her…

            She allowed her head to relax onto Hiei's shoulder.

            This time, his eyes widened, but he didn't move. Instead, after she was asleep, he gently smoothed her copper-and-gold streaked hair from her face and watched her peaceful, sleeping face for a long while.

The next morning, Kai was awakened by a sharp tapping against the glass.

            "Hmm?" Kai yawned, revealing gleaming fangs, and attempted to stretch (in the manner of cats after waking up), when she found she was being tightly held by something comfortably warm… "Oh!" Hiei's face was very close to hers.

            At her little exclamation of surprise, Hiei slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times. "Kai?"

            "Yes! Who else would I be?" She eyed him suspiciously.

            "No one." He abruptly realized he still had a death grip on her waist (they had shifted during the night), and released her.

Kai didn't move after Hiei had gotten up. Instead, she stared blankly in the direction he had gone for several minutes with a strange expression on her face.

            Her spell was broken with another sharp rap to her window glass. (Yes, she has glass; Kai likes the human influence thing - you might say she's kinda modern - and she was a pretty successful assassin (meaning $$$))

            Grumbling slightly, she moved over to the window and threw it open. Sitting on her sill was a majestic youkai hawk of gigantic proportions, bearing a tied scroll in his sharp, curved beak.

            "Konnichiwa, Taka-sama! Did you want to talk to me?" Kai asked him.

            He shifted his long talons on the smooth sill uncomfortably. "Indeed I did, koneko. A woman with blue hair riding a flying oar was heading to your den, and as lord of the skies here, I asked her for her business. As I suspected, she said she was going to deliver a message to you. However, I saw that you were busy," he paused to notice Kai's blush, "and I offered to take it to you instead."

            "Ah – arigato, Taka-sama…"

            "Koneko – have you finally taken a mate?"

            Kai choked and turned brilliant red. "Ah – no, no, no… Hiei is… he's just…. Ah…"

            The hawk looked at her in understanding. "I see. You humanoid youkai are very strange." He waited until Kai took the letter before spreading his wings and taking off.

            Seeing that it was addressed to both her and Hiei, Kai summoned the fire youkai before opening it.

"Hiei and Kai,

            Go to Ningenkai and wait there with the others until I can give you the instructions for your next mission.

- Pretty Koenma, Jr. Ruler of the Spirit World"

            It was overly decorated and stamped with a heavy seal.

"… a little vague, don't you think?"

            "No, baka no neko, we just have to go to Ningenkai and wait. How much more specific could it get?"

            "Whatever. And what's with the 'Pretty Koenma' thing?"

            "Hn. Don't ask."

            Knock, knock.

            "Hello?" A middle-aged woman with a kind face answered the knock to her door.

            "Hello," the blonde girl with green eyes said carefully. "We're looking for… Shuuichi. Is he here?"

            Shiori Minamino wondered at the almost undetectable pause before her son's name, but decided it was nothing. "Of course. He's in his room. You can go there."

            "Thank you. My name is Kai, and this is Hiei," she said, pointing to the silent boy beside her.

            "I'm pleased to meet you. I am Minamino Shiori."

            They bowed slightly before proceeding up to Kurama's room. He was waiting for them.

            "So, I see Koenma contacted you?"

            "Yes," Kai replied.

            "Hn." (Which can mean 'yes,' among other things, in the language of Hn. The only known master of this noble tongue is a certain fire demon by the name of Hiei... But the history of 'Hn' is a story for another day.)

            "But we really don't know why," she continued. "All it said was to wait in Ningenkai."

            "That, I cannot help you with. None of us know the reason," Kurama explained.

            "And I still want to know what's with the 'Pretty Koenma' thing!"

Kurama ~ (flashback)

            "Congratulations on advancing in the Dark Tournament," Koenma said in his high-pitched squeaky little voice.

            The Tantei were lounging in a hotel room, listening to Koenma yap about something or another. Hiei was sitting in a windowsill, looking out at the pouring rain. Kurama was coaxing a rose plant to grow in the palm of his hand (talented, huh?). Kuwabara was hanging all over Yukina and receiving murderous looks from Hiei, who had pulled himself away from the fascinating rain to watch over his sister. Yusuke, seemingly unaware of it all, was applying more superglue to his hair, which had somehow gotten messed up in the last fight. The girls were sitting on the couches drinking soda. Suddenly Koenma said something that made them all to pause and exchange sweatdrops.

            "And one more thing before you go off partying or training or whatever it is that you do. Call me Pretty Koenma. I think it brings out the sparkle in my eyes." Koenma batted his eyelashes, causing Yusuke to hurl into his bucket of hair grease/superglue solution. (He buys it by the bucket because he goes through the stuff so quickly.)

            George (sp?) the faithful and ever-frazzled oni, dashed into the room just as Koenma was saying this. He appeared severely traumatized and began rolling on the floor, screaming, "No! Not again! Not again!"

            The Tantei all remembered some urgent appointment that they were very late for and rushed out.

Kurama ~ (end flashback)

            "You really don't want to know," he told her with a sweatdrop.

            "That's what Hiei said," she muttered.

            "Kurama. Can we stay here?" Hiei interrupted.

            "Oh, yeah," Kai remembered. "The weather's really not that nice so I don't feel like sleeping in a tree. And I don't want to sleep in any more trees with Hiei," she said, glaring darkly at the fire youkai.

            "Well," Kurama considered, putting down the tea he'd suddenly been sipping. "As you can see, my mother is home right now, and she will be here for several weeks. If you like, I can make up a story about you two staying, but it will have to be convincing. I think my mother's beginning to wonder about all my disappearances."

            "No, we can find someplace else," Hiei said. "We don't want your mother to suspect anything, although I don't know why you don't just tell her and get it over with."

            "It's not that simple, Hiei. But thank you."

            "Hn." Hiei turned away, appearing faintly embarrassed about his tiny display of friendship and compassion for the fox.

            "Thanks anyway, Kurama," Kai said. "We'll be in touch."

            "So. Where do we try now?" Kai asked, dubiously eyeing all the ningen houses on the street.

            "Yusuke's house," Hiei ground out between clenched teeth. Asking anyone, even the fox, for help was a blow to his pride. And the detective…

            A young woman clasping a sake bottle opened the door to Yusuke's house.

            "Hullo? *hic* Who's there?" she asked, swaying slightly and peering above the pissed-off demons' heads into the darkness.

            "Down here," Kai sulked.

            "Oh! *hic* Are you *hic* friends of Yusuke's?"

            "Yes, is he here?" Hiei asked impatiently. The woman's breath smelled of alcohol, and it was irritating the hell out of his acute demon senses. Beside him, Kai looked ready to keel over.

            "Hm…" she looked back into the house. "YUSUKE!!! YUSUKE, ARE YOU THERE? SOME FRIENDS ARE HERE TO SEE YOU!!" She waited for a few minutes in silence. "Nope. I guess he isn't here," she giggled. She appeared momentarily sober. "You could try the house of that friend of his, what's his name… Kuwabaka or something?" So much for sober.

"Let's go," sighed Kai. "And, unfortunately, the only place left to try is… Kuwabaka's house." She snickered at the mauling of his name, no matter how fitting the change was.

            Hiei didn't reply.

            "Are you alright? You're awfully quiet. Anything you'd like to talk about?" Kai immediately went into super shrink mode, copying some guy she saw once on Kurama's TV thing.     

            "No," he said shortly. Nothing I can talk to you about.

            She frowned slightly at his curt answer and followed. One minute, he was acting like he might just open up, and the next he was pushing her away again. It just wasn't fair!

            Shizuru answered the door to the Kuwabara house, cigarette between her fingers. "Hello."

            "Hi, Shizuru. Um… Hiei and I were wondering if we could crash here for a while…"

            "Sure. My idiot brother and Yusuke are over there watching movies with Keiko and Boton and Yukina. Have fun."

            Kai saw Hiei tense at the mention of Yukina. She wished he would just tell her and get it over with… but that was his business and not hers… He really did not look well. All pale and nervous…

Gah! Stoppit, you moron! You're mad at him, remember?

            Oh, right. Um… why was I mad again?

            He's pushing you away, baka! And after being so warm last night…

            Oh, yes! Grrr! This is so damn confusing!

(Oh great. Now Kai has schizophrenia.)

            "Hey, guys!" Kuwabara shouted enthusiastically. "What are you doing here?"

            "Since when have you liked them, Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked sarcastically, completely ignoring the two demons.

            "I dunno…" he trailed off. "Hey, Kai, are you alright? You're ki's all weird and stuff…"

            "Ah hah… No, I'm fine!" *cheesy smile*

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DMG: Hey, everybody, I'm ending it here because… well, I really don't know why. I just don't feel like writing for so many characters at the moment. Sorry if anyone was OOC, some people's personalities are really hard to write for.

Random Stuff: I really want a chocolate cake right now. Last night I had a dream about chocolate cake. I took it from some random old lady's kitchen. I ate it. Then the old lady got really pissed at me. I woke up craving chocolate cake. The scary thing is, I've had this dream before. X_X