Warnings: Fluff. LOTS of fluffiness. ^_^

The Welder of BlackFire:

Thorn's New Life-The Legend Lives

Chapter Thirty: In the Cover of Darkness

The next night was cool, the fire not large enough to heat the cave fully, but big enough to emit a gentle light. Thorn was awake. Both Rose and BlackFire had decided to separate for the night to get their arguments together. Her head felt like a court room, very recently deserted. BlackFire's physical shape, imprisoning his soul, lay behind her, silent in a sleep-like cloud of thought.

Thorn watched the small flames of the fire, letting the light reflect off her emerald depths. She looked up after a long while to see Hiei on the opposite wall on the other side of the fire, sleeping with his katana leaning snuggly against his shoulder, his chin nestled against his chest and his right knee parallel with it as his foot lay flat on the floor. He looked very peaceful with the flames dancing across his face, playing with the shadows on his expression, she noticed. She stood up slowly and walked over to the pile of dry firewood that he had gathered to sustain them through the chill of night. She took a large log and placed it on the waning ambers, which sparked and snapped gleefully at the new fuel. She straightened from beside the flames and looked over at Hiei. His skin was lightly scattered with goose bumps. She walked over to him quietly, her bare feet silent on the hard dirt floor, free from the binds of her boots, which stood rigidly on near the fall wall. She knelt down next to him, taking his cloak, which lay draped over her arm, and placing it around his shoulders. He twitched, but did not wake. She watched him a moment and then, with painstaking slowness, Thorn raised her hand up to his face, brushing her fingers against the stray locks of hair that fell over his closed eyes.

Hiei opened his eyes slowly to the touch. He blinked before lifting his head from where it rested on his chest. He felt the touch retreat and looked to his right, where Thorn knelt with a small smile. She sat down beside him as he observed her movements, which, he noticed, hardly hinted at pain. He felt the warm fabric of his cloak around his shoulders and raised a hand to touch it.

"You should keep warm while you heal," he said, pulling the cloak from his shoulders and holding it out to her. She shook her head.

"I know that you are cold. You take it," she said. Hiei deliberated a moment before setting it down in the small space between them.

"Its here when you want it," he said as he looked toward the slowly growing flames of the fire. There was a brief moment of silence, filled only by their quiet breaths and the fire's crackling laughter.

"I'm sorry," she said very suddenly, and very quietly. Hiei glanced at her from the corner of his eye, noting her serious expression in the unsteady light before turning back to the flames himself.

"For what?" he asked, being sure to keep expression from his voice.

"For making you help me like this. You shouldn't be helping your enemy." He gave a small snort.

"Who says I'm helping an enemy? I'm only helping you," Hiei said, throwing her own words back at her with a haunting echo. She smirked and gave a sad laugh that floated through the air delicately.

"You know that you could get in trouble for helping me. So why are you?" she asked, turning to look at him. Hiei yearned to look up, but kept his eyes pasted on the fire as he spoke.

"I've asked you the same questions before, and you never gave me straight answers, so I wont give you any either," he said. She gave another small laugh, turning her eyes back toward the fire.

"I thank you, Hiei. For real. I've never felt so wanted before," she said tiredly, her voice laced with drunken sleeping tones. Hiei turned his head sharply, looking at her with questioning and narrowed eyes, but she had faded off to sleep. He grunted and took his cloak, settling it around her before settling back against the cave wall and going back to sleep himself.

*

Hiei woke late that night. There was a comforting warmth on his right side, but the rest of him felt the cold setting in, seeping through his sparse clothing. He opened his eyes into sleepy slits. The fire was out, he noticed through his sleepy haze. He lifted his head from some warm, silken pillow, and looked around him. His eyes grew wide as he realized what was so warm against him. Thorn's head lay under his chin, resting against his shoulder as she slept, her breath even and warm against the fabric of his tank top, seeping through the textile. He tried to move away, but stopped when Thorn murmured and moved closer, shivering against him under his cloak's enveloping wings. With an uneasy glance around him, he straightened against the wall, his back stiff. Thorn's brow furrowed as she turned toward him, murmuring nothings under her breath as her hand rested on his chest, snuggling closer to him.

He sat there for an hour, not moving and stiff under her touch, however soft and comforting it was. Finally, he began to relax as the night grew colder. Whether or not he'd admit it, he was a little cold and, being unable to stand to rekindle the fire, needed to except the offered warmth. So instead of resisting as Thorn moved closer, he welcomed the warmth her touch brought, chasing away the frozen fingers of midnight chill. He sighed as his eyes became heavy. Without meaning to, he fell asleep once more.

*

Hiei was first to wake in the early morning hours before dawn. The cold had not left, and, if anything, was more intense, as he lay on the cool floor of the cave, but he didn't feel it. He was blissfully warm, he noticed as he opened his eyes slowly, the warmth hazing his eyes and struggling to seduce him back into slumber. He looked around him groggily. Thorn's head lay on his chest, her hand on his right shoulder. He shook his head, startled, and took another look. His arms lay wrapped around her shoulders as she lay on his chest, her left leg draping over his, closing the gap between them into nothing but a hair's breath.

Hiei's eyes widened at the sight he imagined they must be. He tried desperately to wiggle away, removing his arms from around her shoulders, only to have Thorn grip his shirt and mumble something, nuzzling into his chest. He looked around frantically, wondering what he should do.

"Thorn, wake up," Hiei said quietly, shaking her. She continued mumbling, but her eyes opened slowly. She shivered, feeling the cold, and pulled herself closer to Hiei as she closed her eyes again. As you can imagine, this was a very awkward position for Hiei, not knowing what to do, he shook her again, calling her name once more. This time she opened her eyes fully and looked around. She lifted her face toward his voice, blinking at the sleep in her mind and eyes.

"Hiei," she said, surprised to see him above her. "What's wrong?"

"Ahh," he began, not sure how to say what he wanted to say without sounding perverted. But he didn't need to, she looked around, her sense of touch finally kicking in. She began to blush, embarrassed.

"Oh," she said stupidly, peeling herself away from him. He sat up as she sat beside him, still blushing furiously. "Sorry." Hiei didn't answer, but pink tinted his cheeks as well, even though he tried with all his will to suppress it.

He stood up, and she followed suit, walking back over to the fire, her cheeks still painted lightly as she began to rekindle the dead flames. He looked around, there was plenty of dry wood and the cave would soon be warm again.

"You should go and check on Yusuke to make sure he's okay," Thorn said. "They'll be wondering where you are." There was the smallest of sparks from the fire. She placed some dry moss on the fire, which grew in the cave, and set it on fire using a small flame of raw Spirit Energy. Flames began to slowly claw their way through the moss, picking it up with hungry greed.

"I suppose so," the fire youkai said, placing his hands in his pockets. "I'll be back later," he said, turning to go. Thorn waited until she was sure he was gone before giving a heavy sigh and relaxing. She felt like she had been holding her breath. She shook her head.

'I'm going crazy!' she thought as she threw down more sticks and stood with a snort. 'How could I do that?! Let that happen?! So stupid.' She walked over to the side of the cave where her boots lay and proceeded to put them on. 'I'm a fool.'

+Meanwhile+

Hiei walked along the road quickly, toward the Kuwabara household. It was still dark when he entered it, swiftly, silently, without being noticed. He walked down the hall toward the guestroom with the same cunning about him. Yusuke was asleep, but Kurama sat in the corner of the room in a chair with his arms and legs crossed, shadows covering his face and its expression.

"You're back," Kurama said quietly, watching as Hiei stood in the doorway from under his thick red hair, being sure that his voice implied nothing.

"Hn," was the reply.

"How long are you going to do this?" the kitsune asked. He received no answer for a long time.

"When she is healed." Kurama looked at him in the darkness at the softness in his tone.

"She is healed."

"What does it matter to you?" Hiei snapped quietly, looking away from the kitsune's level and calculating gaze.

"Hiei-" Kurama began softly, making to stand and approach, but a glare made him stop. He had never exchanged such a gaze with the fire youkai; not even when they stole the three artifacts and he had betrayed both Hiei and Gouki. Although he knew that Hiei would not harm him, the gaze truly was intimidating. His voice faltered, but he tried to continue. "You must stop th-" Hiei growled and turned away.

"I don't need your advice," he growled darkly, stopping Kurama in his tracks.

"But Hiei-" Kurama began again, trying to keep his voice low. But he was never able to finish. Hiei disappeared from the doorway just as the sun hit the far reaches of the city. Kurama sighed and looked out the window, knowing it was fruitless to chase the demon in the large city, for it would only anger him. He would come to terms with this on his own, the kitsune decided and resettled in his chair to ponder over the latest occurrence.

Hiei walked along, royally pissed off. The day quickly wore on into mid-afternoon with the same thoughts shifting through his head as his feet carried him where they pleased. 'What the hell was he thinking? He's acting like I wasn't aware that I would have to turn her in. I know that I should have right after we fought, but... I don't know... I just couldn't. But I will. After I defeat her. I wont let anyone live who's stronger than me. Especially no human,' he thought, letting his rage cool into resolute determination. It was strange, it seemed that in the past two or three days he hadn't been the same. For one, he hadn't picked a fight with Kuwabara since... a long time. Agg! What the hell was going on?

'I'll turn her in as soon as I get back,' he thought certainly. He had reached the edge of the forest and with grim determination he bolted into the trees toward the cave, his mind set on his mission.

He stopped at the entrance to the cave, hesitant for just a second. It was dark inside, but he could just see the flickering of the fire in the distance. With a growl he swaggered into the cave. He'd take care of this problem now.

Thorn glanced up at him as he walked in, a flash of bright green in the darkness, a flicker of gold from the fire sparking their chasms. Her eyes made his step falter and he was forced to pause before beginning what he had planned on saying. Yes, he had planned out what he was going to say to her, to ensure that mistakes were lost in the haze of determined thought. But her eyes, there was a gentleness in them as she looked at him before hardening as she returned to look at the fire. She seemed suddenly very distant.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, his tone holding more scoff then he meant.

"Hn." She glanced at him again. "Do you really want to know?" she asked with a bit of a snap. He noticed she was wrapped in a thick comforter blanket, one he recognized from her bed, his cloak folded neatly beside her, brushed free of dirt. He didn't speak.

"Then sit down," she said, her eyes now blank and stoic, even the flames of the fire unable to bring any semblance of life to them. He hesitated. He just wanted to get this over with and take her to Koenma so he never had to see her or hear her voice again. He wanted all the confusion to go away, to leave him forever.

He knelt down beside her, his knees on his folded cloak. She shed the blanket from her shoulders, which were freckled with faint goose bumps, and turned to him without expression. She had replaced BlackFire on her back, he noticed, and it glowed brightly, angry and hissing. She raised her right hand slowly and brought it up to his forehead. She gently took off the bandana that covered his Jagan eye and pressed her fingertips against his forehead lightly. There was a blinding flash of light, a pain going through his Jagan eye as well as a burn at the back of his natural eyes. He took in his breath quickly before closing his eyes and settling into the darkness.

/In the darkness/

Hiei stood in a dark room. A room that had no walls. It was like space, a never-ending stretch of black. He looked around curiously, suspiciously.

"Hn. Glad you made it in once piece." Hiei looked down. Thorn was sitting on a bench, the only furniture in the entire 'room', her arms and legs crossed, her eyes closed and her face lacking definite expression.

"What is he doing here?" came a deep and guttural growl in front of the youkai. Hiei quickly turned his attention to the interruption, his eyes cold as they landed on the figure. A tall humanoid creature was looking at him, his eyes a shinning and icy blue, a streak of black raging through them jaggedly, his shoulder-length hair jet black with light blue highlights was held back in a neat pony-tail at the base of his neck. He bared long fangs at the youkai menacingly, glaring at him hatefully.

"Thorn, please explain," came a softer, yet very firm voice. Hiei's eyes widened as recognized it. He turned toward his left and across from the man was a young woman with long brown hair, its highlights a cheerful copper even in the darkness. Her dark green eyes watched him, her expression as blank as Thorn's eyes.

Rose.

"I thought he had a right to know if I will have to kill him," Thorn said with a shrug.

"Mistress," said the tall male, tearing his heated glare from Hiei and turning toward Rose. "You can't let her do this."

"You'd better calm down, BlackFire, or you'll be sprouting your tail early today," Thorn said. The man snapped his attention to her and growled with narrowed eyes.

"Silence," he grumbled. Thorn said nothing. He turned to glare at Rose, who raised her brows in an expression that clearly stated the course of wordflow that would spill from her lips had done so many times before.

"I have no control over her, BlackFire, she is her own person whether or not you or I like it. I can only encourage," Rose said. She sighed and turned away from the young woman on the bench and Hiei. "Let's get back to the manner at hand. When the next step in Thorn's training should commence."

Hiei looked down at Thorn, who noticed the gaze and opened her eyes. "BlackFire prefers to come in his human form. It really doesn't suit him, but he insists upon looking presentable. He'll be in his true form soon enough. He cannot hold this image when he is angry," Thorn explained.

"Where is this place?" he asked.

"Just space. We are images in our minds here. We cannot touch but we can hear and speak." She lifted a hand and lowered it to his arm. But there was no feel. Instead, the image fluttered and died until she retreated her hand, then the image returned. "I guess you could call us ghosts."

"Thorn, quiet. Keep to listening for others," Rose said, turning her attentions back to BlackFire. Thorn nodded.

"Don't you have a say in this matter?" Hiei asked in a quiet voice.

"No," Thorn said simply, and fell silent.

"I don't like this. You should kill him right now," BlackFire growled. Rose shook her head.

"No. He shouldn't die. I wont let you kill him," Rose said. Hiei watched in silence beside the bench. He watched the two storm clouds build.

"Mistress, he is a threat! We should dispose of him now while we still have the chance. Who knows when he could try to turn us into Koenma?"

"BlackFire, you know as well as I that Thorn is powerful enough to escape any capture set upon her. Not to mention she is fully healed now, her powers have returned to their normal levels. Besides, I don't think that Hiei would take her unless he was forced to. And frankly, I don't think that anyone forces Hiei to do anything."

"But Thorn's power is not at its maximum, Mistress! Unless we destroy what gives her those emotions, she will never uncover her full potential!" BlackFire's rage was building.

"Don't raise your voice to me, BlackFire! Those emotions are what give humans the edge!"

"Forgive me, Mistress, but you are wrong! I have lived for over six thousand years! Those emotions are what weaken one's heart and hands! Humans say that these give them the edge they need, but in all fact and respect, they only serve as a weakness, as well as a hope that they will give a human their strength in a moment of intense need of it. Rage is the only true emotion that will prove to make you stronger!" BlackFire argued. Rose was beginning to seethe under her cool mask.

"Are you saying, because I believe these things, I too am weak?" she hissed. BlackFire took a step back, and his expression fell into immediate submission.

"No! No, Mistress! I am only saying that humans teach their young such foolery as to give them false hopes and make them believe that they have more strength then they truly posses!" BlackFire said hastily, clearly trying to make up for the brash statement.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Hiei will not be killed."

"Mistress!" BlackFire roared. "If we do not kill him he is bound to hunt us. I do not like to be hunted! And-"


"Silence!" Rose snarled. "I did not ask if you liked to be hunted. It doesn't matter! He will not hunt us, at least, not without our knowing and you know this! He cannot kill Thorn, he cannot kill you, and as long as I stay here, he cannot kill me. We have nothing to fear from even someone as powerful as him." Hiei narrowed his eyes. "True, he could injure us greatly with any number of his attacks, and not just because of his speed. He is very powerful. But he cannot kill us. Everyone here knows that, including him. There is no point to kill him."

"But he is a distraction! We should have left days ago! As soon as we had woken! But you insisted upon staying! Your emotions are clouding your judgment!" BlackFire growled, beginning to pace. His tail, which had not been there before, snapped back and forth behind him in an irked gesture.

"No, your greed is clouding yours!" she hissed. "We will not kill him! This meeting is over. The decision has been made. Until next week, we will go on this choice. He stays." With a suddenly calm and business-like demeanor, Rose's image disappeared. Thorn opened her eyes, for she had closed then when the argument had truly begun, sighing. BlackFire turned to them, his eyes burning hot in the air.

"You!" he raged, his tail slashing with renewed vigor as he looked at Hiei. "It was because of you that this is happening! Thorn's abilities will remain in the minor stages until you die! You are doing more harm than good here, you are doing nothing but getting in the way!"

"Go, BlackFire. The meeting is over. Until next week, hold your arguments," Thorn said, standing. With an infuriated hiss, his imaged disappeared as well.

"As you wish, Mistress," he said before vanishing.

"Let's go, Hiei."

/In the Cave/

With an exhausted sigh, Thorn removed her hand from Hiei's forehead and they opened their eyes. She handed him his bandana, which he replaced over his Jagan Eye.

"You were lucky, they were very calm this week. Rose was being polite," Thorn said, turning back to the fire. "They will be silent until dawn to think over what happened." She removed a silent BlackFire from her back and placed him in the dirt by the wall of the cave, the tip of the sword imbedded in the dirt about two inches, making it stand upright. She recovered her blanket and draped it around her shoulders against the cave's chill. She looked very small like that, with the large blanket laying around her like a pool of dark blue water, swallowing her as she stared into the flames.

Hiei shook his head and sat down, throwing another stick on the fire.

"So you're free, like you were in Los Vegas?" Hiei asked, looking at the fire himself. She nodded.

"Until dawn, then BlackFire will wake," she said. The air was filled with the crackling of wood and fire and silence.

"I just wanted to show you that Rose will fight until the end to protect you," Thorn said after a while. Hiei glanced at her.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked. "You are your own person, so why do you follow their orders?"

"Its an obligation. They created me, well, their souls did. Its complicated."

"I have time," he said blankly. She sighed.

"Rose gave up half of her soul to create me, while BlackFire gave a quarter. Their souls merged into one to create a new soul. Me. So I guess you could say that I am their child and until I 'move out' of this body, which will probably never happen since I can make this body immortal, I am obligated to listen to them. More to Rose than BlackFire, but still, they could, at any time, take back their part of the soul and kill me. Until my training is complete, BlackFire could take back his part of the soul at any time. Rose said she would never take back her part of the soul. She said she gave it to me, and she never steals. Even if I were to offer it back, she would never take it," Thorn explained.

"So by not... killing... me, you risk dying," Hiei said. She hesitated before nodding.

"But Rose is very persuasive. She has the uncanny ability to make people see things her way. If he even thought about it, she could convince BlackFire otherwise. I'm not worried." She shivered.

"Hn." Hiei gave her a skeptic look. She felt it.

"After the meetings there's always a lot of negative energy. It makes me cold," she explained at the gaze.

"Hm." Hiei thought. Now would be the perfect time to take her to Koenma. She didn't have BlackFire and she seemed weaker from the cold she felt. He could get Kuwabara to come back and get the sword afterward. But he didn't move. He felt he couldn't. He felt he was betraying her. He didn't deny it this time. Its what he felt.

There was a soft weight on his left shoulder. He looked down. Thorn was leaning against him. He thought that she had fallen asleep until she spoke.

"I thank you for your kindness, Hiei." He was startled at her move. His eyes widened as he stuttered under his breath. But he didn't say anything, at least, nothing that could be conceived as words. He looked away, toward the cave's entrance, trying not to think. Evening was approaching quickly. It surprised him. The entire day was gone.

"You are very warm," Thorn said suddenly, quietly, just audible over the fire. "Will you keep me warm right now, Hiei?" He didn't say anything, and was startled by the request, but suddenly, he relaxed. He felt his breath deepen and his tense shoulders loosen as he hesitantly put his arms around her shoulders as she placed the blanket around his. She moved closer and sighed in content as Hiei hesitantly rested his head on hers.

They stayed like that for a long time, pulling the blanket closer to themselves as the night settled over Japan, bringing with it the chill of Autumn. They built up the fire into a large, greedy flame that licked the air in its hunger.

It had been nearly two hours when Thorn looked up at him. Hiei lowered his eyes to look into hers. There was something different in her eyes. They were still bright green, but their edges were softer and they lacked both their usual humor and sullenness. She sat up straighter and placed a hand on his chest, her face moving closer to his. She closed her eyes and brushed her lips against his.

Hiei took a quick breath, but was not as surprised as he would have expected he would be at her boldness. Electricity burned his senses as they touched. But it was short-lived, although it was a sighingly sweet burn. He closed his own eyes and reached forward for another. The second was longer, yet still little more than just a feather-light touch. He lifted his right hand to cup her chin as they moved closer. Thorn's hand went to the back of his neck, her gentle fingers in his hair as they faced each other.

She pulled away for a moment and they opened their eyes slowly. She lowered her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. I-" Hiei didn't let her finish as he brought her chin up and occupied her lips with a long, passionate kiss. He could feel her sigh inwardly as she gave in to his prompting. Her hand trailed slowly down his chest, making him shiver with pleasure. His own hand had moved into her long, thick locks, which were as silky as the softest of threads. He leaned toward her, closing the space between them. His left hand, which had been draped around her shoulders, moved down her back, tracing down her spine and making her shudder. He leaned even closer, slowly lowering her onto her back. She lay back on the large blanket, her hands fingering his tough muscles as they engaged in another, long kiss. Hiei followed her to the ground, laying beside her as he traced the curves of her body down to the top of her skirt with his right hand. She took away her left hand and took hold of his trailing hand, placing it just below the skirt's top, enclosing his fingers around her pelvic bone before removing her own hand and placing it on his shoulder. He took his thumb and began small and gentle circles on the sensitive flesh that lay to the inside of the bone, making her catch her breath at the pleasure invoked. She removed her hand from his shoulder, tracing his torso down to his belt. With her free hand she began to undo its clamps.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Authoress' Notes: ^_^ there you go! Sorry, I don't do lemons [not that there allowed on FF anymore anyway. _.], but limes are okay!

Yusuke: and that's why you're blushing.

THWACK!

Yusuke: @_@ gaa…

J: -eyebrow twitch- jack Arsh

Kurama&Kuwabara: -snicker-

J: anyway, I'm really sorry for the late update and everything, its just been a hectic week with my friends and everything. ^_^ but I'm back and ready for action! The last chapter will be late, probably, as well. But I'll try my best at getting it out for ya'll. And speakin' of ya'll, reviews are the best thing in the world! ^_^

Reviews:

miyako14: ^_^ here's yer update. Thankies!

SSSRoaB: yay! A new reviewer! ^_^ wondrous! I'm glad you like it! And I hope I answered all of yer questions in this chapter. It was the informative/fluff chapter after all. Just because you can't have just fluff or just information, cuz then its unsatisfactory to the reader as a chapter! ^_^ lol, sorry about killing you with suspense. ^_^ hope this makes ya happy! Thank ye!

Midnightdream51: lol, ya like the power puff analogy? ^_^ me too. Lol! Glad you liked my explanation, although a lot of it was discussed this chapter. Oh well. Lol. Well, you can't say the body's having issues holding the souls, because BB's is imprisoned in the sword, so its just hers and R's. but its different with Youko-Shuichi, because it is said that Youko actually went into the body before it had a soul, its just that the human mind is different or something. -shrug- that's what it says in the manga. Lol! And I love yer chart about reviewing/reading chapters. Especially the 5+ part! Lol. ^_^ heeh. The mental convos were originally very confusing, so they've been altered a lot for better understanding. And I bet you take back yer Hiei and his OOCness now. ^_^ lmao! Hiei's been having some err… fun? At the agency building, eh? Lol. And the ghost thing is an anology. Thorn was the 'ghost' because… err… oh yeah! [brain freeze] because she haunted Hiei, but he didn't know it was her, like a ghost. With a physical body [thought in his head] but no face [unidentifiable] and an unknown purpose [he didn't know why it was there]. Thank ye so much! ^_^


Teaser:


"But this…," she touched his face again, letting her hand trail down his cheek. He could feel the hesitation of her fingers as they left the soft curve of his cheek and suddenly yearned for them to return, for their touch to ensure that she would never let go of him. "This… wont happen again. And it is unfortunate." Hiei nodded slightly in agreement, his eyes glinting somberly. "This is Good-bye, Hiei," she said softly, her hand falling to her side and her eyes, normally so bright with her hidden pain, darker and regretful. Hiei nodded again.

"It is," he said in a mere whisper, his voice unwilling to raise in volume should it fail him in the process. He pulled his hand up, brushing one unruly lock of hair from the left side of her face with his right hand, placing it behind her ear. It fell back in place a moment later with a seeming haughtily resistance. She gave her trade-mark sad smile, which was mirrored in her eyes with such exactness he could almost feel the pain as his Jagan picked up on her fierce emotions unconsciously…

+++++++++

J: enough of a teaser for you? So what's going to happen? Why is Thorn leaving? Where is she going? Has Koenma finally caught up with her? -grin- you'll just hafta find out next chapter! ^_^

Kurama: I guess its not very hard to see why Hiei is having psychological problems with all these situations you're putting him into J-san.

J: -twitch- I'm sorry, Fox boy, but I think I miss heard you. You did say that I was a nice author who lets everyone stay in my house and eat all my food instead of being cruel and imprisoning ya'll in cages, correct?

Kurama: -glances at the unconscious Yusuke in cage- -gulp- ahh, of course, J-san! Of course.

J: that's what I thought. ^_^. Well, sorry this has been so long in coming. Hope ya'll enjoy it! Now, I'm off to beat Yusuke up s'more for eating all of my girl scout cookies. ^_^ tata!

Kuwabara: thankfully she owns only Rose, Thorn, and the Black Blaze….

Reviews are rewarded with… stuff! ^_^