Winter's Fire

by MoonFairy

Slight AU- In the ten years between Shinobu and Yusuke, there had to be someone to keep an eye on the Earth… Shizuru centric.

Title: Winter's Fire

Rating: PG-13

Author: MoonFairy

Summary: Slight AU- In the ten years between Shinobu and Yusuke, there had to be someone to keep an eye on the Earth…

Pairings: Could be seen as Shizuru Kuwabara/Shuuichi Minamino

Rain washed over the darkened streets of Tokyo; cleansing its streets of the filth that accumulated daily, both figuratively and literally. In one run down neighborhood, to be more accurate, in a back alley, a child's heavy breathing echoed through the still air.

Wide brown eyes gazed forward, trying in vain to block out the images around her. It was obvious she was trying to ignore the gore and blood that painted the walls. The small trembles that encompassed her body was not due to the cool temperature but the shock of the recent events. The light gold kekai was still flickering in the darkness as her last line of protection.

Dark chuckles reverberated through the air. "Tell me little one, am I the monster from your dreams?"

He was. She knew every etch, every grotesque line of his face that haunted her sleep. But he was neither the first nor the last monster to be given flesh from her dreamscape, the demons that sought her out to rend her of her flesh and drink of her pure blood.

"Yo-you cannot h-harm me de-demon." She was incredibly ashamed of her stutter; her parents were strong! They fought against the evil to protect their children, yet why was she so weak? She may have been the culmination of two great psychic lines, but she was still no more than a child of seven. And the one who was supposed to be her protector lay in remains, scattered about the area.

"You think so, little warrior?" Claws flexed ever so slightly, and the child was acutely aware of their movement. Sharpened to the point they would match her father's finely honed blades, the talons had longs since been cleaned of her guardian's blood.

"I do believe that you are now defenseless except one irritating little bubble that I mean to pop."

The kekai continued to waver, and the child's dark brown eyes welled up with unshed tears. "Other's h-have t-tried, a-and y-yo-you will fail as well."

Her voice regained some semblance of confidence, but it was only a façade. Her guardian, her beloved Akira, had always protected her from the demons that had come to take her head, and now he was gone.

The demon grinned, and a row of sharpened teeth gleamed at her from the darkness. With a lunge, the demon pressed against the barrier with a roar. One that she prayed would attract that attention of her family.

The sudden pressure on the golden barrier made the child fall to her knees, gasping at the pain. It felt as though her mind would shatter! So she did the only other thing she could do, and what she should have done in the first place. 'DADDY!'

And in a radius of about fifty miles, psychics all over heard the child's frantic mental plea.

Landing in murky puddles of water as she crumbled to the ground, her brown eyes starring blankly up at the raining night sky; the kekai had shattered.

The loud raucous laughter of the demon echoed through the empty street, and the last thing that Shizuru Kuwabara was aware of was blade-sharp claws reaching for her and then a flash of light before everything faded into darkness.

"This was unacceptable! Koenma-sama, you yourself stated Akira was one of your best men! How can my family continue to serve under you if we are all annihilated by the very things we are hunting?"

"Please forgive me, Kuwabara-san. I had no idea the portal had opened enough to allow the entrance of a C-class demon. With Sensui missing, you must realize how hard pressed things are in the Rekai at the moment. We only just now sealed the portal after your daughter was attacked."

"She is already being trained, and Kazuma will be as well in a few years, but that is not enough. Because we both know demons are actively drawn to her, I suggest we either have her trained by someone from the Rekai, or that she be given another guardian."

"Kasai, you know I cannot assign another guardian. That was unofficial and we cannot spare anyone at the moment. You also know how I feel about someone being trained who may turn out to be exactly like Sensui. I will not take that risk, because one unsupervised Rekai Tantei is enough, we do not need two. Shizuru is incredibly talented, but so was Shinobu."

"Give my daughter one year. That will be one year that she will be able to change your opinion."

"That seems to be fair enough."

"On one condition-"

"You're giving the conditions?"

"Forgive your humble servant, Koenma-sama, but my daughter will be without protection, and my wife and I already have our hands full with Kazuma and our assignments. Please let Shizuru be taken to the Rekai, if only for her protection."

"No. I cannot have some child running around underfoot, no matter what the circumstances. However, I do know of someone who may be willing to take Shizuru under her wing, but I cannot say for certain…"

One year later…

The cool crispness of fall lay over the land, and leaves fluttered across the temple's grounds. In the simple dojo held two occupants, both moving fluidly through simple katas. Shizuru had her eyes closed, and her motions were in synch with that of Master Genkai, her tutor and protector of the past year.

Genkai performed her own movements dutifully; however, she was watching the child carefully. Evaluating the eight-year-olds stance and whatnot, she could not help but feel a frown of frustration creep across her countenance. This child was perfectly capable of being her apprentice, yet the girl had the gall to refuse!

"I am not the one you are looking for Master Genkai. He will come in due time."

When she had asked who Shizuru had meant, Shizuru had just shrugged and grinned sheepishly. Genkai have may have been a psychic herself, but she really couldn't help but sometimes hate those who had clairvoyant abilities. Even if those said abilities were not yet trained.

"That is enough for now, gaki. Go clean up and make some breakfast. We will be having some guests over later."

Eyes that no longer held a child-like innocence watched her for a moment, and then Shizuru bowed before she left the room. Genkai watched the girl leave with something akin to affection intermingled with frustrated amusement. Shaking her head slightly, Master Genkai went outside to meet their guests.

"I see you've become quite powerful for your age, Shizuru-chan." Inhumanly soft fingers tilted her chin for a better view of her face, but Shizuru knew the demi-god was not looking at her per se. He was studying her aura for whatever reason.

But she did have to answer him as a dutiful child and student.

"Genkai-sensei has been very thorough in my schooling; psychic and otherwise."

Open brown eyes narrowed slightly before taking their customary lined appearance. Koenma, in his toddler form, circled the child again as Ayame stood a respectful distance away.

"Has your spirit energy taken a specific form?"

Shizuru opened her mouth to reply but Genkai beat her to it.

"Yes, but what is interesting is she can form both the spirit gun and something we've loosely termed as 'Spirit Knives'."

Koenma turned to look at the aging psychic master. "What?"

"Show 'em, gaki."

Shizuru would have sighed if Genkai had not glared at her with cold brown eyes. Shizuru raised her hand with a roll of her eyes. Amber colored spirit energy began to gather in her palm, and in no time, Shizuru was tossing a gold colored blade up in down in a repetitive process.

"Not as destructive as a spirit gun, but they can be highly effe-"

"I've seen enough." Koenma turned abruptly, obviously heading to leave. Shizuru was startled at his sudden change of moods, and her spirit knife dissipated.

"Koenma-sama?" The hesitant questioning in her tone made him pause for a moment. "Will I be the next Rekai Tantei?"

The god of the afterlife turned his head to scrutinize her shrewdly. Shizuru suddenly shivered, feeling as though he was ripping her soul out and eyeing it carefully before stuffing it back in awkwardly.

"No."

Red-brown eyes widened in shock as emotions flickered across her face. I am a failure. Shaking her head rapidly, she could not stop the tears from gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"But why Koenma-sama?! My family has served you faithfully for generations upon generations, even when demons walked this plane freely and there was no barrier separating Makai from Ningenkai!"

"That is true, but you are not what I am looking for. You are skilled yes, but you are not adequate. You are not Rekai Tantei material, and I doubt you will ever be. However, take pride in the knowledge that I may choose your brother in a few years."

Her brown bangs covered her eyes, but their was no mistaking the rage that had seeped from her aura before dying suddenly like a light being switched off. It could not be denied that Genkai had taught her well.

"Anyways," He continued, turning back around to not see the child's pitiful state. He could not, would not, pity her. She was far too dangerous. "Your brother is the heir to the Kuwabara family, not you. You should be more concerned about protecting him than worrying about affairs of the Rekai.

"And Genkai," Koenma had begun to fade away, but his voice carried strong. "If I find out that you have continued training the girl, I will have her exterminated."

And with that, the Prince of the Rekai vanished.

Genkai sat in the dojo some time later, drinking a cup of tea to soothe her angered nerves. Brown eyes closed softly, and at that moment Genkai looked much older than she was. Somber eyes opened before they hardened ever so slightly, and she then rose to her feet.

Walking outside with a look of determination, Genkai almost faltered as she saw off in the distance her young pupil. That said pupil who was currently decimating a large portion of her forest in a fit of rage. Hatred blossomed towards Koenma's harsh words; he had never given her brat a chance.

Watching Shizuru a few more minutes, she was suddenly pained with the knowledge that she most likely would never see the girl again. Straightening her spine, and without turning back, Genkai headed into the temple to contact Shizuru's parents.

It was time for the girl to go home.

Breathing heavily and almost completely out of spirit energy, Shizuru slumped to the ground. Her hands were raw and bleeding profusely, and would most likely need quite a few stitches for some of the deeper gashes by the end of the night. But at the moment, Shizuru really didn't care to do anything other than try to forget the cruel words spoken to her earlier while being surrounded by the corpses of trees.

Looking up at darkening sky, she struggled to swallow the knot that suddenly developed in her throat. Shizuru blinked several times before her eyes went cold.

She may not be able to be the Rekai Tantei, but that did not mean she could not fight demons as well.

Shizuru stretched very much like a cat that had just caught the canary, or at least a loophole, and smirked up at the heavens. It still hurt, the act that she considered a betrayal, but it was nothing she could not handle.

"Screw you, Koenma-sama."

One year later…

The rain fell upon her head as it trickled from the sky, giving the landscape a gray haze. Her formal white kimono was a bright beacon through the mist as she and her brother stood before their parent's gravestones.

The drizzle was comforting; it hid her disgraceful tears. She was a Kuwabara! She was supposed to be strong! But this was the testament of her life; she was weak.

Her brother's sniffles permeated through the air, and not caring if she ruined her kimono, she cradled the six year old in her arms. Brown eyes red from crying blinked up at her before Kazuma hid his face in the crook of her neck.

After some time had passed, Kazuma's breathing had evened out to the point that she knew he was asleep. Glancing around the near empty graveyard, her uncle strode towards her to take the sleeping boy from her embrace.

"…Shizuru-chan?"

She continued to gaze at where her parents now lay, totally ignoring her mother's brother. She couldn't even drudge up some semblance of guilt when she heard his sigh of resignation.

"We will be waiting in the car but I would suggest you get out of the rain soon."

The squishing sound that her uncle's shoes made in the mud fade away until Shizuru was left alone to grieve in silence. She wasn't aware of how much time had passed because she was focused entirely on her inner turmoil.

Slowly coming aware of the fact that it was no longer raining on her, she blinked in confusion when she saw it was still raining around her. Shizuru then turn around, not really at all surprised to see Koenma-sama standing behind her, in his teenage form.

"It's a waste of power to use one's energy to keep out of the rain." She said monotonously with a pained smirk.

He gave her a pitying look that only made her figurative hackles rise in anger. Pushing down her anger as he cleared his throat and Shizuru almost could have smiled at his obvious discomfort.

"I have come to give your family my condolences, Shizuru-chan. Or should I call you Kuwabara-san? You are now acting as regent until your brother can assume the responsibility as head of the Kuwabara clan."

Shizuru shook her head as a negative. "My uncle has taken that position, even though he is only connected to the Kuwabara's because of my mother."

The silence stretched between them, and it was almost amusing that a century old demi-god could not find a suitable topic to talk to a nine-year-old psychic about.

"I guess I must cut to the chase then," Koenma let out a sigh. "Your family has loyally served the Rekai for many generations, and so my father and I have decided that seeing as you and Kazuma are the last Kuwabaras left, that we will disband the bond of servitude that had been placed upon your family.

"Furthermore, you and your brother will be given quite a sizeable trust fund as a compensation for all of the troubles the Kuwabara line has been through."

Shizuru jerked to look at him with wide eyes. "What will my brother and I do?"

Seeing the god of the afterlife avoid making eye contact, Shizuru exploded in anger. It had been bad enough when he refused to let her be the Rekai Tantei, but take away her family's profession was like taking away their honor!

"Why in the bloody hell are you doing that?! We Kuwabaras have sworn to serve you, and not only are you trying to bribe us, you are throwing us away like trash!"

"Kuwabara Shizuru!"

Koenma's sharp tone made her pause, and she then began to scowl angrily. Burying the anger deep, she looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

Two years later…

"CHIKUSO!"

The form of an eleven-year-old girl darted between the trees as a particularly nasty bird demon stalked the skies above her head. Growling another vile curse under her breath, Shizuru jumped between branches of the treetops, and hoping she'd avoid getting skewered.

The demon itself was butt-ugly in her opinion with the shape of a large bird (far bigger than herself anyways) and was a sickly color of green. However, as if defying the laws set forth by nature, the demon was featherless everywhere except the wings and head. And it had the worst breath imaginable.

Wrinkling her nose in distaste, the Kuwabara continued to strategically retreat until she could get the damn demon in her line of sight to properly fry its ass.

Biting back a groan, she looked down at her shirt and scowled as it started to stain dark with blood. She couldn't even remember getting hit! Scowling once more, she gripped her shoulder where the pain was starting to originate. Biting her bottom lip, she sucked in a deep breath before leaving the covering of trees.

It screeched loudly, the light reflecting off its talons, as Shizuru twisted around, aiming her index finger at it. Brown eyes widened as the claws tore into her abdomen, picking her off the ground.

Giving the demon a pained and cocky grin, her spirit energy burst from her finger and tore the demon into pieces before her eyes. Falling through the air lasted only a second before she slammed into the ground.

Wheezing for breath, Shizuru let out a small cry of pain as she rolled over on her stomach. Taking deep breaths, she stumbled to her feet, her vision already blurring.

'Genkai-sensei will kill me for making such stupid mistakes.'

Giving a bloody grin, Shizuru stumbled in the direction that she hoped would be home. Shizuru squinted her eyes in a feeble attempt to see, but she never saw the upturned root in her path. Shizuru started falling as soon as her foot hit the root, but soft arms wrapped around her torso stopped her in mid-fall.

Blinking through the haze that was steadily wrapping her mind, she could vaguely feel whoever had caught her lay her body upon the ground. And the last thing Shizuru remembered before blacking out was the concern in her rescuer's vivid green eyes that were overlaid with amused gold.

The first thing Shizuru noticed when she woke up was the sun was in her eyes. She had always hated the sun for being annoyingly bright but never before had it been this painful. And for that reason, the sun was right up there on her "To Kill" list, tying with alarm clocks and Koenma-sama.

The next thing she noticed was that he bed was soft. Her bed at home was not this soft and that meant something was not right. Brown eyes widened, and she jerked into sitting position. Well, she tried to at least.

"Well now, it looks like you're awake."

He had beautiful green eyes and flaming red hair. He smiled down at her warmly, and Shizuru knew this was the kind boy her mother had probably wanted her to marry but she knew she would probably never get to be so lucky. And the most curious thing was the kitsune apparition that seemed to hover around him.

And being the smart girl that she was, especially concerning a potential future enemy, she said the first thing that came to mind.

"No shit, Sherlock."

The boy, who appeared to be around her age, gave her a look torn between amusement and exasperation. 'He probably isn't used to girls cursing around him' Shizuru thought with amusement.

Shizuru just gave him a cheeky grin, the one that used to annoy the hell out of her mother. Looking around the room, it was very obvious a boy lived here. She suddenly froze, how long has she been here?!

By the angle of the sun it was late in the morning and Shizuru's heart fell. Her uncle was going to kill her! She had tried to keep her little escapades from her brother and her uncle (as well as Koenma-sama) as quiet as possible and had been quite successful. Until now that is.

She was so dead.

And Shizuru did the only thing she could do at the moment, and that was to sigh.

The read-head tilted his head at her in silent questioning, and Shizuru just waved it off. It also should have hit her to ask how much of the battle he had seen, but she decided better of it. This was probably one of those, "Don't ask, don't tell" kind of deals.

And then she noticed her kind host lifting up the hem of her shirt.

"PERVERT!"

An enraged Shizuru tried to slam her fist on top of the boy's head, but he seemed to anticipate her tactic and tackled her to the bed. Shizuru glared into glittering green eyes.

"Now before you hurt yourself further, I was only trying to check your bandages."

She did have the grace to blush in embarrassment and that seemed to amuse the boy even further. She sulked as he glanced at the bandages and even though she had nothing to show, she kept her arms crossed across her chest sullenly.

Now how was she supposed to explain this mess to her uncle…?

"It was very lucky that I came along when I did, or those men could have killed you."

What…?!

"It's dangerous for young girls to walk around the woods without escorts; there are always ruffians and thugs waiting to prey upon the helpless."

Red-brown met emerald green, and Shizuru suddenly grinned and the boy had the grace to grin back. If it weren't so nasty, I'd kiss him in gratitude!

"My name is Minamino Shuuichi, by the way."

Shizuru nodded, and leaned back, her eyes growing slightly heavy. "I'm Kuwabara Shizuru; nice to meet ya'."

"I'm going to tell my mother you are awake, that way we can contact your parents." He paused, before reaching over to his desk and handing her a jar of some kind of cream. "This will help speed up the healing process."

"My parents are dead." She mumbled as she pried the jar open and gave it an experimental whiff; much to Shuuichi's amusement (she was beginning to hate that look). Her eyes widened ever so slightly, 'This is made from Makai plants!'

And suddenly, she let out a small giggle. "You're not too bad, for a fox."

He grinned back, but Shizuru was sure she saw a flash of gold in his eyes. Leaning down to whisper in her ear, his voice took on a much deeper tone that that of a normal prepubescent boy.

"And you are quite amusing, for a demon hunter."

She was sure he was aware of the shiver that went down her spine even though he had left the room.

After saying goodbye to the Minamino's, getting yelled at by her uncle, and being grounded by eternity, Shizuru was quite ready to tell the world to screw off. Scowling darkly, the young girl skulked in her room. Padding of soft footsteps outside her door announced her younger brother's presence.

"Hey Shiz?"

"Go away moron." She was not in the mood to deal with his stupidity.

"Who attacked you?" Kazuma asked, plopping down next to his sister as she sat on her windowsill. She blinked and looked down at her brother in slight confusion.

"I told you, some stupid old perverts."

He scoffed. "You kick ass, so I doubt so stupid old perverts would be able to beat you!"

He jumped to his feet, excitement easily visible. "You're so cool! I doubt anything could beat you; especially not a bunch of old fogies!"

Shizuru watched her brother for a moment before probing him with her spirit energy. Whether he knew it or not, he was channeling quite a bit of energy. And it didn't help that he was incredibly in tune with everything around him, particularly her because they were siblings.

"I told you, don't you listen? They got the jump on me and it didn't help that it was 6 to 1, so it's no wonder I lost!"

She would protect him from her world, from the demons that haunt her in both waking and in sleep. She would do anything and everything in her power to keep him out of her living nightmare. Kazuma deserved to have a better life than this and Shizuru was determined to make sure the Kuwabara demon hunting dynasty died with her.

Five years later…

Blood and sweat mingled on her brow as it dripped down her face. The sixteen's left arm was hanging limp at her side and it was obviously broken. Shizuru's breathing was labored and by the way she held herself she probably had a few fractured ribs.

And for all her bumps and bruises, she was smiling in an annoyingly cocky fashion.

"You know, this whole 'I want to destroy the world' gig gets really old really fast."

The half-demon opened its mouth to prepare a long tirade about the 'evils of humanity' and 'how he would obliterate everything' and other such nonsense. At the moment, Shizuru really didn't care; his yapping bought her extra time.

He was some child spawned from a demon that had escaped Makai and raped a human female. The demon had been most likely been slaughtered by Shinobu when he had still been the Rekai Tantei, but Shizuru really wasn't certain. All she knew was she had to take this demon out because he wanted to annihilate human-kind because of their 'transgressions' against demon-kind.

Of course, he hadn't counted on how tenacious Shizuru was. She had been told over the years she was far too stubborn for her own good.

Shifting her weight slightly and thanking Enma-sama that it had been her left arm that had been broken, she rushed the demon. Of course that wasn't the smartest thing to do, but she really didn't have much time.

No matter how stupid and idiotic villains could be, they always found a way that could destroy the earth with minimum effort. Really, it made Shizuru wonder what moron would make such a weapon then let it lay around carelessly. Tch, fools the lot of them.

The current device of impending doom was quite elegant really. It was of Rekai make and was a simple round ball that could be compared to a human time bomb, but far more dangerous. Shizuru thought it could be compared to a nuclear warhead, but that really wasn't the point. The point was to destroy it. It was that simple.

A fast hook with the right hand was ducked so she followed up and went directly into a spin kick that caught him in the stomach. The Rekai bomb was a few feet away placed on a simple pedestal.

The half-demon flicked his black hair over his shoulder and tried to glare at her in a menacing way. She leveled one of her own and was glad to see him flinch. She had given him quite a few injuries that had yet to heal.

Seeing the bomb continue to count down, Shizuru sighed and grimaced. This would be incredibly close.

Rushing him again, but this time it was a jump round kick to the head was countered with some difficulty. Blow after blow was exchanged and Shizuru lost herself to the pleasure of battle until her opponent suddenly crowed in victory.

"You are too late! I have won!" Stopping to laugh was the last mistake he made as Shizuru slammed his head face first into a wall. He crumpled to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. Shizuru would have paused in disgust (how on Earth did he wound her so bad when he was a bloody idiot!) but she was far to preoccupied with her current predicament.

And as the bomb hit '0', Shizuru did the first two things that came to mind.

"Shit!"

And Shizuru threw all her power into an amber colored kekai barrier around the bomb.

The pain, it hurts! Make it stop! My hands are burning, oh Kami, everything is burning. I'm on fire! Koenma-sama, make it stop! It hurts, oh it hur-

Her scream echoed through the sterile white room and Shizuru shot upward, cradling her bandaged arms to her bosom. Chest heaving as she looked around the room without really seeing. Kami, it hurts!

Without noticing it, tears began to spill down her cheeks in ragged sobs. Her entire body was trembling as it remembered the pain on being connected to the Kekai as the bomb had gone off. Rocking back and forth, she was so focused on the pain she barely registered a soft hand slowly stroking her hair.

Guiding her to lay back, the hands tucked her in securely as honey brown eyes watched her with concern.

Shizuru blinked for a moment before sliding back into unconsciousness. Koenma-sama?

"You were very lucky you know."

Shizuru nodded, looking out of the window to one of Rekai's greatest hospitals. She was very lucky they had even accepted her.

"It took all my power to make that barrier." She whispered suddenly, a trace of bitterness in her voice. "I'll be lucky to have some psychic awareness."

She turned to Koenma with a sardonic smile. "I guess my demon hunting days are over. Bet that must make you relieved."

He shifted in his chair, which was far too big for his toddler form, and swallowed guiltily. She beat him to the chase however.

"It's nothing to be sorry for." Her smile became softer. "I was a naïve child. It was for the best that you turned me down. I got my chance at glory, so I guess I have to retire."

He couldn't help but smile from relief. "I guess I will have to really start looking for a Rekai Tantei now. You gave me an opportunity to slack off."

Shizuru snorted, not really surprised that he knew. He was Koenma-sama, after all. "As long as it is anyone but my brother. He'd die the first day."

The silence between them was comfortable and Koenma got up to leave. Pausing at the door, his countenance became hesitant. "Shizuru, we could always have Rekai doctors…"

"No; I was serious about retiring. Maybe I'll be a hairdresser? And my spirit energy may come back in time, it may not. But Koenma-sama-"

Her red-brown met his honey brown in serious contemplation. "-if things ever get too hairy, you can always pull me back to active duty."

He nodded and left the room. He had a Rekai Tantei to find after all.

Epilogue

Shizuru watched her brother have a mock battle with Urameshi Yusuke with an exasperated expression. Throwing her cigarette onto the ground and grinding beneath her toe, she couldn't help but smirk at her brother's sudden yelps of pain.

She turned around and almost jumped as green eyes watcher her with that damnable amused expression. Scowling at the kitsune incarnate (reincarnate?), the elder Kuwabara sent him a glare.

Shuuichi, better known as Youko Kurama, just sent her a peaceful smile.

"I have something for you, Shizuru."

She blinked and looked at him with an expression of slight confusion. He grinned in amusement and she then scowled. Damn it, she hated that expression!

He handed her a rectangular package covered in simple brown paper, Shizuru shrugged and went about opening it. Her hands stilled as a painting met her eye, an incredibly beautiful painting. She was by no means an art critique, but she could tell when time had been put into it. And by the looks of it, it must have take Kurama quite some time.

Shizuru's heart froze when she noticed what the painting was of. It was a younger her, even though the face was blurred because of the acrylic paint, it was still her. She was in a stance, ready and willing to fire the spirit gun as the bird demon had its claws ready to pick her up and tear her apart. She looked determined and brave, ready to tackle any obstacle.

For some reason, a knot rose in her throat. For all the hardships, those had been the good times.

Shizuru lifted her eyes from the painting to meet Kurama's oddly expressionless ones.

"I used to wonder what happened to my little demon hunter."

"Forced retirement." She said, tucking the painting under arm. Shizuru would treasure it, because besides memories, it would be the only thing to remind her of what she had lost.

Kurama nodded and then gestured her inside his house where an escalating argument between Hiei and Kazuma were occurring. It was probably a good thing Kurama's mother was not home.

Shizuru looked at him with a smirk. "You know, I once knew a fox who had the softest bed…"

Kurama's laughter echoed behind her as she entered the home.

Fin

AN: Ugh.

That was hard! Eighteen pages! dies

I love Shizuru, she's an awesome character but I'm not sure if I got her IC enough.

I wanted to write a semi-realistic fic of where Shizuru could have been a Rekai Tantei. This is what I came up with.

Here's a summary of what happens in some parts 'cause it was confusing.

In the beginning Shizuru is a child that is being attacked by a demon who killed her guardian, Akira. Since she has clairvoyant abilities, she usually sees the demons in her dreams.

Things happen, her parents die, he uncle takes Kazuma and Shizuru in, and Kazuma never gets trained. I don't think their uncle really takes demons as a serious threat; he knew they exist but didn't really care. More things happen. Shizuru meets Shuuichi (Yay!) and he heals her.

More things happen and at the end of the fic, Shizuru is forced to place up a barrier and has to use up all her spirit energy to do so. Her hands are connected to the barrier and some of the energy from the bomb escapes the Kekai, effectively burning Shizuru and putting her in a whole bunch of pain.

And Shizuru looses about 95 percent of her spirit energy.

Then she is taken to a Rekai hospital (do you really think a normal hospital could treat her wounds?) and she and Koenma make up. Then more crap happens, the end.

I'm not sure if I should write a sequel, but I am sorely tempted to write a Koenma/Shizuru one of these days.

Oh! The reason I titled it "Winter's Fire" is because Shizuru is so cold yet so fiery at the same time. Meaning I had a brain fart and couldn't think of anything better…