Key

Emphasized-single italic word

More than one italic-spoken via telepathy

Empathic

As Hana's thoughts came drifting back to her she noticed the sound of a crackling fire, and she felt warm even though she was lying on something cold and hard, most likely the ground.

'What's going on' she silently wondered as she quickly sat up, allowing the black cloak draped across her body to fall from her shoulders.

This turned out to be a big mistake she decided as she found herself to be more than a little dizzy. With blood rushing around in her head, she tried to focus her blurry vision onto her surroundings, but that only made the off kilter feeling worse. Clamping her eyes shut again she dropped back onto the reed mat, wincing as her skull came into contact with the firm surface.

"Slow down. Your body is still drained." Came a low voice from nearby, and as it pounded through her brain it hit a note of familiarity. Like a strobe of lightening triggered by the low rumble of Hiei's voice, the events of the last two days flooded her memory. Farewells that hurt more than she let on, nightmares, monsters, intriguing strangers, questioning red eyes, fatigue, a storm outside and in, darkness…and…warm arms.

Where was the rain? Why weren't they outside anymore? Had he brought her here?

Hana tentatively opened her eyes experimentally trying to establish her whereabouts. She found herself gazing around a large room which had high ceilings and a hard wood floor.

She lay on a reed mat at one end of the chamber. The large fire burning in the hearth to her right cast a warm flickering glow which struggled against the shadow of the room. To her left sat a low Japanese style table. The walls had various weapons hung about them and there was an energy about the place, of the sort that she had never felt before. This had to be Genkai's temple.

Hiei casually sat down on the ground near her feet facing the fire. His back leaning against the table and one knee bent up towards the ceiling.

But if this was Genkai's temple, where were the rest of the spirit detectives?

"It's empty." She noted sitting up again, slowly this time.

Her statement was answered with silence as the demon stared into the fire.

Though he was well within kicking range, he seemed distant to her, and she was reminded that she didn't really know this person at all.

Stray thoughts of doubt ran through her head, brief though they were. This demon, what if he had tricked her? What kinds of horrible things could he force her into?

She shook that thought from her head, deciding that she'd be able to sense malicious intent if he'd had any. He gave off a lot of powerful signals. Guilt, pride, anger, even a fragile sense of fulfillment were mixed together with many other things that she couldn't quite put her finger on, but malice wasn't one of them. She knew she could trust him, though she wasn't sure if he'd ever trust her.

This last thought troubled her a bit. It had taken years for her to come to terms with who she was, to like herself. She still wasn't entirely confident in her abilities. How could she expect someone else to believe in her, especially one whose power clearly overshadowed her own? The knowledge he wouldn't hurt her, didn't mean that he would bet his life on her.

Maybe they needed her help for something other than fighting. That would explain why they were alone, the other spirit detectives could have already started the mission. It had been presumptuous of her to assume that she would be on the front lines. She was, after all, inexperienced. And they, she studied Hiei's confident profile, weren't.

He must have sensed her misgivings because his low voice sounded over the thick silence of the room, "Right place, wrong time."

Somehow she was more confused than reassured. She questioned him with her eyes, though he never looked away from the fire.

"The meeting is tomorrow at noon."

As she considered his words, her doubts about his motives were methodically replaced with anger. He had nearly killed her in the rush to get here.

"The rest of the team won't be here until tomorrow?" She wanted to be sure she understood him.

He made eye contact with her in confirmation then promptly turned his gaze back to the fire, as if she weren't even good enough for words.

"So I didn't have to rush here at a breakneck pace in the rain on an empty stomach?" Her words were carefully schooled, but slowly building with a hint of annoyance. Her stomach growled as if on queue and she blushed slightly and looked away gathering her thoughts.

Her next words were softer yet somehow seemed more dangerous. "I could have spent more time saying goodbye to my friends and my family and my home."

Annoyed, she looked to the fire demon with an electric intensity; he seemed to be ignoring her. It was like talking to a wall.

"Look at me coward." The last word had just slipped out of her mouth and she regretted it slightly, but made no such sign because it did the trick. He did look at her. He met her eyes cockily with a spark of defiance in his crimson orbs. The words 'You asked for it' emanatedfrom himthough he made no soundThen, with a smirk, he trailed his gaze down her body lingering on her plain lavender bra.

With a satisfied sneer, he looked away again as she realized that she was nearly naked. That would teach her. He was many things, but a coward was not one of them.

She snatched up the forgotten cloak to cover her bare shoulders, feeling a little silly as she realized her dress, stockings, and cloak all hung by the fire, still dripping wet, along with most of the contents of her bag. As she clung to the swathe of dark fabric around her shoulders, which she now registered as being his, she was secretly glad that she hadn't worn her usual black lace number, having decided at the time that it was just too scratchy for such long trip. Or maybe she wished she had, and then maybe that cocky little smirk would be an embarrassed blush. It might have been worth it. She couldn't decide.

At any rate the idea that he had undressed her, his warm fingers deftly gliding over her body removing her garments from her damp skin, or so she imagined, made her feel a bit uncomfortable. This wasn't something she was accustomed to. None of it was.

"The original rendezvous was at midnight. They pushed it back to noon after I left." He turned to look at her.

"They trust me to watch over them while they sleep. They'll put their very lives into my hands during battle, but ask them to believe for even a moment that I could retrieve one measly human without using force and they laugh their asses off."

Irony mingled with the irritation in his voice and Hana began to realize that maybe he felt a bit out of place as well. He'd probably never had to entertain a guest before; though she was sure he had no intention of entertaining anyone. Ever. She began to understand that 'people skills' weren't in his arsenal of tactics often used. Still, gentile conversation wasn't one of her strong points either. That 'measly' comment hadn't slipped by her, even in her weakened state.

And Hiei had hoped it hadn't. Earlier, she had passed out from exhaustion at just the wrong time on the way here. Their talk had just begun to get interesting, she was about to tell him about her capabilities. His curiosity urged him to finish that conversation. If she wasn't a telepath, then just when kind of psychic was this girl?

He looked at her and his brain hesitated as he involuntarily remembered the look of her bare shoulders and stomach, the soft feel of her pale skin. Woman, she was not girl. He would give her that, not that it mattered to him at all.

She shot him a challenging look, snapping his mind back to the topic at hand.

"I guess it is a lot to expect from a mere fire demon. We humans can be a handful."

Hiei was secretly pleased with himself. She had taken the bait, now to set the hook.

"But you're not just any human, now are you?

After an extended moment he added without speaking. "You're different."

She had walked right into that one. She was growing tired of the way any and all conversations with this guy inevitably ended up here. Well, now was as good a time as any.

"I am."

He watched her patiently waiting for her to continue.

Purposely clasping her hands in her lap so as not to wring them, the denpa began.

"I'm sensitive to electricity. I can manipulate it. By gathering the electricity in the air I can assemble it into one place, creating something similar to lightening."

"That doesn't explain how you can understand this."

"I can hear you because you want me to. I told you before, I'm not telepathic. Empathic would be a better word."

"Trees, rocks, animals, everything carries an electric signal, and they're all a little different. A rock doesn't give the same kind of signal as dog. I feel these wave-like signals around me all the time."

"So what you're saying is that you can see in the dark, big deal. So can I. That's not why Koenma was so antsy to get you here." He pushed.

"People have these signals too, only more complex, and each person's is different like a fingerprint. I can tell a lot about a person just by the electrical waves they emit. My friend Uo's waves, for example, feel like the ocean. At times calm, cool, casual and laid back and at other times violent and unpredictable."

"The brain functions by sending electricity across the synapses, and so while the general feel of somebody never changes, on a smaller scale people's electrical signals are constantly changing. These small changes usually seem like an undecipherable jumble to me because of the low intensity and sheer number of them. So, I can't pick out exact thoughts, but more general changes, like mood swings are clear to me."

"The exception would be if somebody aims their thoughts directly to me, like they're speaking to me. Those signals I can pick out. Like the ones you directed at me earlier."

Hiei quietly considered all that she said. She hadn't given herself enough credit. This young denpa, though weak compared to demons, was just about as close to telepathic as humans get and with the right kind of training she could reach a level that exceeded even most demons. But still he knew what sort of monster they were up against. If they took her out into battle as she was now she'd be eaten alive, literally. And that would do the team no good. Close wasn't good enough in this case. She would have to get stronger.

"Were you born with these abilities or did you learn them over time?" He was looking for a spark of hope. If she had improved as she grew than there weren't really any limits to what she could become, but if she had been able to manipulate electricity the day she was born, and nothing had changed since then, training would be an exercise in futility. This would all be pointless.

"It's in my blood. I was born a Hanajima…" He felt a little tense as she began to answer. Somewhere deep down, he didn't want to hear that this was all a waste of his time. Standing up he prepared to leave. Fresh air sounded good.

"…but it's not that simple. Raw power is nothing, if you lack the skill to use it." He leaned against the wall, gazing out the window as she spoke.

"A denpa must endure training if she is to be of any use to Sir Koenma."

He smirked at the thought of anybody other than Botan calling that little kid 'Sir', but he didn't interrupt.

"Though, over the last century or so, many potential denpas born to the clan have been slack and neglected their training. Koenma has had little need for us. This is the age of the spirit detective, after all. The last Hanajima to be summoned into service died one hundred and fifty years ago, and so many have turned away from the old ways.

There are some though that still remember our oath and bring their children up in the way of honor, but they are few and far between. Add that to the fact that denpa's who use waves, like me, are the rarest kind, and you begin to see why I've struggled with my training.

"You're self-taught." He stated, inwardly impressed that she had come this far without instruction.

She nodded with a hint of regret; probably he thought for that the lack of proper senseis in her clan.

"Not anymore. You should get some sleep." He spoke matter of factly as he made for the door.

"Tomorrow you're real training begins."

a/n – Sorry, for the long update. The good news is that I finally know where I'm going with this. Score!

Please note that I've never read the manga, Yu Yu or Furuba. They're both on my to do list I promise. I have, however, seen the anime many, many, many times they're my favorites. If Hana's powers contradict what you've read in the manga please work with me here. I've given this quite a bit of thought and don't think I'm stretching it too far.

Anywhoo, thanks so much for reading. Let me know what you think. Ja ne, mata.