Sherkoni - Hm...not much to say here except I apologize for the wait, but I'm juggling three stories and school and volleyball just started. --;;;

- Also, I'm going to pray that my computer doesn't act weird again and it does the formatting right. Last chapter, Kurama says some random sentence that makes no sense at all because it cut out the middle of it. Must remember to fix that... anyways, here ya go!

Chapter 3

Trial by Heart

(Botan's POV)

"If the police don't even have the brains to find his body, what can you do?" The cynical bitterness was evident in the former actress's voice. She had mint green hair and large, red eyes. I imagined Hiei of something of the same image, since he was her twin, although probably a lot taller than her since he was male.

"Yukina, we're only going to try. It can't hurt anything," Kurama reasoned softly.

"No body?" My head tilted in confused interest. I narrowed my eyes and chewed thoughtfully on my bottom lip. "Then doesn't that mean there's a chance he's still alive?"

Yukina's eyes, if possible, darkened even more. "Only in accidents." Her chin rose in an attempt to cover the hurt I knew she was feeling. "The murderer wrote 'Revenge is a dish best served in blood' on the wall of the crime scene. In Hiei's blood. It was tested and it contained his DNA as well as was his blood type."

Kurama paled considerably as Yukina continued, her voice surprisingly steady. "That's not a short sentence, Kurama. And it covered at least ten feet in width. It's not physically possible for someone to lose that much blood and still be alive."

Judging from her tone, I guessed she had heard that exact line several times from crime scene investigators. This had to be hard for her, losing a brother that, from what Kurama had told me, had been very close to her. But I could think of nothing comforting to say. I instead chose to study the scuff mark on my boot, absently twisting my foot from side to side.

"Revenge..." Kurama muttered to himself. "I suppose that narrows down the suspects some?"

For the first time since we'd been there, Yukina's face brightened somewhat. "Yes. Hiei didn't have many enemies." Her voice sounded almost teasing.

She must have been for Kurama let out a soft chuckle. "Always considerate of others..." The two shared a knowing, fond look with each other and I could only stare in confusion. I didn't get it.

And I wasn't going to get it either because no one cared to elaborate for me. Kurama picked up where they had left off, the discussion of Hiei's murder. "Anything else?"

Yukina inhaled a shaky breath and gave a small nod. "Apparently he was stabbed to death. There was a long, curved dagger on the floor of the room covered in his blood." Her face sharpened angrily. "And Inuyasha's fingerprints. A couple of strands of hair were found that were his also."

Kurama's face shadowed with equal anger and together the room seemed to electrify with their furious waves. Something I was quite afraid of, myself not having the same angry feelings since I didn't know Hiei or Inuyasha.

"I never thought he would stoop so low as to actually kill him," Kurama said softly, his voice edged with resentment.

"Hey now," I interrupted, placing my hands sternly on my hips. "There's no saying he actually killed him yet."

Yukina suddenly glared at me almost as if I had killed her brother and Kurama just looked at me as if I didn't know any better. And I could feel the slightest feeling of betrayal coming from both of them. Perfect. Me and my big mouth.

I blushed slightly and tried to avert my gaze, but Yukina's intense look held me rivoted in place. "Inuyasha, is a selfish, good for nothing, lying, cheating, cocky, bastard that isn't worthy to clean the floor Hiei walks on," she seethed through grit teeth. "Don't you dare defend that jerk in front of me, especially against my brother!"

I tried to tell her that I hadn't meant anything against her brother, but she continued to rant, her fists clutched at her side as tears started flowing down her cheeks. "I hate Inuyasha! I hate you! Leave my office now!"

I took a shaky step backwards, my eyes widening in surprise as she started towards me. Kuwabara leapt from his position at the doors and wrapped two gentle arms around Yukina's body. She struggled viciously as more tears streamed down her face. "No! Let me go!"

Kuwabara gave us an apologetic look. "I'd advise you to leave."

Kurama nodded and grabbed my arm, leading me towards the door. I could hear Yukina's hard sobs and insistent cries of, "He wanted to have both! He stole them both from Hiei! He can't have them both!"

Kurama shut the wooden door behind us and let out a loose breath. "She's taking this harder than I thought."

I nodded quickly and stuffed my hands into my jacket pockets, realizing for the first time that they were trembling. "Where to now?" I asked, wanting very badly to leave the building. I paused, realizing that I really didn't know where we could go next. Sure, we knew the murder case now, but it wasn't anything anyone else didn't know.

Kurama leaned his head back against the door, apparently in thought. "Inuyasha would seem the likely suspect. Especially with the whole revenge thing on the wall. He'd always wanted revenge ever since that case..."

"It's too bad they don't video tape court sessions - then we could see exactly how Inuyasha looked when he found out--"

"Court records," Kurama suddenly interrupted my musings as if he thought himself stupid for not thinking of it before. He twisted his head so he could look at me. "It's worth a try. That case is probably where the whole thing started."

I rose a scolding finger. "Unless, of course, Inuyasha didn't do it and he really was framed."

"Or Kikyo said he was framed because he's her boyfriend."

"Or maybe you're being a little biased."

He laughed. "It's a good thing you're here then..."

I gave him a debonair smile and a playful wink. "To--" I raised a pointed finger and let my arm twist to my right, passing quickly over the direction of the stairs and to the elevator. "-- the elevator!"

He gave a playful salute and followed me to the elevator where we rode to the bottom floor, the whole time me blessing the man that had invented the wonderful contraption. We walked out to the street, suddenly all too aware we were without transportation.

"The bus doesn't come for another half an hour," Kurama stated what I already knew. And I wasn't planning on waiting that long either.

"Taxi?" I suggested breezily. Kurama wrinkled his nose in obvious distaste, but nodded anyway.

Just our luck, one of the yellow cars was heading towards us on the road. With expert skill one only acquires from living in the city, I waved it down. It screeched to a halt, sliding near the curb and barely missing my feet. I waved Kurama over, ignoring the nervous look he held.

I climbed into the back seat, quickly followed by Kurama. The chinese taxi driver twisted his head around to peer at us boredly. "Where to?"

"Shikon Courthouse," Kurama ground out, giving the cigarette the driver was playing with a disgusted look. I suppressed a giggle and gave his arm a tight squeeze, ignoring the musty smoke smell myself.

We bounced along the streets for only a few minutes before we suddenly swerved into an approaching parking lot. "Slow - then turn!" Kurama cried, gripping the edge of the seat to keep himself from flying into the left side of the car.

"Yeah, yeah, just let me do the drivin', ne?" the driver answered with a rough Chinese accent as he continued spinning the steering wheel.

A loud honk was heard as we swerved again to miss hitting an oncoming car. Caught off guard this time, I flew ungracefully into Kurama for the second time that day. Kurama grunted and mimicked the driver's accent while sounding incredibly annoyed. "Just let me do the driving!"

He gently grabbed my waist and helped me off of him. I gave him a guilty smile and flipped my ponytail out of my face. "Maybe you were right..."

"We're here!" the driver barked, stopping in front of a very large, victorian looking building. "That'll be $6.73."

I nodded and fumbled in my coat pocket for my wallet, hurriedly pulling out a five and a couple of ones. "Keep the change!" I rushed, quickly getting out of the car to catch up with Kurama who was already halfway up the steps to the court builiding.

I sprinted up the steps as fast as I could - not an easy task in high heeled boots. Not a smart decision either, for seconds before I reached the top, my foot suddenly snapped with lost pressure and I was sent tumbling to the cement steps. My left heel had snapped off.

"Are you alright?" I heard Kurama's worried voice reach my ears.

I groaned and rolled over so I was sitting upright. Carefully, I removed the boot and held it up to my face, the long wooden heel completely missing. "Just great."

Kurama jogged the six steps down to me and bent over to see what I was looking at. "What's wrong?"

I sighed and tossed the shoe to the ground. "My boot's heel broke. My favorite boots, but the worst part is, now I have to walk retarded because those heels are three inches tall!"

Kurama gazed down at me for a moment in thought before kneeling down next to me. "Let me see your boot."

I bent down to retrieve the one I had just tossed down, but he interrupted with a firm, "No, the other one."

I gave him an odd look, but decided not to question his motives and nimbly lifted off my right boot. He took it from me with a thoughtful loook, holding it up to his face in examination. He continued observing it for a few minutes while I sat in bewilderment, oblivious to what he was trying to accomplish.

Suddenly, with such speed I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't hear the crack, he snapped my other heel off. My eyes widened in surprise. "Hey! You just broke my other heel!"

Kurama handed it back, tossing the heel over his shoulder with a satisfied look. "Favorite boots maybe, but you can't where one without the other. And now you won't walk retarded."

I sighed in defeat. I couldn't argue with him - he was right, as always. I rolled my eyes at the mere misfortune of my day and stuffed both of my boots back on and stood up. The material still had a bit of an arch too them, so I practically had to walk on the balls of my feet the whole time, but at least both of my feet were doing the same thing.

We both walked into the building, me walking a little clumsy, and peered into the fine, air conditioned area. "Wow," I breathed, "it's totally modernized inside."

Kurama nodded his agreement. "Indeed."

I could hear a few people walking around through the halls and rooms, ruffling through papers or talking amongst themselves. "Is there a trial today?" I asked curiously, turning to look at Kurama.

His face tightened in thought. "No, not that I know of. Lawyers, jury members, sometimes even judges come here to get some of their work done and stuff like that."

"Oh." I nodded lightly.

Suddenly, I heard a clear, masculine and demanding voice penetrate through the room next to us. "Tea, did you get that paper work done?"

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba, it's right there if you'd like to look at it..."

Kurama gripped my arm tightly. "Kaiba," he hissed more excitedly than nervously. He pulled me over to the room. "I didn't think he'd be here, but we're in luck."

I could at least remember that Seto Kaiba was Hiei's lawyer. Or...had been anyway. Kurama raised a fist to knock at the door, but a young woman opened it and stepped out, letting out a surprised squeal when she saw Kurama. He smiled and gracefully caught her books as they flew out of her arms. He flashed a charming smile and handed them back to her. "Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you."

The brunette blushed hotly and gave a couple of fast nods. "T-That's alright..." she stammered, blushing again.

Then I understood, the clever little terd. He was using his charming good looks to get by Kaiba's secretary. As soon as she scurried away, face still red, I folded my arms across my chest and gave Kurama a scolding look. "I saw that."

He looked honestly surprised. "What?"

"You totally manipulated her!"

His eyes widened, his countenance looking taken aback. "I did no such thing! I merely handed her books back to her!"

I rolled my eyes and marched by him into the room. "Flirt." I had huffed by him with the intention of symbolizing that the conversation was over, but I had forgotten which room I was so boldly walking into. I blushed to my ears when I saw a man stop his fast paced typing to raise an amused eyebrow.

"I must say," he said slowly, "that's one I haven't gotten yet from a young woman walking into my office that I haven't spoken to."

"S-Sorry!" I stuttered helplessly. "Not you, I mean, I didn't mean that towards you, my friend..."

Kurama stepped in the room behind me, obviously enjoying my small torture. "I'm Kurama, this is Botan," he greeted pleasantly as if we were sharing lunch at Wendy's or something.

The man closed his laptop slowly and propping his elbows up, neatly folding his hands as a leverage for a chin. He was obviously less than amused. And, as much as I hated to admit it, it scared me a little. This man had rich brown, stylish hair that allowed a few pieces to hang in his face. His eyes were a piercing blue that seemed as if they had never had a laughing moment, intently serious and unnaturally focused. Even slightly slouched over as he was, he held his head in a commanding aura, his body positioned as if he were on a throne, not a swivel office chair.

Combine that with his 'silent and deadly' eyes and just looking at him urged one to flee on the spot. Every time he moved, the very air seemed to vibrate with notes of 'I am superior to you'.

I gave an involuntary shudder. So this was Hiei Jaganshi's lawyer. The image I had conjured up of the actor seemed even more innocent looking once I placed him next to Seto Kaiba.

"Mr. Kaiba," Kurama interrupted the silence with a soft cough. "We'd like to ask you a few questions....if that's alright?"

The lawyer's eyes narrowed suspiciously and I shivered a little again. "Are you journalists?"

I shook my head vigorously, anxious to get him to get rid of that suspicious look. "No, not at all!"

He seemed to consider this for a moment. "I'll use that against you in court if you are, in fact, in any way associated with the press."

My chin trembled slightly even though I knew the threat meant nothing to me, since I wasn't associated with the press. Kurama, however, didn't seem petrurbed at all. "As would I."

Kaiba seemed satisfied with that answer and leaned back in his chair in a more relaxed way - which still wasn't very relaxed at all. "So what were your questions? If you'd like a lawyer, you'll have to set a date with my secretary, Ms. Gardener."

Kurama chuckled. "We don't want a lawyer."

Kaiba gave a rough smile and flourished a hand towards the two black chairs in front of his desk. "Take a seat then."

I gratefully took a seat in one of the chairs, glad for the chance to finally rid my feet of the pain of standing on broken shoes. After Kurama sat down, he gave Kaiba a very serious look, while I was content with fiddling absently with my hands.

"We'd like to discuss your last case defending Hiei Jaganshi," Kurama informed him calmly.

For the first time, Kaiba seemed to show interest in what we were saying, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. It was quickly washed away with his usual cocky smirk and he picked up a pen to twirl carelessly in his hands. "Not one of my better cases."

At this comment, I finally felt the urge to speak. "I was aware that you won that case, Mr. Kaiba--"

"Just Seto, or just Kaiba, thank you."

"--against very challenging odds," I finished my sentence and bristled uneasily, fully aware that he had allowed Kurama to call him Mr. Kaiba.

He gave me the smirk that seemed to always dawn his face. "The case turned out as it did because of Kagome Higurashi." He sighed and gave a sideways smile. "That girl is an excellent lawyer and she gets what she wants. She wanted Hiei to go free."

My hand gripped the edge of the seat. "How do you know?" I whispered, my voice barely audible. I turned my head to see how Kurama was taking this news and was shocked to find that he looked perfectly calm - if not, slightly irritated about something. Had he known this already?

"Well I was there, wasn't I?" Kaiba said, chuckling to himself about something apparently only he thought funny.

"Perhaps you could tell us about the case?" Kurama inquired, his face remaining in that stone set calm.

Kaiba brought a hand up to cover his mouth in an obscured way, his blue eyes narrowing in thought. I almost smiled despite myself - he looked kinda cute like that. I mentally laughed. In the last week of my life, I had been graced to meet quite a few attractive young men actually - I was turning into a guy hound...

Finally, after a few moments of anxious silence, Kaiba shrugged carelessly. "I don't know why you'd want to know, but I guess it won't hurt to tell you."

Kaiba's Flashback

I couldn't stop tapping my pen against the desk, the only way I could let out the tight anxiety that was forming in the pit of my stomach. I was almost afraid I was going to put a dent into the table when Hiei roughly grabbed my hand.

He let out an amused snicker and pulled the pen from my hands. "Stop it. You're looking nervous - it's sort of freaking me out."

I grunted and snatched my pen back, fixing him with a hard glare. How could he look so calm?! He was being tried for attempted murder for hell's sake and that could land him a life sentence in prison! Not to mention that Kagome Higurashi was the prosecutor. As much as I hated to admit it, I was a little nervous.

No, not nervous - Seto Kaiba didn't get nervous, like Hiei had said, for anyone. I was merely anxious.

"Uh...doesn't anxious and nervous mean the same thing?" I inquired innocently, gazing between Kurama and Kaiba.

Kaiba glared at me angrily and I suddenly felt a small similarity to a mouse. "Do you want me to finish the story or not?"

I gave a nervous laugh. "Continue, my mistake!"

Anyway, as the jury slowly filed in, I stole a glance at Kagome, sitting all calm and relaxed at her desk, chewing slowly on gum. Now I really wanted to beat her. I was taken by surprise though, when she glanced at me and gave an unexpected grin, twinkling her fingers in a girly sort of wave.

At first my mouth fell open in slight surprise, but then I realized she was mocking me and it took all I had to not walk over there and knock her over the head with my briefcase. Seeing my angry look, her eyes widened in suprise and her mouth slanted to the side how a child looks when they know they've done something wrong. She looked back at her hands and mouthed words that looked particularly like, 'My bad.'

I didn't look at her again until the judge came in. As normal cases go, the prosecutor presents their case first. Kagome began as anyone would, discussing what happened in the case. Her first witness was just some passer-by that had been on the streets.

I had expected it to be huge, intimidating - fireworks flying everywhere! But, her case sounded like one of a student fresh out of Harvard. I countered her witnesses easily, warding off her evidence like it was dust. I was more than a little perplexed, to say the least.

But then, she announced she would be calling her final witness, Hiei. Now, I knew she would use Hiei, that wasn't what troubled me - what troubled me was she said it was her final witness and she hadn't used Inuyasha OR Kikyo. The two people that I had thought would be my biggest problem defending Hiei.

And I wasn't the only one either. Inuyasha suddenly leapt to his feet in the audience section, looking positively livid. "What?! Final witness! Kagome, what are yo--"

"Order!" The judge's hammering pounded through the court room. "Order in my court! Sit DOWN Inuyasha!"

The model plopped down in an angry huff, glaring more at Hiei than Kagome. She seemed to ignore his outburst and breezily rose to her feet.

Hiei walked calmly to the stand, looking unusually confident for someone about to be interrogated by one of the fiercest lawyers in the world. He quickly repeated the oath and Kagome began her questioning.

"Hiei Jaganshi," she began in a loud, demanding voice. I had the briefest image of her yelling at the top of her lungs, Hiei slumped down in his chair, tears flowing from his eyes - but that idea was squashed when her voice turned gentler as she faced him. "Would you say you drink sometimes, Hiei?"

He looked down in shame. And that was the point I started to realize something wasn't right. I knew Hiei pretty well, being his lawyer and everything, and I knew he wasn't the type to feel shame about anything. I hadn't thought, with his overly large pride, that he even knew the meaning of the word shame. But, his voice came out sounding pitiful all the same. "I'm afraid more than sometimes even."

Kagome looked surprised, but....it looked like a fake surprise. "Oh? Would you say you're an alcoholic then?"

Hiei's face sharpened angrily. "No!"

"But you drink more than sometimes."

"Yes."

"Sometimes could be four times a day, Hiei! So more than sometimes could be 6, 7 drinks a day! Help me out here!" She slapped her hands on the podium in front of him.

"Not that much!" he defended hotly.

"So three times a day?"

He opened his mouth again, but she cut him off. "Or is it just a strong drink?"

"I--"

"Or an entire quart of--"

"Just two tesquilos!"

The judge and the jury gasped into silence. Kagome merely straigtened, smirking triumphantly. Hiei looked embarrassed at having been outwitted. Yet, embarrassed wasn't a common emotion for Hiei either. Something was wrong...

Kagome began pacing the floor slowly. "Tesquilos, huh? If I'm remembering correctly, isn't that....what was it again?" She tapped her chin in thought. "Ah, yes! An entire pint of the strongest type of tequila?"

"No!" Hiei looked damn right flustered.

"But you just said you drunk that every day."

"Not every day."

"But some days?"

"Yes."

"Which days?"

Hiei glared at her angrily. "How should I know?!"

Kagome grasped the podium again. "The night you attacked Inuyasha!"

"No!"

Kagome actually stood up again, looking perfectly calm. "Oh, okay then."

I held my breath, knowing this was merely a pause before a huge explosion. Kagome began to hum a soft song, loudly enough that most of us could hear it. For the first time, I was utterly confused at her antics. This must be what all the other lawyers she'd faced felt like - I was finally getting to see Kagome Higurashi work her court magic.

Suddenly, Hiei bolted upright in his seat. "Stop it!"

"You don't like the merry go round song, Hiei?"

He glared at her bitterly. "No." His voice dripped of sarcasm.

"Brings back bad memories?"

"Why do you care?!"

"Don't you like to drink away your memories?"

"Maybe!"

"It's against the law to drink on children inhabited areas."

"I was drinking there because that's where we used to date!"

"That's no excuse to strangle the guy!"

"I didn't mean to get that drunk, I couldn't help it!"

This time the entire room gasped in surprise as Hiei unwittingly admitted to getting severely drunk that night. Even I had to admit, the interrogation had been performed brilliantly, strategically - it took a good lawyer to crack someone like Hiei.

But no one else was seeing what was plainly obvious in my eyes. Yes, it was a great discovery - but it was a great discovery for his defense! With that kind of confession, he could get away with nothing more than alcoholic charges. Especially since he had let it slip on accident.

I froze. Or he had made it seem like he slipped on accident. I looked at Hiei's stunned face, to Kagome's clearly triumphant one, and then back to Hiei's. That's when I saw it. His lips tilted barely visibly upwards and he gave her a quick wink. Her eyes glowed for a second in response before both had plastered their previous looks again.

Heat pumped through my veins as I abruptly rose to my feet. "Hiei is not an alcoholic and I know for a fact that he does not have access to the strongest type of tequila. His sister made sure of that and I can bring her in to testify!"

Kagome and Hiei whipped their heads around to stare at me in shock. Pure, honest surprise - from both of them. I had done it, I had caught the two liars in the act and they knew it. And I wanted to know why they were doing what they were doing. "I would like to have a private word with my client please," I snapped skittishly.

Hiei and Kagome exchanged weary glances before Hiei followed me stiffly into another room. Normally, the prosecuting lawyer would object to this action and say that the defendent was leading the witness, but as I expected, Kagome did nothing.

As soon as the door behind us closed, I glared at Hiei. "What is going on out there?!"

He returned my glare full blow. "Nothing is going on out there. You're winning your god damn case against Kagome Higurashi so don't be complaining!"

"Only because she wants me to win!" I hissed in reply, finally admitting that she had gained control over the outcome of this trial.

Hiei folded his arms acrossed his chest and observed me through narrowed eyes. "Would you prefer I go to jail, Kaiba?"

"Of course not!" I snapped irritably. I sighed, allowing my shoulders to slump. "I just didn't want to win like this."

Hiei smirked knowingly. "Just consider this not one of your better cases."

I gave him a dejected look. "I suppose that is the only way." I glanced towards the door leading back to the court room. "So why is Kagome helping you?"

Hiei avoided my gaze and shrugged. "The hell if I know. But I'm not about to argue with her."

"So you're going to walk away from this with probably no time in jail."

"We're aiming for rehab," he replied with a smirk, opening the door and walking out.

I followed him with a shake of the head, still more than a little confused about the whole situation. We walked back into the court room to find Inuyasha hissing angrily at Kagome, no doubt degrading her about her less than impressive performance. I noticed that Hiei stiffened angrily.

As soon as we entered, Inuyasha shot us an angry glare and returned to his seat. The rest of the trial lasted all of twenty minutes. Now that I knew what was going on, I actually helped support Kagome's ideas, as she did with mine.

At the end, the outcome was a very unexpected one. Well, it was unexpected to everyone but myself, Hiei and Kagome.

Hiei had just gotten away with attempted murder with little more to pay than a few weeks in rehab. Mental instability from excessive use of alcohol.

End Kaiba's Flashback

I closed my mouth, finally realizing that it had dropped open in surprise. "Wow..." I breathed. The case sounded like it came straight out of a murder mystery fiction book.

Kaiba shrugged. "A little confusing I suppose, but that's basically how it went."

Kurama stood to his feet and held out a hand for Kaiba. "Thank you for sharing that."

Kaiba took it with a slightly bewildered look. "Glad I could help..."

Kurama nodded and released his hand, quickly walking out the door. Stunned for a moment, I only stared after him before giving Kaiba a quick smile. "Thanks again, bye!" I rushed after Kurama, finally catching up to him when he was at the outside door. "Hey, why'd you leave so fast?"

He glanced at me uneasily. "Was there reason to stay longer?"

I retaliated slightly from his irritated tone. "I guess not."

He didn't answer again as we moved outside, slowly walking down the stone stairs. I sighed and glanced up to look over the highly expensive and trendy sports cars that decorated the parking lot. It was then I noticed a large truck amidst the cars, looking highly out of place.

Kurama noticed it as well, but only when a young girl popped out from the side with a smile on her face, dusting her hands off carelessly. She had silky raven hair that flew in careless waves down her back. Oddly, she had a strange resemblance to Kikyo, with the exception of her softened features and warm, caring eyes.

Before I could blink, Kurama was flying down the steps, jumping over hoods and through tires with such amazing agility, I suddenly didn't doubt his years as a highly trained thief. "Kagome!" he yelled, making the girl pause in her motions.

So that's Kagome!

Kagome's eyes widened nervously and she scrambled to open the door of her truck, trying to get in. Unfortunately, Kurama flew to her in a quick burst of speed and slammed the door shut. She took a nervous step backwards as Kurama approached her.

By now, I had managed to at least make it to her truck, arriving just in time to witness Kurama shooting Kagome a dirty look. "You look unusually happy. Maybe you haven't heard?"

Kagome's nervous look didn't disappear, but she straightened herself defensively. "Heard what?"

"Hiei's been murdered."

Her face twisted from anxiety into anger. "I don't believe you! Of course I've heard!"

Kurama smirked. "Then I return to my previous comment, you look particularly happy for knowing he was murdered..."

Kagome's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What are you getting at?" She brought her briefcase up to her chest, clutching it tightly.

"I saw you at Oliver's."

I had finally caught my breath from running to keep up with Kurama, but it didn't matter as I could still find nothing to say. What WAS Kurama getting at? Obviously I was missing something. I rolled my eyes. Again.

Obviously, Kagome knew what he was talking about because she raised a hand and slapped him cleanly across the face. "You've always had a problem with-- oh! I don't believe you!" Her voice narrowed to a deadly whisper. "You think I did it."

I took a step backwards in surprise, jumping slightly as something pricked my leg. I looked down in agitation to find she had a curved metal piece sheltering her tire, shaped oddly like a J. I was snapped out of my glaring contest with the decorative piece of Kagome's vehicle as Kurama's bitter voice cut through my thoughts. "With good reason."

"What?!" I interrupted loudly. "You think Kagome killed him?! Why didn't you tell me!?"

Both ignored my outburst as Kagome's eyes grew slightly misty. "No! I hate Inuyasha, he betrayed me! I don't care what you think, I loved him!"

I blinked. Wait now...if she hates him, how can she love him? I growled silently and dug into my pockets for my sunglasses, intending to put them on in a poor attempt to hide my confusion. I flipped them in my fingers the way the kid in Down in the Gutterhole did, but -bless my clumsy fingers- they slipped as the wind gave a harsh blow, tossing them out of hands.

Before I could recover them, -the amazing luck continues- they hooked onto the shirt of biker who was taking a short cut through the parking lot. "My glasses!" I cried, running after him. I glanced back to find Kurama still engaged with Kagome. I figured they wouldn't miss me much, so I turned back and continued to chase the biker. "Hey! Stop!"

The biker left the parking lot and whipped around the corner, heading onto the sidewalk. "I'm talking to you!" I yelled again. He was apparently deaf because he suddenly whipped into an alley, taking another short cut no doubt.

I ignored the side ache I was getting and sprinted around the corner, into the alley. Suddenly, I found myself on the ground, the air completely gone from my lungs. I yelped in pain as I glanced up to see the figure I had run into. He was sitting on the ground, his jeans ripped and muddly, a large cloak pulled loosely over his head, shadowing his face from view. He groaned irritably and rubbed his head. "Watch where you're going!" a cold, masculine voice snapped from beneath the hood.

I flushed hotly and glared at him. "Hey, it's half your fault too ya know!"

He snickered in amusement. "Whatever." He hauled himself to his feet, not bothering to brush the dirt off of himself. Not that it mattered, he was already dirty enough. I realized he was probably homeless and I instantly felt bad for my harsh actions.

"Sorry," I said with a small smile. "It probably was my fault, I whipped around the corner pretty carelessly."

The figure paused, seeming to consider this - looking like he was examining me, but I couldn't tell with the hood. I noticed that for a full grown man, he was quite short, a little taller than me - but that wasn't saying much. Finally, he chuckled softly. "Well, well, you're pretty and kind." He reached two gloved covered hands up and pulled his hood off. "Botan." His hair was jet black, spiked unnaturally and long pieces hung in his face, shadowing his already mysterious looking features. A starburst of white played out in the tumble of dark slightly above his forehead.

His face was tanned and his features were sharpened and looked practically sculpted. His eyes were a intricate mixture of dark reds, observing me softly with the outmost confidence etched in them. Dirt and mud played on his face, but on him, it looked like it belonged there. Despite myself, I gave a nervous gulp. God damn this man was attractive. Meaning, oh yes, he topped the list out of all the attractive men I had recently met.

He had made my breath catch in my throat AND he knew my name. I thought I was going to faint. "H-How do you know my name?" I finally managed to stammer.

He reached a hand down for me to take. "You sound offended."

I could only shake my head in argument as I took his hand, letting his strong arm pull me up. He let go and took out my sunglasses. "Were these what you were looking for?" I nodded slowly. He smirked and twirled them in his fingers EXACTLY like the kid in Down in the Gutterhole. I would have mentioned this to him, except the second I had the glasses in my hands, I also felt the cold metal of the barrel of a pistol pressed at my throat.

I gasped despite myself and my eyes widened in horror as I stared back at the beggar. A pit of fear started to form in my stomach as I saw how completely calm and relaxed he looked. "Now I don't want to repeat myself, so listen carefully." I remained frozen. "Stay out of the way and don't meddle into the dealings of the murder of Hiei Jaganshi."

I couldn't possibly understand his motives, but I certainly wasn't going to question it at the moment. I still remained frozen, even though my brain told me to nod if I didn't want my head blown off. He smirked, seemingly understanding my silence. "Good. I would have hated to ruin that pretty face."

I clutched my sunglasses tighter, feeling my palms going moist. He removed the gun and placed a finger under my chin. I wanted to kill myself, but I couldn't deny the fluttering that appeared in my stomach from his closeness. "Take care, onna," he whispered and I felt the sensation of a pair of warm lips brushing across my cheek. I blushed hotly and hardly realized when he swerved his boot to kick my feet out from under me. I tumbled to the ground ungracefully before I could think to slap him.

I spat out dirt and gathered myself quickly, but when I whipped my head up, he was already gone. I stared into the dark alley blankly, unwittingly bringing a hand up to my cheek where I could still feel it burning from the touch of his lips.

Sherkoni - Aha! So it appears some of you are quite smart as you were right to think Hiei was indeed not dead! Heh heh...now I have to change the summary. n.n;;; Please review, it really inspires me to write new chappys faster.