A/N: Gomen-sai! I am very sorry. I thought I had already posted this chapter. Here it is and it has a nice cliff hanger. I am halfway through the next chapter, so review and I'll work hard to finish it.

Lorin paced by the stream in the park, fury evident in her every step. She kept pausing to scoop up small rocks and hurl them into the gently flowing waters, before resuming motion.

How dare he? She fumed, continuing to pace. To those sensitive to reiki, the anger she felt was even more. Waves of red-hot rage poured off her. Lorin's energy had shot through the roof in response to her feelings.

He had better come up with a good explanation or I'll…. I'll knock him all the way back to Makai. I'll pound him into the ground, until he merges with it! How DARE he?


Flashback

"Yusuke! Kuwabara! Wait up. I'll walk with you part way." Lorin called as she spotted her teammates on the sidewalk ahead of her. Almost as one, the boys turned and grinned.

"Hey, Lorin!" Yusuke called back as she ran up to them.

"Good morning, boyos. How are you this fine day?" she said. Lorin had been in a great mood since her date the other night with Hiei, except for her argument with her parents, but they had resolved that for the most part. It was still a little strange that they knew, but at least they hadn't tried to stop her from doing her job or seeing Hiei. She wasn't even annoyed that he hadn't come back after helping the boys.

"I'm beat," Yusuke sighed, looking worn out. His feet were dragging and his book bag dragging along on the sidewalk.

"Yeah, me too. After everything that happened a few nights ago, I'm still exhausted." Kuwabara agreed. "Man, with Urameshi getting kidnapped and me and Botan and Hiei almost losing our souls and all that, I still can't believe it all."

"You think you had it hard," Yusuke retorted, "I was stuck in the same place for hours with that jerk standing on my shadow, running his stupid mouth! I couldn't move or fight or even itch my nose."

"Come on, you are such a wimp…" Kuwabara snickered, then paused as he realized Lorin wasn't with them. She was standing a few feet behind them, confusion on her face.

"What do you mean, 'Yusuke was kidnapped' and 'Hiei almost lost his soul'?" she asked, carefully. The boys exchanged looks.

"You don't know?" Kuwabara asked.

"We thought Hiei or Kurama would have told you." Yusuke commented.

"Told me what?" Lorin asked, gritting her teeth. What was going on?

"You tell her." Kuwabara said, glancing at Yusuke and shaking his head, "I don't want her mad at me." Yusuke rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Fine, I will. Wuss." He faced Lorin and winced, "Well, a few days ago, I got kidnapped by a couple of freaks, who turned out to be alright, but we didn't know that. They told Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara that they all had to come to this spooky house and get me...and yeah, They had to fight the freaks and stuff and..." A school bell sounded in the distance. "Oh, Hell! We gotta go. Bye, Lorin." Yusuke finished, dashing off, Kuwabara at his heels. Lorin shook her head at the two retreating backs and decided to take her anger out on SK. Suichi Kurama should have told her. Hiei should have told her. She'd find out why they hadn't.

Lorin paused by a tree and remembered Kurama's explanation of what had happened. There really hadn't been time to go get her and bring her back by the deadline. She had pointed out that Hiei had called her and could have had her meet them there. SK had colored slightly before confessing that he had been too worried about Yusuke and had figured Hiei had his reasons for not wanting her there.

Kurama had redeemed himself in her eyes by giving her a complete and detailed recounting of what had happened, including Hiei 'almost losing his soul'. He also told her about Genkai and Koenma's explanations as well as the class system for youkai.

"And Hiei just left?" she had asked. By this point she and SK were sitting on the grass in the park. He was leaning against a tree and she was leaning against him.

"Yes. He said that since Koenma had us, and the newcomers, he was redundant. I think he was upset that he was ranked at mid-B class. Koenma failed to tell him that when he first fought with Yusuke he was only a D class. The fact that Hiei has jumped that far in a year is a sign of his skill, but Hiei doesn't think like that." Suichi explained. Lorin laughed.

"No, no he doesn't. Hiei is very direct." She paused, "I still can't believe he didn't even tell me what was going on. It's not like I'm a child. Didn't I prove myself at the Tournament?" she demanded.

Kurama hugged her. "You did, at least in my eyes. I'm certain Hiei feels the same."

Lorin had brooded for the rest of the day. After dinner she had made her way to the stream and had let down her concealing shields. It was the fastest and easiest way to let Hiei know she wanted him. It also was the most dangerous, since any youkai nearby could pick it up as well. Right now, however, she didn't care. Any youkai stupid enough to come near her with the kind of energy she was putting out deserved what they got.

Soon enough the familiar flicker of ki flared in her senses. Hiei was coming. Another few seconds past, then a little black outline was in the tree above her. It landed on its feet in front of her and Hiei was there.

"You called?" he smirked. Lorin glared at him and Hiei took a step back in surprise.

"Teme yarou. " she snarled at him. "What the hell is wrong with you? Not only do you leave me out of it, but then you don't even tell me after? What were you thinking? I had to find out from listening to Yusuke and Kuwabara gossip about it! How could you! After everything, everything we've been though, didn't I at least earn the right to be told? Didn't I deserve to come along?

Hiei blinked and said nothing.

"Can't you even answer me now!" she demanded.

"What are we talking about?" Hiei asked, his mind whirling as he tried to pick out clues from her rant. What had he done? The last time he had seen her this angry was at the Tournament.

"Yusuke getting kidnapped." She ground out

Understanding flooded Hiei's mind. Now it made sense. He opened his mouth to speak, but she didn't let him.

"You almost lost your soul! What was I supposed to do if Kurama hadn't won? I'd never know! I wouldn't have a clue where to start looking! The Captain of our Team goes missing and you decide not to tell me? New powers, unknown enemies…I thought I had proved myself at the Tournament, Hiei! Obviously not!" She turned away from him and hurled a stone into the stream.

"Lorin," Hiei began, then stopped, searching for unfamiliar words. "I…I didn't want to ruin your night. You were happy. You were safe…and there was no proof of our enemies knew of your existence. They hadn't insisted that you come by name." He stopped again, unsure of what else he was trying to say.

"I know you are protective of me, Hiei, but I'm not weak, or at least you keep telling me that. Don't worry, though, I'll prove it once and for all. I won't be around for a while. Don't try to look for me, you won't find me. When I'm done I'll find you." With that she blurred and was gone.

Teme yarou- you bastard