One week later

Hina sighed to herself. Kayko just called and said that her and Yusuke were on their way home. She's been having fun taking care of Taihen. Hiei's stopped by several times and actually went out with her and the baby today. They've been all over town and Hina has been spoiling the baby like there was no tomorrow. Taking a break, they stop by a tea cafe.

"That was Kayko. They're on their way home now. She said they'll be at the apartment in an hour." she said to Hiei while feeding Taihen his bottle.

Hiei watched her as she did so. Noticing his staring, she met his eyes.

"You want to try?" she questioned her silent friend.

"No. I wouldn't want to drop him." responded the arrogant fire youkai (unbeknownst to her, of course)

"It's alright. I'll show you." she said, scooting closer to him.

"Really. It's fine. I'm not one for children anyway."

"You mean to say if you ever find yourself a girlfriend and marry her, you won't have kids?"

"I don't know. I'm not planning on falling in love with any woman anytime soon."

"So you're saying that you won't love a woman. What are you, gay?"

"No! I just don't want a relationship."

"Why not? What? Are us woman not pretty, smart, or good enough for the likes of you?"

"I'm not saying that it's just..."

"...You don't want a relationship. I know. I know. But seriously Hiei...you need to get yourself a girl. You've never had a girlfriend. You need to find one. Maybe she'll be able to pull you out of that shell of yours." she responded harshly, turning her attention back to Taihen.

Hiei mouth hung agape as he stared at Hina in shock.

"Be quiet."

"And there you go again. You know your little I-hate-the-world-so-leave-me-alone attitude is really annoying." She placed Taihen into his stroller, put his bottle in it's bag, picked up the bag, and stood up. "Let's head back."

She started to head back towards her apartment but was stopped by a hand on her arm. Hina turned and faced Hiei.

"You aren't going anywhere alone."

He stood up and walked by her side.

In Spirit World

Yusuke, Kurama, Kazuma, and a strange man emerged from a potal. Koenma was pacing back and forth on his desk, muttering to himself while Yukina, Kayko, and Shuichi watched with sweatdrops.

"Yo! Koenma!"

"Gah!" excliamed the toddler king, falling backwards into his chair. "Don't do that Yusuke!"

"Sorry. Well, we completed your mission."

Koenma stood up with an anime vein and glared at his former Reikai Tantei but adverted his gaze to the old man.

"Aishati Sakuso, it is a plesure to see you again...and in one piece." He turned into his teenage form and approched the man. "I hope they were nice to you."

"Yes they were, Koenma-sama." He clasped Koenma's extended hand. "It is good to see you again as well."

"I hate to break up this reunion, Koenma, sir, but there is something you need to know." said Kayko, rising from her seat.

"What is it?" he questioned, facing her.

"It's about Botan, sir. Shuichi and I researched as much as we could. We went through book after book. There was nothing on the illness that Botan has."

"What exactly happened to her?" Shuichi inquired.

Koenma cleared his throat.

"Well she went to a witches' shop in the Makai early morning last Friday, the day that I asked you all to come. She had to get some herbs for Genkai. Well as she was leaving, someone wearing a cloak and hood ran up to her and stabbed her with a large needle. The needle is in my desk drawer if you wish to see it."

"May I?" Kurama requested, stepping forward.

Koenma walked behind his desk and opened one of the drawers. He pulled out a piece of cloth. Unraveling it, he showed the 6 inch black needle to the kitsune.

"It looks like a plant but not any that I know." the demi-god told him.

"Same here. I'll have to look this up."

"You do that. As for the rest of you, I believe a rest is in order. I might be calling you all again."

Yusuke, Kayko, Shuichi, and Kazuma nodded and, one-by-one, went into a portal that appered.

In the Ningenkai

"Hiei! Stop looking at him like he's a bug! You're going to make him cry!"

Taihen's loud whining echoed throughout the room and out the window.

"Shut that baby up!"

"Well, excuse me. If you wouldn't have stared at him the way you were, he wouldn't be crying right now!"

Hiei walked over to Hina and got in her face.

"You are suppose to be taking care of him. Make him SHUT UP!"

The baby's screaming only got louder.

"You're scaring him." She picked him up and went back over to Hiei. "I'm going to teach you to be nice."

"Huh?"

He was silenced when Hina kicked him in the chest and he fell backwards onto the couch. She grabbed the baby's bottle and sat in Hiei's lap.

"Onna, what are you doing?"

"Making sure you won't get up. I know you won't push me off cause I have the baby. Now here."

She placed Taihen into his arms and adjusted the baby the right way.

"This is how you hold the baby. You use your left arm to cradle him and the right arm to feed." She handed the stubborn youkai the bottle. "Like this."

In no time flat, Taihen was quietly drinking the bottle that Hiei was feeding him. Hina, still sitting on his lap, smiled.

"See? You got the hang of it. Who knows? Maybe you will be a good father."

He smirked at her and, in the blink of the eye, she sat on the floor.

"Hiei! What was that for?"

"Payback."

A knock interupted their little feud and Hina went to answer it. Kayko and Yusuke stood waiting, inpatiently.

"Hey guys."

"Hey, Hina." said Yusuke. "Where's Taihen?"

"Oh, with Hiei."

"Excuse me?" responded Kayko, tilting her head to the side.

Hina stepped out of the way and, sure enough, there was Hiei sitting on the couch feeding Taihen.

"Told ya. Come on in."

The couple entered the small apartment.

"We can't stay for too long. Thanks again for taking care of him."

"No problem. We had loads of fun and I, well, kinda spoiled him. I just couldn't help. He's so cute."

Kayko chuckled. "It's fine."

Yusuke gathered up his son's things and headed for the door.

"Hold it Yusuke." said Hiei, standing up. He handed Taihen to Hina. "I need to have a word with you."

The two men picked up the things and headed downstairs.

Hina turned to her friend.

"Here's your son."

"Hey baby." Kayko cooed to her child. He squealed with happiness.

"Feel free to bring him around anytime." said Hina, escorting her friend to the door.

"I can tell he loves it here. Thanks."

Hina hugged her friend.

"No problem."

"I'll call later alright. What do you say to a mall day next weekend?"

"I will think about it. See ya."

"Bye."

Hina closed the door and walked over to the window. She could see Yusuke loading stuff into his car and Hiei standing by. They seemed to be talking about something very important.

'Probably why they were gone so long.' she thought to herself.

Shrugging, she went to her bathroom to take a nice hot shower.

I might not be able to update until December 2nd. Hope you enjoyed the humorous chapter! -