- sighs I'm back again and exhausted. I keep rushing around to finish writing other chapters for my other stories and working on new ones… I think that's why I've been having so many headaches… either that or I'm going through caffeine withdrawal… probably that… yeah… Well, I believe it's time to start this story, so enjoy!

Kurama looked around to see who had spoken his name. It was a housekeeper, who smiled amiably at him as she stood in the doorway.

"Master Kurama, you're awake? Are you feeling alright?" she asked, pushing her perfectly trim bangs out of her eyes. She had soft jet black hair cut in a cute bob at her chin, pulled back with a deep blue ribbon tied at the top and despite what Kurama would have believed, she was not dressed in normal maid's clothing. Her upper body was covered in a thick white oxford blouse buttoned to the collar. Threaded under the collar was a thin blue ribbon the color of the one in her hair and it was tied in a loose blouse. She wore shorts that fell to mid thigh and were cuffed. From there her well toned legs were covered in navy blue tights, like the rest of her outfit besides the shirt and ended in sensible dull pumps.

"I'm fine…" he muttered, pushing himself off his bed and shoving his hair out his face.

"Good, here let me wash these," she replied sweetly, picking up the clothing on the floor and it was then that Kurama realized that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Blushing he tried to cover himself and the girl noticed.

"Would you like to borrow a shirt, Master Kurama?"

"You could hand me over my shirt there," he replied, motioning over to the small bundle of clothes in her arms. She wrinkled her nose and made a slight grimace, pinching it between two well manicured nails.

"No offense to you, Master Kurama, but it's filthy and needs to be washed," she replied quickly, shoving it back into the bundle.

Kurama sighed; guess he really didn't have a choice.

"Then yes, please. I would like to borrow a shirt."

"Just a moment then, Master Kurama," the girl replied, placing the bundle down and walking over to the old antique dresser.

Wrapping her fingers around the old brass knobs and pulled it open with all of her might and it slowly slid open. Rummaging around for a second she finally pulled out something and handed it over.

"I'll be putting these into the washroom while you get dressed and then I'll be in the kitchen getting tea ready, Master Kurama," she finished as usual.

"Alright, thank you. And you really don't have to call me Master Kurama," he replied.

She stopped for a moment and then walked off. Sighing Kurama got out of bed and looked at what she had handed him. It was an old fashioned shirt made of very thick, well worn silk in a pale green. It had a straight neckline except for a small V cut in the middle and tied with bright green cord. The wide sleeves were trimmed in a pattern of gold leaves on an emerald background, and left them slightly weighted. Shoving it over his head he pulled his hair through and behind him and looked it over. Because it was made to be loose it was comfortable and the wide sleeves allowed him to move freely. Shoving on the old pair of jeans the maid had left behind he tucked the hem of the shirt into the waist and walked out of the room in bare feet to see where the girl had gone.

As she had said earlier she was walking out of the kitchen to the small adjacent room that was filled with a very low table and comfy pillows to sit on. She looked up at him and smiled as she poured the steaming water from the tin kettle into a traditional cast iron tea pot and hid the tin one in a cabinet where a warmer was waiting.

"Would you like some tea, Master Kurama?" she asked politely, nodding her head to him.

"Ah, yes please," Kurama replied, nodding his head to her and chose a pillow and sat down, his legs crossed.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"No, I just don't sleep for long."

"Oh. I wonder how long it will be before Lady Narue wakes up… or Lord Hiei for that matter," she suddenly wondered out loud, surprising Kurama.

"I don't really know," he replied "what exactly is your name?"

She looked over, tucking a strand of hair behind an ear.

"My name is Mana, I work for Lady Narue," the maid, now revealed to be called Mana, replied sweetly and for the Kurama noticed that sitting next to the girl was a long ivory pole. At each end were ornate silver caps that were kept perpetually polished until they seemed to nearly glow.

"Do you fight with a rod?" Kurama asked as poured steaming tea into two delicate tea cups.

"Yes, Lady Narue taught me how to fight when I came here," Mana replied, handing over to him the cup which he took gratefully and blew some steam off.

"Why?"

"Because I believe that if you can't fight you're not fit to housekeep," Narue's voice answered, making Kurama start and look over while Mana just smiled calmly as ever and walked to her employer, holding out a teacup.

"Here's your tea, Lady Narue. Pleasure to meet you Master Kurama," Mana replied, nodding as she excused herself.

Kurama watched as Narue maneuvered her heavily bandaged hands around the delicate cup and sat down across from him. Just faintly in the pale light coming from the only window he could see the rust stains on the bandages from old blood.

"I have to admit, Mana does make a decent tea," Narue murmured, staring at her hands and as she placed the cup down she began to unravel the thick cloth off, wincing as it got closer to her hands until the stained bandages were crumpled on the desk and she flexed her long fingers.

"Ah… yes she does…" Kurama replied trying not to look at her hands as she wiped them off on a thick sheet of linen that she procured from the cabinet that held the tin kettle. As she did, thick streaks of fresh blood ran across the cloth as she pulled them away and despite himself, Kurama found himself asking the question that had been on his mind for a while

"What happened to your hands?"

Narue looked over, tearing large strips of the linen off and winding two of the strips around her palms and tied them tightly, leaving the knot as it was.

"My hands? I was… careless," she replied carefully, picking up the tea again to drink though they began to shake slightly, just barely.

"It looks painful, are you sure you are alright?" Kurama asked, pouring himself a bit more tea and sighing. He had no clue why but a part of him was worried sick.

"Painful?" she thought about it for a moment, pressing her fingers to her lips for a moment and replied "Yes… but I am fine. I can stand much more pain than you'd guess."

"Oh…" Kurama found himself staring at the bottom of his empty cup and again sleepy.

"Forgive me for seeming rude, where'd you get that shirt?" Narue asked calmly, though Kurama could hear a slight tremble in her voice.

"Ah… Mana lent it to me," Kurama replied quickly and suddenly he thought of something. Why did a young girl like Narue, who lived alone, have men's clothing… unless she wore it… but it was so dusty…

"Hmm… should've guessed. Sorry, it must have seemed rude to suddenly ask that," she bowed her head in apology to him, taking another slow sip of tea.

"Don't apologize. I had no clue they meant anything to you," Kurama blurted out and then looked down, blushing slightly. He suddenly felt very stupid. OF COURSE they meant something. Why did she hold onto them otherwise?

"Stop worrying, no body wears them anymore so it's nice to see them getting some wear. I guess I should've gotten rid of them a while ago but I just couldn't bring myself to do it," she sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat and she traced one forefinger around the rim of the teacup.

"Well, if they mean something to you, nobody can really blame you for wanting to hold onto them," Kurama replied reasonable, fighting off another yawn.

"Nah. They belonged to my late husband… I think they look better on you. He was always uncomfortable in fancy clothes," Narue replied simply, "You look sleepy, you should head to bed. It's late."

Nodding his head, Kurama got up and meandered back to his room, slumping onto his bed and falling into a deep sleep.

Only seconds after the red head had wandered to his quarters did another person join Narue, quiet and hidden in the shadows, masked in the darkness of the night. A normal person would've continued on like nothing had happened…

"Come off it, ototou-san, you're not fooling me this time," Narue replied dryly, setting her cup down and looked over her shoulder as Hiei stepped out of the dark corner of the room, an odd little smirk on his face.

"Never could sneak up on you," he muttered, walking over to sit in front of her, eyeing the tea suspiciously with his crimson gaze.

"There's nothing in it, if that's what your wondering. You always were paranoid," Narue replied, nudging the pot over to him, but again he refused.

"Hn. I just don't care for the tea you make," Hiei retorted, leaning his arms on the tabletop.

"Oh… forgot that," she replied softly, "I've been forgetting more things lately… I guess I'm worried that I'll forget him."

At the depressed tone in her voice, Hiei looked over, surprised to see a rather defeated looking Narue. Her body was hunched up over the teacup, long arms crossed over her chest and yellow eyes staring at the table.

"You won't forget him," Hiei replied gruffly. He really wasn't that great at comforting another person…

"I know you're disappointed in me, ototou-san," she suddenly said, sighing right after, her shoulders slumping as though the world weighted on them.

"Why would I be?"

"Because I keep losing. There was a time when I inspired fear and awe in people. Now look at me, some washed up old warrior letting spirit detectives batter her around."

What was there to say? She had managed to voice exactly what had been on Hiei's mind since he had been reunited with her.

"Hn, then fight back. Even an idiot like Kuwabara knows that."

There was silence and then Narue replied rather quietly, "Maybe I don't want to fight back?"

"Hn, you're getting injured and even YOUR body can't take much more of that," Hiei replied darkly, staring at her with crimson eyes, the look on his face ever serious as always.

"I know how far I can push my body; after all, I've had mine longer than you've had yours," Narue quipped, not wanting to look him in the eye.

"…"

All the while, in his room, Kurama had finally fallen asleep…

-Tren: Wow. This came to a really slow ending! Sorry to all of you readers! The next chapters won't end as… anti-climatically I guess. Deepest apologies, and was there any OOC? I always worry about that! I'll do all the reader review next time, cheerio!