For those of you who didn't figure it out, Hinansho is really Kurounue in a human body( I gave the first clue in one of the final chapters of 'To Say Goodbye.' the part with the pendant was the clue.) So in this chapter I'll refer to Hinansho as Kurounue and will continue doing so unless someone who doesn't know his indentity talks to him.

Kurounue(AKA Hinansho) followed after the hazel eyed girl, running, trying to overtake her, but ending up always just a leap behind, his anger building with each near miss. Cursing the girl and his human body, Kurounue continued after the girl intent on getting his pendant back and forcing the girl to tell him how she knew his true identity. She knew he was Kurounue—that was the most intriguing and startling thing about her, he hadn't even told Kurama who he was so how could a complete stranger know him?

Leaping after the girl, Kurounue followed her into an old abandoned building losing sight of her in the darkness of the unlit rooms, unable to track her anymore because of her silent footsteps. Listening to the deafening silence, searching for any sign of the girl, Kurounue growled, continuing forward, frustrated that this human girl had managed to steal his pendant from him, wondering how she even knew he had it on him.

"Quit playing games and give me back my pendant! Then tell me who and what you are since you can't be a normal human if you know so much about me." Kurounue shouted into the darkness tired of chasing the girl. 'Stupid, this human body can't run anymore. Damn it, how can a human girl have so much more endurance than I do?' He thought intrigued, bitter and angry, catching his breath as he looked back and forth across the room desperate for any sign of the girl.

"You should know who I am, Kurounue." The strange girl's voice rang out from the darkness, coming from above him—and sure enough, Kurounue looked up and saw the girl sitting on a rafter beam about twenty feet above the floor.

'How did she…?' Kurounue gaped at the girl, there was no logical way she could've climbed or jumped up there—at least not if she was human, it was too dark to find anyway to climb up and jumping—what human could jump twenty feet straight up in the air? "Okay…you can't be human, no human can jump that high. Urr…so get down here and give me my pendant and tell me who you are."

"Who said I jumped?"

"Damn it, quit fooling around, I would've heard you move boxes and things if you climbed…."

"That's what you assume—tell you what, you go apologize to Akiko and I'll give you the pendant back, however if you want to know who I am, you must find it out yourself."

"No, I demand you to give me back that pendant and tell me who you are!"

"…."

Meanwhile at Genkai's:

"Hey, Genkai, has Hiei been around here lately?" Yusuke asked, stepping through the door to the inside of the temple, carrying to large brown grocery bags, placing them on a table as he continued to the kitchen.

"No, Hiei's been staying in the mountains with that fox cub." Genkai replied, noticing the bags and eyeing Yusuke curiously. "What's the extra food for?"

"Oh, well Keiko's coming back from studying abroad today and I thought we could have a welcome back party for her." Yusuke replied taking out some groceries from the bags, then turning back to Genkai. "We can have the party her, right? Hah…."

"…Yes, but next time ask beforehand."

"Thanks, Genkai." Yusuke grinned, and then continued to take out food from the bags, while Genkai went to sit outside, cup of tea in her hand.

After about ten minutes, Yusuke stepped outside, sitting down next to Genkai, who was studying the sky and other surroundings.

"Um…Genkai, do you think Hiei will be okay with that fox cub? I mean…he and Kurama were close…and…."

"They were more than close, they were lovers."

"…Yes…I still can't believe…neither of them said anything about their relationship…." Yusuke muttered, looking up at the sky for a few seconds before turning his gaze back to Genkai. "So, do you think Hiei will be all right with Kurama gone?"

"I'm not sure; it's hard to tell what Hiei thinks about things. Whenever he's around he always acts cold and stern—more than he used to. But whenever he looks at that fox cub his demeanor changes—unless he knows he's being watched." Genkai replied sipping the last bit of tea from her cup, then placing it down next to her on the wooden porch, sighing. "I'm just worried that…Hiei will start treating that cub as though he is Kurama. We don't know for sure if that fox cub is him, there's a chance he is since he was born after Kurama died, but still…."

"…." Yusuke stared at Genkai, she didn't have to say anymore for him to get her meaning—if the fox cub wasn't Kurama, and Hiei found out, the fire-demon would suffer another emotional blow, one as devastating as the one Hiei suffered when Kurama died if that look Hiei had on his face that day was any indication. Yusuke never saw Hiei look so hopelessly distraught, usually the fire-demon masked all of his emotion behind his stoic cold act—to think Hiei's anguish of losing Kurama was too great to conceal, the fire-demon must've cared so much about the fox-demon. Yusuke realized that the fire-demon must've loved Kurama, to be hurt so much. "I think I'll see if I can find Hiei, see it I can get him to come to the party—but if he won't, I'll see if he'll visit at least."

"I don't think he will, but go ahead. There's a stream about seven miles north of here that he sometimes visits. Look there." Genkai spoke, getting cut off by the phone ringing inside the temple. "Can you go answer that?"

"Sure." Yusuke walked into the room and answered the phone, his expression curious and bewildered listening to the familiar voice. "Mom? What's the matter? What's…?" Yusuke's voice fell silent listening in shock to his mother's response, blanching as a sickening despair rushed through him. "…no…no that can't…." Yusuke whispered, his voice cracking, horror showing itself in his eyes and by the way he trembled.

"Yusuke? What is it? What's wrong?" Genkai asked, staring at Yusuke anxiously curious—something was terrible wrong if it affected Yusuke this badly. "What's…?"

Meanwhile, back at the abandoned building Kurounue and the girl were in, a long silence cloaked the air as the girl stared wide-eyed at the wall ignoring Kurounue's curious and angry glare. After a moment the girl glared down at Kurounue and spoke, her voice harsh, bitter and a bit mournful.

"I hope you're happy. It's happened. I tried to get you to prevent it, since I couldn't, but you had to be a stubborn asshole." The girl growled, dropping the pendant from her hand so that Kurounue could catch it, her eyes gleaming yellow. Glaring down at Kurounue both sad and angrily, the girl stood up on the rafter beam and jumped back seeming to vanish into the darkness before Kurounue's disbelieving eyes.

"Where did…?" Kurounue muttered, holding his pendant in his hand, staring into the darkness for the girl who seemed to have really vanished into thin air like an illusion or a ghost.

"A ghost?" Kurounue muttered while something to his left caught his attention, surprising him into dumbfounded shock at the sight of it. Vines, thick leafy vines clung to the wall, climbing up to the rafter above and wrapping around it. Trembling, his body becoming increasingly numb, Kurounue stepped toward the vines, his nose filling with the strong aroma of blooming roses, his eyes taking in the sight of a vibrant hued red rose lying on the floor at the foot of the vine. "What…?" Kurounue gulped, turning pale as he realized what the vines and rose meant, realizing with an intense certainty who the weird girl had truly been.

How it was possible, Kurounue couldn't figure out, but he knew the vines, rose, how the girl knew he was Kurounue, and the successful theft of his pendant, were too much of a coincidence—that girl had to have been Kurama. No matter how impossible and improbable it was, that girl had to be Kurama somehow—maybe a possession or disguise (though why the fox would use a disguise was beyond Kurounue).

"But why did he…?" Kurounue muttered thinking about what Kurama tried to get him to do. 'Why did he want me to help Akiko?' uneasy, Kurounue turned to leave, saddened he hadn't figured out before who the girl was, when a glinting glow caught his eye. Attracted by the glow like a moth to a light, Kurounue stepped toward it and picked up what it was coming from—a crystalline orb seeming as fragile as glass, but as sturdy and tough as a diamond, clear and unblemished except where the letters NCRS were engraved into the crystal. Glowing a constant white light, dim but clear, this orb felt hot and cold at the same time—the crystal material was a deeper, more intense cold than ice, while the light radiating from it seemed hotter than any fire known on either the human or demon planes.

Curious about the orb, Kurounue placed it in his pocket, taking one final look around the room before leaving, sighing deeply his eyes moist from thinking about Kurama.

Meanwhile back at Genkai's, Yusuke hung up the phone trembling as he turned to Genkai, who stood to his left worried and curious.

"Yusuke? What…?"

"It's Keiko, there was an accident…she's…." Yusuke stammered, tears filling up in his eyes, his limbs trembling as he dropped to his knees, shocked, angry and utterly upset from the phone call. "She's…dead…."

"…no…." Genkai gasped, staring at Yusuke as he spoke those words with tears in his eyes, refusing to believe it was true.