I gasped as Jin's silken lips met mine. His arms slowly wrapped around me and I was too surprised to even move. His hands were entangled in my hair as he deepened the kiss. He was gentle, clearly letting me have the freedom to push him away whenever I had enough. But... I couldn't bring myself to do that... Or even to react, period. His tongue hesitantly ran against my lower lip, asking for permission. I closed my eyes.

This was my brother!

My eyes snapped open as I leaned back, my face showing my emotions, surprise, confusion, loneliness.

"I-I... I'm sorry, Jin. We-We're siblings! This is incest! I-!"

Jin put his hand over my mouth, barely making contact, not an intrusive gesture but enough to indicate silence. "'Ere, it doesn't really matter as lon' as th' mates truly wanna be together, Yusuke." He spoke softly, his voice thick with emotion, mainly hope and nervousness. "All tha' matters is if yeh wan' it or not." His eyes met mine, fearful, not wanting to be rejected. Pleading for me to accept him.

Did I want this...? I looked down, anything to look away from those eyes. Yes, but... Hiei and Kurama, they... They're my...

"I... Jin... I..." I searched for the words, but my thoughts and voice abandoned me. I swallowed and took a deep breath. "I want what you have to offer, more than anything right now, but..." I met his eyes, which were so full of hope, and yet so scared of rejection. "I am... all ready mated... And, though they may not be here... I am going to honor the promises I made to them when I took their marks for as long as they do. I don't want to be alone anymore, but... If I don't hold anything sacred, I would lose what humanity I have left. And those vows are one of the few things I consider hallowed. I'm sorry, for more than you'll ever know." I smiled, a genuine I'm-about-ready-to-cry smile as I turned away.

"Wait!" I paused, but didn't look back until I heard the question. "To who?"

I glanced at Jin, his eyes and expression were unreadable. "To Hiei and Kurama."

He paused for a moment before speaking, haltingly. "Yusuke, I meant wha I said, but... Don' worry too much 'bout it." I looked at the grinning wind master, though the grin was obviously forced. "I jus' wanted you ta know... An' I had ta know... Wha' you thought o' me. I apologize fo' puttin' ya in an awkward position." He forced this out; the formality didn't suit him.

I nodded. "And I apologize, again, for having to do this to you, Jin. You deserve better."

I quickly turned and walked down the hall. And all the way, I could feel his eyes boring into my back.

When I was out of sight and earshot, I ran to my room and grabbed my basic assassin equipment and weapons, I ran towards one of the assassin guards I had set up. I couldn't stand this any longer.

"Ty."

"Yeah?" The assassin raised an eyebrow. What did the Master want with him?

"I'm going out for a bit, the security here is in your hands, got it?"

"H-hai..." As I walked away, I could tell I had left a very stunned assassin behind. I grinned. There was nothing more amusing than shaking up someone's orderly routine. What was the world without any chaos? Boring.

Easily getting out of the city perimeter, I ran as fast as I could through the woods, my senses on alert, though I was preoccupied with my thoughts.

Damn it Jin! Why did you do this? I inwardly groaned. I can't just forget about Hiei and Kurama, even though they are my, I suppose, enemies, now...

Shit.

I heard the dull thudding ahead and blended into the shadows for some reconnaissance. I paled at what I saw. A full-fledged army, marching straight towards the city. It would reach it in half a day, and even if I made it back to the palace in fifteen minutes, there was no way we would be able to set up an adequate defense. This was obviously sent while we were regrouping after Shinda's assault. Damn it... Did you plan this Hiei? Kurama? I had the sinking suspicion it was both. But... I observed the soldiers. There was no way we'd come out of this unscathed if they made it to the city gates... I'd have to stop them here before they got close enough to do any serious damage.

I grabbed two runes from my pouch and bit my thumb, letting the blood well up. Quickly adding a few symbols to the runes with the drops, I concentrated my energy. Setting the all the traps in my possession the forest quickly, I hid them just as efficiently. I made sure that they wouldn't make it out of this forest with half their number, for I'd be waiting for them at the end. I just hoped that they wouldn't be able to find the traps...

After I reached the far end of the forest, I began to prepare for battle. I had packed light, for I didn't really expect to encounter enemies, but... I brought my basic assassins' kit, hence the traps and runes, my knives and sword. If my traps worked, I'd be able to take half of what was remaining out with other spells, then I could whittle down the rest with Spirit Energy and physical techniques. I bit my lip as I heard the first rune go off. It was timed so it hit the very last part of the company, wiping out the rear guard, in theory. All I could do now was wait and see if my traps did what I had intended.

I heard them before I had any other indication they were coming. The ground was no longer shaking, so I knew I had damaged their number significantly. I waited for the first stragglers before I struck with my knives. Getting out of my hiding place in the shadows, I dispatched them quickly before sinking back into the darkness.

"Hey! What's up there- eh?" A few more demons stepped forward and saw their dead comrades' bodies.

"On guard men, on guaaaargh!" I stuck my blade into their commander's heart and twisted the blade.

Looking at the would-be invading army, I smiled. "So... Who wants to die today?" I asked cheerfully, just as the forest burst into flames, just as I had timed it to. I just prayed the wards wouldn't give out. Because the fire was the only signal I was really going to be able to give to Tneisha (I'm making this up, this is Raizen's capital city in this story) and Raizen would be pissed if I burned half of his country to the ground.

As the stragglers stumbled out of the forest, half-suffocated from the smoke, I put them out of my misery. After another half-hour, I used my aura to "look" around. There were no living beings left, excluding me of course. Opening my eyes, I doused the fire.

Panting, I stumbled back towards Tneisha while cleaning my blades and destroying all evidence of the tools and items I used. No sense in leaving a trail, though any assassin worth their blade would know that one of their own had done this.

I had almost reached the city gates when I felt a heat in my lower stomach. What was going on...? As I continued forward, and the minutes passed, the heat slowly spread and increased as I made my way towards the palace. No way... As I felt my body temperature spike up, I sighed. Yes way... I ran all the way back to the palace. By the time I reached my bedroom, I was in a full-fledged heat. This could not bode well...

After a few hours, I was in excruciating pain. I had always been able to repress the heat before this using the right amount of aura, but setting the traps and using the elements had exhausted my reserves and the heat that I had held back for so long took over, full-force because I had never experienced it before. I may be a teenager, but... Apparently my body aged a lot quicker than normal humans, and demons.

I gasped for breath through the mind-numbing pain as I held back a whimper. This was almost as bad as Genkai's Spirit Wave Orb... I closed my eyes and forced my body to remain still. I could not predict how long this would last. This was because I had held it back for a year or so, so this could last from a day to a week. I grimaced as I felt my fever rise. Damn it...

My eyes snapped open when I felt the connection I had pushed to the recesses of my mind surface. I had put Hiei and Kurama into heat...? Damn.

Other's POV

"Where is Yusuke?" Genkai entered the dining hall, where everyone else was lounging around after dinner.

No one could answer her. Jin leaned forward. Maybe she had left? He lowered his head, mind racing. Maybe he shouldn't have told her...

Touya glanced at Jin. He knew something...

One of the hitokiri stepped forward. Toguro glanced at him. His name was Ty, or something like that...

The assassin bowed. "My apologies for interrupting, but the Shujin left five hours ten minutes and thirty-two seconds ago."

"Did she say where...?" Inquired Yukina quietly.

"Sorry, Milady, but no, she did not. And it was not my place to ask if she did not say where she was going."

Genkai sighed. "Very well. Thank you."

The assassin bowed again and faded into the background.

Genkai rubbed her temples in aggravation. Sometimes her apprentice was more trouble than she was worth...

"Jin, go check her room. Touya, the kitchen, and Rinku the training room..."

Jin tuned the directions the martial arts directed out. Standing, he walked to her room and knocked on the door hesitantly. He felt slightly awkward after what had happened earlier, but... Shaking it off and grinning, he opened the door after a few minutes and the sight that he saw, well, to say that he was stunned would've been the worst understatement of the century.

Glossary

Hitokiri: assassin

Shujin: leader of all hitokiri