Disclaimer: YYH is the property of Yoshihiro Togashi. If I were him I would be creating more manga, not writing fanfiction.

A/N:

For those of you who read the last chapter before I reposted it, I will answer reviews on my homepage; just go to my profile and click the link to my homepage.

School starts on Thursday, so we'll see how classes and Asha are going to balance out. I promise I will keep the story going. There may be times when it goes on haitus, but it won't die.

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Meetings at Midnight

In the very modern kitchen, of a very ancient dojo, a black figure sat. She had dragged a stool up to the island, placed a tea kettle on the stove, and sat watching, waiting. She heaved a sigh.

Her eyes seemed to glaze over, transported to a different time and place; away from her haggard appearance—her scar, the tiny wrinkles, the paleness of her skin, her mussed hair.

"Hullo, Luna," she whispered to the rising moon, visible through the open shutters, inviting in the cold. "How are you on this lonely night?

We all begin with good intent
Love was raw and young
We believed that we could change ourselves
The past could be undone
But we carry on our backs the burden
Time always reveals
The lonely light of morning
The wound that would not heal
It's the bitter taste of losing everything
That I have held so dear."

"When was the last time I heard that song? Right, Luna, how could I forget? On the radio, right before--"

Asha vaulted herself over the island and barreled headfirst into the dark figure that came through the kitchen shoji screen. Her hand covered his mouth, her thumb pressed on his jugular. Only then did her captive realize how long the assassin's nails where.

"Yusuke!" Asha hissed. "What have I said about sneaking up on me!"

"Mmmmff mmf."

"Sorry...there." Asha removed her hand from his mouth.

"I had no idea you were here."

"Right."

"Were you talking to the moon?" The detective jabbed his thumb at the open window, while Asha rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Yusuke, I was." she sighed.

"Why?"

Asha sat on the island counter, and motioned Yusuke to the stool.

"Long ago, when I was very young, I was very alone. People would be all around me, and still I felt as if I was without friends. I turned to the darkness, to the stars and the night, the moon and her shadows. I believe I was actually rather a morbid child." She smiled wryly. "I talked to myself, talked to the trees and the celestial bodies. I was drawing further and further within myself. I had no friends by then. No one to turn to for help. No one to talk to. So I talked with the moon late at night. Sometimes I felt as if Luna was talking back to me, or if that was just my mind. See? I even named her."

The kettle began to whistle. Asha hopped off the counter and went about getting cups and pouring the hot water. "Tea?" Yusuke shook his head.

When Asha was situated again, with a mug of steaming tea in hand, Yusuke said, "But you're so happy...even if it is in a strange way."

"I met an angel."

Yusuke looked at her, his eyebrow raised in question.

"I will say no more than that," she whispered softly. "I may have said too much already." She sighed once more.

"Why are you a shinobi?"

"A promise."

"It doesn't seem to suit you."

"You don't know me."

"Don't I?"

"Nope."

It was Yusuke's turn to sigh, this time in frustration.

Asha had had yet another mood swing. She was cheerful again.

Asha hopped off the counter, her now empty tea cup in hand. "You should probably go get some sleep, Detective. I have a hunch Genkai has a rigorous training for you tomorrow."

"But..."

"March!"

Yusuke sighed, and reluctantly left the kitchen, back to his own quarters in Genkai's dojo.

After he left, the assassin set about cleaning the tea kettle. "I know, Luna, I don't have to clean this. But sometimes doing work like this is soothing, I don't know why. Perhaps because it is so monotonous? And I don't have to think while I do it..."

Asha placed the kettle in the cabinet, and put the stool back in the corner of the room where she had found it. She turned to leave.

She reached the screen door, but turned back just a fraction. She was sure she had just seen a shadow at the window. She smiled a sad smile, remembering once again a painful past.

"Goodnight...Hiei."

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The fire demon stood outside the window. For some ridiculous reason he could not fathom, Asha was talking to the moon.

He looked up to gaze at it, for only a moment, but instead was transfixed by its light. A beacon of hope in the black night, he supposed. Alright! So he could understand! That doesn't mean that he would ever do something so, so...ridiculous!

He was pulled from his thoughts by a small voice, humming. No, singing...he dared a look into the room. Asha was singing. Something about hope, the past? The more he knew about her, the less he knew her. 'She's not a normal shinobi...who was she?' For he began to percieve that the secret to knowing the woman today, was to know the girl she had been.

Asha moved, lightning fast. Hiei placed his hand on the hilt of his katana. He was prepared.

"Yusuke!" he heard Asha whisper. His grip on his sword relaxed; there was no danger from Yusuke.

Hiei sat outside the window, in the now wet grass, only listening to Asha's words. It seems like he had gotten his wish, or else Yusuke had cognitive abilities. The shinobi was speaking about her past.

"I had no friends by then. No one to turn to for help. No one to talk to. So I talked with the moon late at night."

So her habit was a long standing one. One that even her training as a shinobi could not erase. 'That could be important.' Hiei filed it away into his mind for later recall.

Now Asha was telling Yusuke to go to bed. The way she said it was almost motherly, but not quite. Perhaps she said it as an older sister would? Like Shizuru and Kuwabara? No, not as much cynicism. He could not describe her. 'A unique way of caring, but caring, nonetheless. She was not always a shinobi.'

He watched her as she cleaned, and listened as she spoke to the moon, "Luna," one last time. Then she turned and walked toward the kitchen exit. Hiei moved to watch her. She stopped, and he froze. He watched as a small smile lit her face, but he saw her eyes looked forlorn, almost without hope.

"Goodnight...Hiei." And she was gone.

Hiei blinked. How the hell did a human get so damned good!

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A/N

Yes, this is short. I have no choice. I'm getting this out before school today. Now that I'm back in school, I will not have as much time to ponder my plot-line, or update. Many apologies, but as I said, I have no choice. But as I have promised, the story will not die. It may just take time to update. You can be assured that I will update during the holidays.

And remember, you can get updates at my homepage. Go to my profile, and click on the link.

For those of you still in school and going back in the fall, good luck.