A/N: Hello once again, Lovers of Yu Yu Hakusho!

The next chapter awaiteth!

In regards to how much Toriko/Hiei interaction there has been so far (and how little Akari/Kurama), it's mostly because there is more going on for the first pair right now than Akari, as Akari is mostly just wandering Human World trying not to stick out and it wouldn't make for very interesting plot.

Symbols Guide:

* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.

As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.
Unless it's used in a sentence like this, which merely indicates emphasis.
"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."

The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).

Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!

Hiei and Shikiyoku make their way back to Toriko's home,
the latter eventually pinning up her hair before returning upstairs to sleep next to Hiei.

However, when she woke up it appears that the bobby pins did not actually seal her away,
though she takes little notice, finding herself extremely hungry.
This leads to Hiei introducing her to 'sweet snow'- or rather, ice cream-as well as strawberries.

~!**!~

Kurama stayed with Akari and Nabu until Akari could leave the park on her own...

"...ri?"

A small sigh left the demoness as she turned over, feeling an odd weight stumble about on her stomach. "Shh," she replied out of instinct, almost able to fall back asleep.

"Akari!" A wet substance met her cheek, and Akari released a sigh and a grumble.

"What is it, Nabu? Couldn't you let me sleep a little longer?"

"The sun is up, and I'm bored." There was a brief moment of silence, and she thought she'd been left alone. "I wanta play. Please?"

"Nabu, we played all night almost," she replied sleepily, opening a single eye to regard the still-muddy dog. "You're a mess; get off the couch."

"Only if you get up and play with me!"

"Nabu…" she complained, throwing her arm over her face. The next thing she knew, the dog had his teeth on her shirt and was pulling, tossing his head from side to side, her arm falling from her fae so the sunlight hit her eyes again. "Nabu!"

"THe park!"

Another sigh, a huff, and Akari was sitting up. "Fine. But we won't be there long," she said with exasperation, rubbing her head of messy hair. "But first, we are stopping by the nearest gym."

"Why?"

"The showers work there, not here."

"Water?"

"Yes, Nabu. Water." With that, Akari gathered a small bag that she had found days ago, stuffed a random outfit into it, along with Nabu's favorite toys, and hitched it over her shoulder. In no time at all, she was walking through alleyways and sneaking into a member's only gym through the air ducts, despite Nabu's complaints. *

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes brightened when she looked down at the container of sweet snow nudging her in the arm. She flickered her eyes up at Hiei who wasn't looking at her, then down into the nearly empty tub.

Disappointment flared up in her mind, but she considered what was left curiously, dividing a line invisibly down the middle of the remaining contents and reaching underneath the container to keep it steady, cutting her spoon through the line she envisioned and taking half of what was left, letting go of the tub and pulling her spoon to her face.

She did not give the mound any last rites, instead immediately wrapping her lips around it and turning back to the front, unable to help her smile, her face exuding an almost audible 'mmm' of pleasure. 3

Hiei had expected the tub to be relinquished from his grasp, but surprisingly, he felt it shift only a bit, pressure from Shikiyoku scooping out more of it before the pressure was released. This time, he glanced over at the demon to see the smile that riddled her features, then his eyes shifted to the container, taking in the small amount left. He hesitated for a moment before pulling the container back towards himself and taking the last bit of it onto his spoon, then into his mouth to slowly melt on his tongue, leaving only the chunks of strawberry behind.

When he swallowed the last bite, he let the container fall to the floor, forgotten, and he merely sat there in a daze, as if lost for what to do next. He was still hungry, especially for the sweet snow, but he knew there was no more left. So, he sat there with a look of disappointment on his face.

~!**!~

Akari had snuck into the facility easily, landing herself in the bathroom where the lights were still off, telling her the place had yet to open the doors. She smiled to herself at the thought and simply took over the shower closest to her, then going to the lockers where there were locks, knowing there were products held inside the ones that were locked. Instead of toying with them as she normally would, she simply sniffed out the most pleasant smell until she was satisfied, and broke the lock off with a single pull on the metal. It groaned, but gave way and snapped open. She eyed the only contents inside and took the largest bottle, reading "Shampoo" on it and, triumphant, making her way over to the shower.

She'd been quick about it, not really knowing the time or how long she had before someone entered the building, so before she had had a chance to even think about getting caught, she'd gotten in and out, dressed in a clean outfit that she'd possessed and braiding her hair. As she now walked the streets again, Nabu bouncing around and around her feet, she gave a relaxed sigh, breathing in the clean morning air.

"Park now?"

"Mhmm," she hummed to the dog, hitching the small duffel bag higher on her shoulder as she walked through the crowd of people rushing about for errands and whatever else humans did this early in the morning. "But Nabu, I am going to sit on a bench, not run around this time."

"Okay! But will you chase me later?"

"Probably not. I want to relax and do absolutely nothing today."

"But that's every day!" the pup whined as they crossed the entrance to the park, already catching a whiff of other dogs and people on the premises. "Why do you get tired so easily?"

"Nabu, fetch!" she yelled suddenly, throwing the tennis ball that she had prepared for this very moment. As expected, he immediately perked up and chased it, barking the entire way as it bounced and rolled in every which way possible. *

~!**!~

Shikiyoku glanced at Hiei as the tub made a muted clatter onto the carpet, and his sudden forlorn expression made her uncomfortable. She stood up and placed her hands on her hips defiantly, glaring at the room around her.

"I want more." She declared in her bossiest voice. It was mostly true. The sweet snow had lessened her hunger, and she wasn't sure how much more of the treat she could take before she went insane and had to have something salty or with more substance, but at that very moment she wanted nothing more than to rid Hiei of his melancholy, to get any resemblance of his former joy back into his eyes, and if that meant getting him more, then she would get him more.

She stomped beyond the couch, back to the tiled area opposite it, and wrested open the top part of the white thing that the now-empty container had first fallen from. She crossed her arms and stared into the square box. Nothing inside remotely resembled the container they had just finished, but she hesitated to make that decision on her own.

"None of these have more?" She called to Hiei, pointing at the various other different items in front of her. 3

Instinctively, Hiei replied to Shikiyoku with a snide, "then get it yourself," though he did want more as well. He simply did not know where or how to get more. A store, perhaps, but he knew not of which one or how one would come to obtain such a thing as the currency to get it. Then again, he cared not for the laws of this world; they did not apply to a demon. At least, in his eyes they did not.

After a moment, his eyes moved up to follow the retreating back of Shikiyoku, and he raised a brow at her quizzically. He didn't think there would be more in there. But he waited anyways, until he heard her voice, in which case he too stood and shuffled his way into the kitchen, peering into the top part of the white box curiously. As suspected, none of the containers matched the previous. "No," he replied easily, his expression blank and tone nonchalant, as if he could care less. He proceeded to shut the door, glance down at the still-ajar bottom door, and scowl. Without prompting, he opened the large door and began working with the drawer inside that prevented it from closing. In seconds, the problem was fixed and the cold air ceased from flowing into the room. "You'll have to do without."

~!**!~

Akari, despite what she'd said to Nabu, had stayed standing in the park, moving around when Nabu couldn't see her and creating a game all her own. If he could find her, she would throw the ball. Then it would begin again.

At one point, the pup had dropped his ball and began calling out to her with a worried bark, as if fearing he'd been left behind. But she'd tossed another toy to get his attention, and he'd come running to her in a moment's notice, complaining yet barking excitedly for another throw.

"Why don't you play with the other dogs?" she asked him suddenly, eyeing the slobbery ball in her hand before looking up at the park full of children and their pets, their parents nearby. "I would have figured you, with as much energy as you have, would have more fun over there."

"Nope! It's more fun if you play!"

Akari smiled softly down at the dog and relented, throwing the ball again. He barked spastically as it soared, having not expected the swap from conversation to play. His yipping earned several annoyed stares, but she didn't care. She simply continued on with the game, finding another spot to hide- this time in the shadows behind a tree; simple enough, right? *

Kurama took a deep breath of the park around him, able to analyze the aroma of each plant that came to him without putting much thought into it, aware at a very deep place with him of every growing object around, and enjoying their peaceful existences. They would feed well today on the rays of the sun, and the rain of the night before had left the freshest feeling upon all of them.

The sun was shining brightly, the day clear and the air warm, with a light breeze that occasionally whispered around him, making the tips of his hair dance. His head stayed down in the book he brought with him, leg crossed comfortably over the other with one hand holding it up and the other resting inside the pocket of the very light jacket he wore.

There were few people as deep into the park as he'd travelled, and he did not feel anyone in the immediate vicinity of the bench he'd chosen to rest upon. Not that he minded the bustle of others. Their own lives added another layer to the essence of the growth he could feel occurring all around him, the energy of the humans weaving in with the energy of the plants and creating a chorus of exuberance that beat steadily in an eternal song of life that no other realm could replicate. A song Kurama often found great comfort in quietly bearing witness to.

An alien noise to the song he felt in his soul pulled Kurama's head out of the book his eyes were committed to reading, and he watched as a ball soared at a great speed towards his lap, the arc lowering the closer it came to him.

He calmly bent his book back up against his knee, holding his page in place with one finger and catching the ball with the other three and his thumb as it neatly landed within his grasp. He looked up, expecting something to burst out from the general direction of the strong throw with an eyebrow raised in amusement, but just as quickly turned his head back down to the page, the ball well-hidden by the book's cover.

~!**!~

"But I'm hungry." Shikiyoku whined, lifting her face up to the ceiling, "And maybe I don't want to do without." She lowered her head to look over at him, arms still crossed over her chest, "You've lived here for-ever. How do we get more?" 3

Hiei scowled at Shikiyoku as he stood up straight, crossing his own arms over his chest to mirror her impatience. At her last words, his scowl deepened and he was left thinking for a moment, wondering if there was a specific place he knew to get the sweet snow. But of course, there wasn't.

"A store," he said, not-so-helpfully. And that was all he offered on information. "If you want it so bad, you can't go out like that. You'd draw attention," he remarked, gesturing to her towel with a nod of his head.

~!**!~

Nabu took off after the soaring ball, running in the direction he had seen her arm throw towards. He weaved through dog traffic and people expertly, his small size making it much easier to maneuver than most dogs. But as he ran, he realized he didn't see the ball, or even hear it, touch the ground. He slowed from a run to a decent trot, nose instinctively going to the ground for even a hint of his scent, which was bound to be all over the toy.

He trotted about for a few minutes, at first finding nothing. But then, he caught the scent, and his head was in the air and he was running again, panting. "Wow, you threw it far!" he barked into the air as loud as he could, his feet pounding on the grass as he continued to run through the trees and the bushes.

Suddenly, he broke through a rather tough bush, ignoring the tug of the thorns on his fur that acted as a protective layer over his skin, and he stopped, big brown eyes scouring the area. Only one person came into view, and immediately, his tail began wagging and his tongue lolled, his feet again pounding in the direction of the redhead. "Hey! I know you! Have you seen my ball?" he yipped, bouncing up so his feet touched the man's pants leg by means of getting his attention. "Well, have you? I smell it nearby!" *

Kurama's lips broke into a small smile as he first heard, and then saw, the small shape he'd been expecting to approach.

"Are you looking for something?" He asked amiably, "Did you lose your ball? I'm not sure if I know where it is myself! Is it near here? Are you sure?"

~!**!~

"A store?" Shikiyoku's eyes brightened and she lowered her arms, then looked down at the towel still firmly in place around her torso, "And why not? I like attention." 3

Hiei let his brows settle into a lower place on his face, shadowing his eyes in a look of irritation at her question. "Discretion is your ally," he said, tone thick and heavy with exasperation. Never before had he met a demon like this who would so readily give them away. "I know the humans have currency, but I have acquired none of it, as I'm sure you have guessed. You can't exactly be discreet if one of you is without clothes," he remarked, as if it were plainly obvious of his intentions by now.

"Or I could go alone and you can stay here."

~!**!~

Akari had waited. And waited. And waited some more in the shadow of the tree. However, she grew tired of waiting and stepped out from behind the tree, figuring Nabu had simply taken to hoarding the ball for himself to chew on. But when her eyes swept the grounds, she saw no sign of him in the immediate area, and confusion hit her like a freight train. She hadn't thrown it that far, had she?

"Nabu?" she called, bending down to pick up her bag from the ground as she decided to search for her companion. Surely he hadn't gotten himself lost, like that one instance in town? "Nabu!"

No response came, so she heaved a sigh and reverted to a tactic she'd used in the similar situation: she stuck her nose in the air and took a large breath in, smelling the damp soil, the leftover scent of rainwater, and the scent of the people and animals around her. It didn't take her long to pinpoint Nabu's scent; he smelled faintly of the mold and dirt that littered the house they had taken over, making it much easier to pinpoint him than others.

So, she followed the direction for a while, crossing the large spacious plot of land at a casual pace with her bag tossed over her shoulder. "Nabu!" she called again, and this time, she heard a familiar yip, but it was not in response to her.

"...You do! You're acting funny!" she heard the dog, and Akari's footsteps carried her through the tangle of brush and tree limbs until she broke through, eyes seeing Nabu jumping up and down in front of Kurama. "I'm sure it's near here! Do you have it? Throw it! Let's play!"

Akari released a heavy sigh. "You have a habit of being nearby, you know that?" *

Kurama had leaned forward to speak with the pup, but moved back against the bench and regarded Akari with no small amount of amusement shining in his eyes.

"And you have a decent throwing arm, did you know that?"

~!**!~

"Discretion may be your ally, Hiei Jaganshi," Shikiyoku gently jabbed a finger at his chest, "But getting noticed is part of my charm." She flipped her hair back over her shoulder. "And I'd like to know how exactly you intend on being quick about getting more sweet snow without me along. I would bet you don't actually know where to get it. What are you expecting to do? Threaten someone for an answer with that sword of yours? Or getting the Jagan to force them to tell you? I'm sure neither of those ways will garner any attention whatsoever. And discretion is our ally." She crossed her arms back over her chest, eyes bright with triumph, sure that if he did not have any currency in the Human Realm that he also did not know that much of where to purchase things with it. 3

Hiei scowled even more at Shikiyoku, jaw clenching at her words; it was true, he knew not of where to get the sweet snow, not how he'd find out. Sure, he had originally planned to simply use his Jagan, but now that she had pointed it out, it did seem rather ridiculous. However, despite that, he wasn't going to allow her to leave like that.

"Going out like this will attract too much from the humans. They may be generally stupid and oblivious, but they do tend to notice a woman without clothing. And here, that will get you nowhere. Again, discretion, to some degree." he countered again, sticking to his side of the argument. "I suggest clothing; I'm leaving in five minutes." with that, he turned and headed to the living room, not wanting to hear another remark; he simply wanted to get this over with so he could eat more sweet snow in peace.

~!**!~

Akari shut her eyes for a second and rubbed at her forehead, Nabu's barking growing louder and with less sense by the moment. "Is it here? I wanna- help me find it!" He paused to sneeze, his head jerking, but immediately picked back up where he left off. "Akari, I can't find it! It's probably with another dog by now! I don't wanna lose it!"

"Nabu, we'll find it," she grumbled, giving a sigh and reopening her eyes, meeting Kurama's gaze. "I would take it as a compliment, but that would mean you've been watching- to some degree." she countered, looking down at Nabu as he began jumping on her leg too, running back and forth in a frenzy. "Did you happen to see the ball fly by here?" *

His expression changing in no way, Kurama nodded to his right, indicating a tree nearby and that the ball was caught up in its branches.

"A good arm. As I said." He waited for her to turn away, making for certain that she would not be able to spot the ball in his hand behind his book as she did so.

~!**!~

"So, naked is a no-go, then?" Shikiyoku called after Hiei, starting to unwind the towel from around her body, grinning at his back and not expecting him to not turn around, assuming he would not so much as grace her with a habitual scoff as he walked away. Without waiting for his response, she moved for the stairs as the towel came free, heading up and into the bedroom.

This towel got deposited on top of the other one resting over the dirty, formerly bright pink school uniform right within the doorway and she rummaged through drawers in the room, unsatisfied with her other side's clothing choices and half-wanting to go without at the sight of them. She finally managed to find a pair of what she somehow knew were 'blue jeans,' pulling them on snugly over the undergarments she found. The dresser drawer with shirts in it had them folded and in some sort of order that Shikiyoku promptly threw into disarray by unceremoniously tearing into the piles for a decent blouse. She held up a black one and shrugged, heading out the room and starting to go down the stairs as she pulled it on over her head, the cut of the shirt just as snug against her skin as her jeans and she liked the feeling.

By the time she started to pull edge of the shirt down past her stomach, she was in the living room and she smoothed the dark tee down before clearing her throat to catch Hiei's attention and spinning once in a circle.

"Adequate?" 3

Hiei had sat on the couch casually, ignoring Shikiyoku's rhetorical question as he merely lounged, his head laying back on the back of the couch and his legs stretched out as far as they could be in front of himself. His arms stayed loosely crossed over his chest, eyes staring up at the ceiling as if it held great interest, while in actuality he was counting by minutes. Literally by the second. He hadn't been joking when he said he'd be leaving.

When he reached about three and a little over half minutes, he heard footsteps at the top of the stairs and stopped counting, but he didn't look away from the odd pattern in the paint on the ceiling. Not until a small sound caught his attention and he looked up- or rather, down- to where Toriko was standing, turning in a full circle. He eyed the outfit once before standing, hands automatically sliding into his pockets. "Decent," he commented, turning for the door in a quiet prompting of "let's go". He was no longer patient on the subject; he wanted more sweet snow, and he was gonna have it.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes followed the direction Kurama had nodded in and she released another sigh. She hadn't planned on climbing any trees today, and this outfit was relatively new. Guess I'll just have to be careful then, she thought to herself. One glance back at the redhead and she stepped around Nabu, trying not to trip over his bouncing little body. "Nabu, move!" she complained, nearly tripping as he continued to bounce around her feet in excitement.

By the time she reached the tree, she was not happy. At all. She hated climbing trees to an extent; she wasn't very talented at it and had, as a child, often fallen from their heights. The thought left her staring up at the nearest branch with distaste. "You better thank me for this," she grumbled at Nabu before reaching up and grasping the branch with her dominant arm, using her other arm and both feet to put her weight on the trunk of the tree and pull herself up, all the while searching the vivid green leaves for a small yellow object. *

Kurama's eyes followed her and took note of her hesitation when she reached the bottom of the tree, but as soon as her attention fell back to it, his eyes flickered at Nabu, the pup completely disinterested with him and running in circles around the bottom of the trunk.

Judging the distance and calculating the necessary requirements for what he was about to do had already been done the instant he had decided which tree he was going to indicate to her, and he merely timed his toss at just the moment where neither she nor the dog would see.

The bag she had over her shoulder had a small opening where the zipper was not shut all the way, and the placement of the ball inside hardly took more than an expert flick of Kurama's wrist. He did not watch the ball arc neatly through the air and into the bag just as it disappeared with Akari up the tree, but land within it the ball did, not making so much as a jostle or noise that would be noticed.

His eyes were planted firmly in the lines of his book, his mind reading the words as well as paying special attention to the demon up the tree, aware of her uncomfortableness within its branches and not expecting an accident, but prepared to intervene should one occur.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku made sure she locked the door behind them as they left, jamming the keys into her front pocket and hopping down the steps after Hiei, joining him just as he turned at the end of the walkway onto the sidewalk of the street.

The concrete felt warm under the soles of her feet as she padded along beside him, hands clasped together behind her back as she practically bounced along, moving quickly beyond Hiei as she spotted a human walking in their direction further down in front of them.

"Excuse me," She tucked a portion of her hair that had fallen from her bun behind one ear in a demure fashion, after she swayed up to the human leaving Hiei several feet behind her, testing something she had not done in a long time. "Where is the nearest store to here?" She glanced coquettishly up through her lashes, blinking twice as she caught the other's gaze, her body language exuding a flirtatious posture, though she did not activate her demonic energy. Not yet.

The older woman smiled down at the petite creature before her, feeling warmth in her old bones just at the sunny expression aimed in her direction. She adjusted the slim purse she carried higher on her shoulder and stopped in front of the girl.

"You're quite near one, dearie. Keep going in this direction and there will be several that you will come to."

"And," Shikiyoku batted her eyelashes again, "Is there sweet snow in one of them?"

The woman tilted her head with questioning, a moment of doubt passing across her features. "Sweet snow?" She asked.

It was at the point that Shikiyoku let her eyes shimmer, something about the older lady's response troubling her enough into doing so, "Yes. Which one of them has it?"

Anything unsettling that the woman felt at the girl's former question vanished as she looked the younger one in the eyes, "That must be something new that an old fashion doddy like me isn't familiar with. Does it have another name? You kids are always coming up with newfangled ways of talking about things." 3

Hiei had lead the way out of the house, hands in his pockets casually and his eyes glancing around the bright outside of the home. He blinked once against the harsh rays of the sun, but otherwise reacted none at all to the change. He turned to walk due West, not caring when Shikiyoku passed by him to ask an older woman of their desired substance.

And the confusion they were met with made Hiei stop short; he still hadn't remembered what it was actually called. His expression shifted to forced neutrality as his eyes glazed over, his mind running through different memories of the extremely cold substance. He thought back to the most recent time he'd eaten it before today, and remembered sitting on the kitchen floor with Toriko. No name surfaced, so he thought further back.

He remembered seeing the tub, being passed a bowl of the substance with fresh strawberries on top and mixed in. He remembered his reaction to it, and glaring at Toriko, who had threatened to eat his for him.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he stepped up beside Shikiyoku, looking right at the elder human with determination. His lips parted, saying the magic words he knew would work. "Ice cream."

~!**!~

Akari sighed and stayed on the lower branch for a few minutes, searching with her eyes as much as possible for the little yellow ball. It was too easy to ignore Nabu when she was concentrating so hard on her footing, her balance. When she still saw no ball, she grumbled to herself and hitched her bag up higher, pulling herself up a few branches higher into the tree. Again, she searched, finding herself feeling extremely incredulous; there was no way she had thrown it so hard. At that thought, her eyes turned to the ground on the opposite side of the tree, where she hadn't looked, hoping to see the spherical object, but of course, it wasn't there either.

"All this for a dumb toy," she grumbled as she prepared to pull herself higher, but the bag on her shoulder became hitched on a branch, almost knocking her off balance. She fiddled with it until it was loose, and tried again, with the same result of being stuck where she was due to the bag. "Stupid," she snarled, pulling it from the branch and her shoulder, then unceremoniously letting it fall to the earth.

She didn't watch it hit the ground. In fact, she didn't even hear it. She simply climbed another branch higher, extremely cautious now; dogs were never meant for tree climbing.

"Hey! YOU HAD IT THE WHOLE TIME!" the dog suddenly barked up the tree, a small snarl in his tone, but otherwise he seemed joyous. Akari raised a brow and glanced down. Her mouth opened to ask what he meant, but instead she let it fall and hang open in surprise; there, on the ground by her fallen bag, was the ball. "Why did you do that?"

"Nabu! Where was it?!"

"Your bag! You hid it from me!"

"I did no such thin-" Akari's words cut off as realization hit her, and as she hugged at the branch nearest her, she sent a glare down to the redhead at the bench. "You think you're real funny, don't ya?" She yelled over at him, glancing down again. She did not enjoy the height she was at. "This isn't funny! You said it was in the tree!" *

Kurama's eyebrows raised, but he did not look up from his book.

"Oh? Well, wasn't it?" He called, silently enjoying the fervor with which Nabu snatched the ball up.

The dog barked something around the ball held firmly in his teeth, presumably at Akari, and then ran excitedly up to Kurama, dropping the ball onto the bench where it rolled to the back and came to rest near Kurama's thigh. Nabu then began spinning in an enthusiastic circle, yipping something that Kurama could only assume had to do with himself and tossing the ball.

Obligingly, Kurama switched his book into his right hand and picked the ball up in his left, giving his wrist almost the exact same flick that had landed the object so neatly into Akari's bag, and releasing the ball so that it flew threw the air, Nabu after it the instant it left Kurama's hand.

The redhead watched Nabu take off, keeping tabs on Akari's position up in the tree. He spoke through the ground at his feet to the branches, asking them to be kind and not toss the intruder out, despite her obvious insecurity within their embrace. He knew that even if she fell he was more than capable of reaching her before she hit the grass, though he thought perhaps saving her with the plants about them might be his better option, one the female might receive as a boon from the earth rather than his own influence. He could only imagine that her rescue would not earn him any great respect, only ire at his having caused the accident in the first place. He did not find the predicament any less amusing, however.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku glanced over at Hiei in surprise. Iced-cream? It sounded disgusting. But his eyes told her that the words he used this time indicated the same treat they shared previously and now desired together, and so she turned back to the old woman, who waited for her to speak.

"What he said." She added blandly, nodding to Hiei.

"Oh my, well there are several shops you might purchase ice cream from."

Shikiyoku tried not to growl at the woman's emphasis of the word.

Ticking off her fingers one-by-one the elderly woman continued, giving names of stores and saying a little about what each one had, "...but the nearest one with the actual tubs, and not just one-serving icey-pops, is a little grey convenience store. There's a red sign at the front of the building that says..."

Shikiyoku stopped listening again, holding up a hand to prevent the woman from going further. "That's more than I ever wanted to know. Leave now."

Without a second glance, the elderly woman kept walking past them and Shikiyoku took a couple of steps before pausing and turning back, trotting to catch up with her.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but you dropped this." She held out a thin, burgundy wallet about twice the length of her hand, turning away as soon as the wallet was taken from her and rejoining Hiei.

She continued walking and flipped part of her hair behind her shoulder, "I don't know what this realm uses as currency, but I'm almost positive that human had none of it on her, unless the tube of lipstick in her purse or the strange plastic card with her face and address on it in her wallet are some form of it." 3

Hiei turned to continue walking on, in the direction the woman had gestured to, determined to have more Ice Cream, as he had remembered it being named. He hadn't cared for the list she named off, his impatience carrying him to stuff his hands further into his pockets and ball his hands into fists in irritation. He never liked the way the elder humans spoke, as if they had all the time in the world to waste for others.

He glanced over his shoulder when Shikiyoku walked away from him again, following the elder woman with a small object in her hand. He sneered in recognition as he witnessed her return the object, realizing what she'd done without having actually witnessed the act. He hadn't been watching her every move like he would another demon; it was pointless, or so he'd thought. Now though, he wished he had, merely so that this would be more amusing.

When she returned, he took to walking at a leisurely pace again, not looking at her as she spoke to him, confirming his suspicions at how easily she had complied in returning it. "Pity," he replied sarcastically, searching for the sign that the woman had described and the store she had informed them of. "Too bad, I would have enjoyed playing by the rules," he mused sarcastically, referring to the laws of this world that he cared not about.

~!**!~

Akari snarled down at the redhead in response to his remark. But, otherwise, she had no answer for him at that instant. Instead, her eyes were on the ground, at least ten feet below her, and she was warily judging the best way down. After a moment, she had decided, and her eyes moved to the branch nearest her face, the one she currently embraced for security, and she reluctantly let go. "Ha-Ha," she finally answered, her tone mocking and irate, her voice only loud enough a demon could hear. "Very funny," she whispered under her breath, ignoring everything but the tree now, and her path downwards.

After slight hesitation, she sit down on the branch and let her feet touch the targeted one below, making sure she had her footing before she set her weight on said limb. And then she repeated the gesture, each step more cautious than the next. "When I get down, so help me," she grumbled as she continued her descent.

Finally, when she was nearest one of the lower branches, she let out a breath and sat down, letting her feet merely dangle off the side in relief, her palms resting on the branch as she glanced to the green grass below, now in a much better range than before. though her irrational fear of falling was still present beneath her relief.

"You're a jerk," she finally called to Kurama again, her voice carrying this time with ease, "and that was a rather stupid game." *

"Game?" Kurama echoed as Nabu came running back. He bent down and the dog placed the slobbery ball in the hand he reached towards it. "I wasn't aware we were playing any game. Did you have one in mind?"

He sat up and actually cocked his arm back for a throw, but sent the ball careening across the ground where it jostled and bounced across the uneven path, just fast enough to send Nabu tearing madly after it.

~!**!~

As they continued walking, Shikiyoku let her eyebrows rise and turned to Hiei in mock-surprise, mimicking the dry tone that he'd just used, "You? Not play by the rules? I can't believe the words that are coming out of your mouth."

Her 'astonishment' fell away at the grin she couldn't help, though she turned away and coughed into one hand to relax the muscles at the edge of her lips, mumbling to herself "And you seemed like such the upstanding citizen."

She raised her head to consider their path before going on, in a louder voice, "Surely you held some brilliantly straight-and-narrow occupation when you were in Demon World. Let me guess. Propaganda? Party Leader? No, wait, politician!" 3

Hiei, for the most part, ignored Shikiyoku's mock surprise and her banter that went along with his own. He hadn't meant for it to be carried out; he had merely said it for his own amusement's sake. However, when she began suggesting occupations he could have held in demon world, his sneer grew to show his pointed canines. "That idea does sound appealing; entire armies at my dispatch." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, but looked to the path ahead of himself again. "Maybe then I wouldn't be stuck on this plane of existence, under the thumb of a toddler."

He went silent again, sneer slowly sliding from his face as he caught sight of a building that matched the vague description they'd been given. "Perhaps the Ice Cream is worth it," he mused suddenly, emphasizing the words the same way the human had with amusement. How could he have forgotten its strange name? He walked up to the doors of the store, looking for the handle to pull on, only for the doors to slide open magically when he got near, making him raise a brow. It was much similar to Demon World's doors, but slower and less grand. But he commented on nothing of it as he stepped inside, red eyes looking around at the bustling busy bodies of humans, no idea where to go from there.

~!**!~

Akari's head hurt. Not from her lack of meal, or from the loud barks that Nabu gave or even the barking and yelling she could hear in the distance, but from irritation. Her eyebrow twitched and she lifted a hand to smooth it out, rubbing her temple with her index finger. This is ridiculous. Her brown eyes travelled to the demon at the bench, suddenly wondering why he was so good-natured towards her. Suspicion arose, but she kept it from her tone and expression.

"Your game is no fun," she replied casually, suddenly very much under control of her words and tone. "However, I was in the middle of a game with Nabu," she continued as she let herself drop from the tree, landing on her feet nicely and grabbing her bag. She listened as the dog's feet tore at the earth, pounding with his small paws but great speed for his size. "Nabu," she called.

He looked up at her, pausing only for a moment where he stood, ball in his maw, before he turned and ran back to Kurama, completely ignoring her call. Disbelief hit her hard, like a punch, and she watched her friend bounce about Kurama's feet, demanding another throw with a wagging tail and lolling tongue of excitement. She didn't even bother calling again; she knew his determination well enough. That didn't mean she enjoyed this scene though, and her eyes conveyed her disdain to the redhead with a stony glare. Of course, he'd strut in and- She stopped the thought short with a cross of her arms, suddenly remembering Nabu's words from the night before and everything that had happened prior. Damnit. *

"Ah, well, I apologize. I did not mean to interrupt a game already in session." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he leaned down to retrieve the ball Nabu dropped at his feet once more. He smiled down at the animal whose body trembled anxiously with excitement, eyes trained on the ball Kurama now held in his fingers at ear-level.

Kurama made an extra effort this time at miming a hard throw, watching with amusement as Nabu took off without even bothering to look up. In the next moment, before the dog could realize the trick, Kurama made an easy lob in Akari's direction, aiming the toss to fall right in front of her nose where if she would simply hold out a hand near her stomach the ball would land neatly in her grasp.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes were bright with interest, everything new and foreign to her, taking in and analyzing the bustle occurring before her and Hiei, quickly moving a few steps to the side of the entrance in order to not get run over. Not a single human looked up or took notice of her, which set one of her eyebrows twitching, but she shook her head at her first instinct, to rally their attention, comforting herself with the fact that she, and Hiei too for that matter, did appear rather human. Had she made an entrance like that in demon form, they would have surely dropped everything they were doing and groveled at her feet.

Human were easy like that.

She made a small, derisive snort. Not that she cared about sniveling humans, but it was a small hitch in her pride to become so aware of her insignificance among them all at once.

Shikiyoku glanced over at Hiei, but the fire demon hadn't so much as given any indication as to what they were to do next, so she gave an almost unnoticeable shrug and padded away from him, the tile of the store feeling strange under her bare feet.

Once she got past the general smell of the humans, her nose started to become aware of other delicious things and she couldn't help but lick her lips at the prospect, though the sweet snow, or whatever, was still top priority for Hiei's sake.

After slipping around various humans standing about in one aisle, Shikiyoku spotted a lone one standing behind a counter towards the back of the store. Her eyes hardly took in the sign that read 'Pharmacy' above him, as it meant nothing to her, but his current customer thanked him and turned away just as Shikiyoku approached.

With little effort, she hopped on top of the counter, dangling her bare feet off the edge of it as she crossed her legs and leaned towards him, making sure he was looking her in the eyes. She batted her eyelashes at him and smiled, getting her lips close to his ear and whispering, "Tell me, where do you keep the iced cream?"

The man smiled genuinely back at her and pointed in a direction. Shikiyoku absently wrapped her fingers around his tie and caressed it, "You're going to get me some. Pick your favorite flavors." She allowed.

He said something agreeable and Shikiyoku hopped down as he came around through a different part of the counter, letting him lead her to a portion of the store slightly colder than the rest, an aisle with only one other human at the end of it. The see-through doors on the side the man approached had tubs of differing sizes and colors that made Shikiyoku's eyes widen with their number. He shuffled along and came to one such door, opening it and pulling out a tub with each hand. He turned to her and held them out, Shikiyoku assuming by their color that they were two different flavors, reading the word 'strawberry' on one of them.

She shrugged noncommittally, but then motioned for the man to bend down further and whispered something else into his ear. 3

Hiei had stood in front of the sliding doors for a few moments, taking in the sights and sounds of the so called store. He heard beeps from several machines, the rolling of wheels on the tile, and the voices of the many humans echoing throughout the large store. Babies cried, small children whined, and the noise all added up to a cacophony of sound that Hiei did not enjoy in the slightest. Annoying was the first word that came to mind, but after that he searched for any clue of the whereabouts of Ice Cream. Of course, he earned nothing more than grumbled of people complaining about him being in the way and a large amount of confusion on his part. If it had been possible, question marks would have been dancing above his head.

Suddenly, Shikiyoku crossed his vision, gaining his undivided attention as she sauntered her way past him, her bare feet padding against the floor and briefly bringing his attention to them; how had he not noticed before? His eyebrow quirked, but otherwise he gave no indication of the abnormality for this world, and he instinctively followed her to the counter, where he saw her eyes were pointed with determination. Like she had, his eyes read the word Pharmacy, but it meant nothing to him. The smells nearby, however, told him that he would not enjoy any of the contents of the shelves around or behind the counter.

"Look at his hair," he suddenly heard whispered, and the red-eyed demon turned in the direction of the talk, meeting gazes that turned dumbfounded as soon as their eyes met. "Is he looking at us?"

"I don't know."

Hiei stared at them calmly for a moment before turning away, his back to the pair of women and children. "That was weird."

"Do you think he heard us?"

"No, I don't think so."

"...how much product do you think that takes?"

Hiei scoffed to himself and continued following the demoness he had arrived with, at first not seeing where she had gone, completely missing how she had entranced the man to do her bidding. But he didn't mind; he merely wanted to get out of this place as fast as he could, so he tagged along with the demon who seemed to know what she was doing. By the time he approached her, she was standing close to the man who held two tubs of the sweet snow, eyes wide and gleaming. But Hiei turned away from them to stare at the many different varieties of tubs, all in different shapes and sizes, all under the label of "Ice Cream" with numbers marked beneath them. He blinked; there were this many choices?!

~!**!~

Akari stared at Kurama, torn between the feelings he provoked from her and the words of Nabu from the night before; Kurama wasn't exactly being disruptive, just an annoyance. No, maybe not even that. He wasn't being crude towards her, like their previous encounters, and he wasn't glaring at her with irritation, or in the very least, suspicion. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself; with who, that was not the point. The point was: Nabu was right for once; Kurama was being civil, and Akari was not. A sigh left her lips and she turned to watch Nabu run off, her eyes turning back to Kurama when she realized that the ball was not in the air.

She looked just in time to snatch it from its arc, as if it had been a weapon aimed for her face and she'd nearly missed it. She made a face at the slobbery, muddy object, but turned to the direction Nabu had disappeared into the brush to, silently amused. And for a few moments, that's all she did was wait for the pup to return, and when he did, barking at her accusingly yet enthusiastically, she threw the ball as well, sending him on another chase.

The calm that had overtaken her had been so sudden that she didn't know what to do. So she lingered, still torn between what her instincts told her to do- which is get away and leave the redhead be before the situation went south- and what her mind spoke- telling her to stay and at least acknowledge the attitude change towards her. By the time Nabu came speeding back, she had made up her mind and threw the ball again, this time harder, so that it would go farther. She released another sigh when he was out of sight and turned, silently making her way to the bench and seating herself on the open space beside Kurama, not looking at him or saying anything. *

After tossing the ball in Akari's direction, Kurama resituated himself to return to his book, feeling the girl move after a while to sit next to him.

With her this close his mind wandered to their previous encounters, beginning all the way with her involvement in Sensui's plans, Koenma's pardon, and their current predicament with the Yoko impersonator and Akari's association with the demon that appeared to be after Toriko. That's where his mind lingered the longest, thoughts of Toriko behind Akari in the alleyway dancing across his mental eye. Assuming that Akari was not somehow involved with the blonde-haired demon, the demon was going to a lot of trouble to make it appear so, and he wondered as to the motives behind such a risky maneuver.

He said nothing, simply letting the breeze blow by and sitting underneath the filtered sunshine that shone through the leaves of the tree behind them, waiting for the girl to speak if she wished to do so.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku slunk up to Hiei, the man she had been captivating going the opposite direction on the errand she'd sent him. Her eyes still held the brightness of the whole experience within them, her eagerness hardly containable.

"Do humans have anything else worth eating?" She stopped very close to him and whispered the question, her gaze flickering around in an excitement she had trouble suppressing. Her stomach growled and she winced, sheepishly looking up through her eyelashes at Hiei. It took a decent about of willpower for her to resist tearing into everything around them and searching for the source of the smells that tantalized her nose. 3

Hiei had been staring at the many varieties in front of him, considering each and every one of them seriously when Shikiyoku stepped up to him, whispered words reaching his ear and causing him to glance down at her from the corner of his eye in speculation and acknowledgement of her presence and question. He heard the sound her stomach made and gave a sneer. He raised a brow in thought, remembering things Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama had eaten before when they were in different missions together, stuck in each other's presences for extensive amounts of time, such as the Tournament. He remembered bags being crinkled and tossed around, their contents light and airy, but salty to the smell. He hadn't eaten one, but it was something to try.

But as another human passed, he caught the very tantalizing smell of something else, something new. His red eyes automatically shifted to the cart she was wheeling by, finding the source immediately and reading the label of the plastic container: Spicy Chicken Curry. A smirk came to his face and he caught one last word: Deli, before turning to Toriko. "Locate the deli, for whatever that is worth," he said, the word foreign but he grasped the general idea. "They have varieties of prepared foods." Of course, this knowledge was not just from a glance, but from things he'd picked up during his years here. Now, the word made sense, as did all associations with it.

Akari sat in silence, her mind blank for a few moments before she suddenly recalled the trip to Spirit World yesterday, and the circumstances she had been placed under. This lead her to think of Otento and his offer, which still stood as of today. His words echoed in her mind, his words of a family of demons, under no control other than the leader who devised the plans. His offer had been tempting, stirring her desire to get out of here and on her own terms into more than just a mere thought. She could grasp it, the possibility now.

But every time she thought of it, something made her stomach churn. Each time, she thought about Toriko and the attack that had been launched on the girl, the way Otento had spoken about her as if she were an object, not a person. The girl was simply too… small. Too… defenseless… for Akari to feel right about. The fact that she would be assisting in a plan that would inevitably snatch the girl, and likely end with a large battle that could ultimately kill her- she wasn't stronger than Kurama or Hiei or Yusuke, that was for sure- it made her rethink it.

Especially now that she sat there, beside an equally silent fox demon who had previously associated her on the same level as Toguro. Her head bowed, eyes on her linked hands, allowing her bangs to hide her eyes as she continued to think. But, unintentionally, she spoke aloud.

"I hadn't meant for her to come to harm." Her voice was small, reluctant, but her thoughts had been voiced, and she couldn't take them back now. "I was merely looking for answers. I hadn't known she was involved." *

Kurama found himself surprised that Akari's train of thought so closely mirrored the direction his had taken, and it wasn't difficult for him to deduce that 'her' was actually 'Toriko' in this case.

"No." Kurama allowed, his voice equally as soft, "I don't suppose you did." He sat back further into the bench, lifting his head to gaze away from them thoughtfully. He turned his book over his knees and placed the elbow of the arm that had been holding it over the back of the bench. "You can hardly be at fault for that. You should have been kept in the loop." He paused, hesitating, "The demon we saw you with the other night...he broke into Toriko's home a few weeks back. From what I understand, he had every intention of raping the girl." Kurama closed his eyes, lowering his head back down, the admission painful to make, and the word making his lips curl in disgust at having to say it. "And very nearly got away with it." His thoughts fell onto Hiei, and Kurama silently expressed a thankfulness that his fiery friend had been nearby to stop it. "But there was no way you could have known that." He fell silent again.

~!**!~

"Deh-lee." Shikiyoku muttered to herself, eyes trailing after a human who had walked past them. Her gaze flickered from this one human to another that came back around the corner at the far end of the aisle. Her human. The one from the counter.

She moved to join him, meeting him about halfway. He opened the paper shopping bag he held for her to inspect, parting it with one hand on either of the handles. She stuck her nose close enough to spy the two tubs of ice cream within, nestled together at the bottom, nodded her approval, and then leaned back to look the man in the face, thinking hard about the word Hiei had used.

"Take me to the...deli." She ordered, hoping she pronounced the word correctly. It seemed to work, for the man nodded back to her and turned away as she followed him, biting her lip as they passed other groups of humans in the store. If this took much longer, she wasn't going to be able to stop herself. Her stomach felt as if it was folding over on itself, and if not for the warrant out for her arrest she likely would have simply fed on the entire store and been done with it. She wasn't exactly sure how Hiei would have felt about it though...

It took no time at all for the man to stop in front of a different glassed area than the colder one on the opposite side of the store. He looked down at her, his eyes kind.

"And what do you want from here?"

"Um..." Shikiyoku stalled. The smells that accosted her nose practically had her drooling at the mouth. 3

Hiei raised a brow at the human that made his way to them, Shikiyoku's approaching him jogging his memory of the human as the one she'd used to get the ice cream. He eyed the man, stubble on his face and a smile on his face despite his rather glassy eyes that almost said he wasn't actually paying attention. He continued to eye the uniform he wore, a white button-down shirt tucked into jeans and a pair of tennis shoes. He looked odd, like most humans did, in Hiei's opinion.

But when Shikiyoku said the magic words and the human turned away, Hiei followed casually, trying to ignore his own rumbling stomach. Before long, they were in a small area where a sign hung, reading "Deli", just as Hiei had seen on the white label of the plastic container the woman had had earlier. His own eyes looked over the many choices that ranged from American-style cuisine-whatever that meant-to soups and Ramen that he began to recognize. He glanced at Shikiyoku, noting her open mouth and wide eyes with amusement before he turned to the man. "The Spicy Chicken Curry for her," he called, eyeing the substance behind the glass heating area. He loved the feel of the radiating heat from the glass, but he didn't want to linger for too long, so he pointed to another small container that contained small rolls of fish in rice with dark paper-like substance binding it, something he personally saw as appetizing. "That as well," he demanded, turning his eyes to Shikiyoku to see if she would have to give the order herself for it to work. After this, they would be long gone from this store and on their way to eat.

~!**!~

Akari tried to suppress it to the best of her abilities, but the physical flinch at the word Kurama used to describe Toriko's previous dealings with Otento couldn't be held back. Disgust rolled through her very core at the thought, though she didn't dare linger on her feelings on the matter. That was not meant for a time like this, where her inner musings would become evident to another. So, she kept her eyes down and hidden from view, closed eyelids against the light of the sun.

Now her mind was made up. She hadn't been entirely sure a moment ago, but with the new intel she'd been given, she had no problem with the decision at hand for her.

There was no way in hell, or anything of the like, she would allow herself near such a demon. If they were anything like humans, it was in the aspect that they took what they wanted without remorse. Without hesitation.

Nabu suddenly sped into view, bouncing around at her feet and gaining her attention, despite the emotions that threatened to show on her face. She gave a sigh and reached a hand down, accepting the ball only to throw it again. "Fetch," she whispered as he took off like a rocket, leaving her alone with Kurama again.

"He's offered a position in his ranks to me several times." she hesitated after this admission, but after a moment she sat back, not letting her hair hide her eyes anymore but still not meeting his gaze. "I was trying to gather more information on his whereabouts when he isn't tracking me down, more information on his intentions." She reached and pulled a folded up card from her back pocket, the very card that held scrawled information inside. She passed it to Kurama, mentally going over the memorized words of We have big plans for you, if only you meet us halfway. There was more that would be written, but it was faded from the wear of being carried in her back pocket or even by Nabu, who constantly kept it nearby as a reminder.

She briefly considered Otento telling her of his plans for meeting, considered telling this to Kurama, but she hesitated. In the end, she tucked that piece of information away in her mind for safe keeping. "His requests and information have all been vague. Too vague to make much sense. And each time I see him, he disappears before I reach him." *

Kurama glanced down at the paper she handed to him, studying as much of the words as he was able.

"Playing a double-cross is a dangerous game." He commented, giving Akari the benefit of the doubt as to her original intentions in remaining in contact with the demon, "But I'm sure we can use it to our advantage somehow, if you were willing." He considered the paper thoughtfully. "I'm almost certain Toriko is central to this entire mess, but she's being well taken care of at the moment and shouldn't be an immediate concern." Since for whatever reason Hiei had taken to guarding the girl, Kurama added to himself. Which let a load of concerns stay lifted from the fox demon's mind, even if it left other questions in its wake. "Is there anything he's told you about himself or his intentions that might help us formulate some plan of attack? Anything at all that he has said to you that we could use against him?"

~!**!~

Shikiyoku gave Hiei a grateful look when the fire demon took over and made immediate decisions about the food that otherwise left her speechless at the prospect of choosing something from amongst them.

She smiled sweetly at the human, but her attention hadn't exactly been on Hiei as he spoke and she recalled nothing of what the fire demon said, so she let her eyes shimmer over with the slightest hint of energy and nodded when the man looked back to her for guidance.

Her human turned to another standing behind the food, and when the second human leaned over the counter to catch a glimpse of her and Hiei at the first's indication that the food was for them, she stood taller, eyes gleaming into the eyes of the one considering her, alluding without words that the second was to do everything the first said.

A suggestive smile broke out over the second human's face as he came under her power, but Shikiyoku ignored anything said by either human, instead turning to watch the second retrieve the different foods she assumed correlated with the ones Hiei pointed out.

Her human congenially put the resulting packages down in the bag, and though Shikiyoku frowned at the thought of the sweet snow getting melted she said nothing of it, the smells mixing together in the bag and driving her crazy. The pair of humans exchanged some sort of pleasantry or another in the form of excusing themselves from the other's company, and the human behind the counter made a surprisingly vulgar remark to her as she walked away with her originally mesmerized human that she only half-heard, and completely disregarded.

As her human made his way to the front of the store with the paper bag still in his hand, Shikiyoku's ears twitched and she focused in on a whispered conversation happening somewhere behind them, slowing her pace as Hiei and their human leader kept moving past her.

"...can't get past how hot he is."

"Did you see those eyes!"

"He's got to be some kind of celebrity!"

"Soooo gorgeous."

If they had been demons, and this Demon World, Shikiyoku would have had the luxury of ordering the immediate deaths of the arrogant females.

The rarity for such words to be uttered within earshot of a demon of her kind-unless the speaker desired to take part in the services she might grace them with-was only matched by the rarity of it happening when she walked with company. Especially if the words were aimed at her company. It would have been assumed that the two were together discussing business or pleasure, or both, and her species was well-known for being quite territorial, regardless of how true the compliments might have been.

The transgression these human females unknowingly committed against Shikiyoku was nearly tripled in this particular case as the demon they so candidly admired from afar held the esteemed position of her Champion. Within the realm of demons there would have been no mistaking Hiei for anything else. But this was not Demon World. And these were not demons.

Beyond her initial flash of anger at their slight, Shikiyoku forced back her temper as she could not punish the humans for their indiscretion without creating a scene, convincing herself anyway that they were not worth the trouble and knew nothing of what they did. She turned back and broke into a trot to catch up with Hiei, and then matched his pace when she reached him. She considered him briefly out of the corner of her eyes, but dropped her gaze back down at the floor and blushed.

Her instinct at the moment she rejoined him had been to plant a kiss on his cheek. She knew the females still had their eyes trained on him, and the act would have made crystal clear her position, as well as theirs, on the matter. Something held her back though, and it also caused the blush that turned the edges of her cheeks pink. Maybe it was the discomfort he radiated anytime she got close, his standoffishness abundantly and almost painfully clear to her.

She nearly threw her head back and let loose an ironic burst of laughter at her predicament. The first and only demon she knew in this entire realm, one that she found especially attractive and desirable nonetheless, just happened to not be able to stand her being in close physical proximity.

Under normal circumstances she would have simply mesmerized him, seduced him and done as she wished with him, to hell with his haughty attitude or his dislike for her general existence. His innocence, along with his complete disregard and distaste for her touching him, would have made the conquest that much more satisfying, actually. Shikiyoku would have reveled in bringing about his cries, in his voice begging her to continue once he fell to her power. So much so in fact that she could easily picture herself going another fifteen whole years being satiated by just that one encounter.

But to top it all off, along with everything else, he ALSO, just happened to be her protector, making him virtually untouchable for her in every way imaginable. Had he shown the slightest interest in her, the sigh that she now released would not have been so forlorn. As it was, she felt that she would need her powers to spark any sort of interest from him in her, and the prospects of anything occurring between them without said powers appeared absolutely nil chance-wise.

Even amongst the rather limited number of protectors she'd formed pacts with in the past, her very nature-albeit her demonic form being of assistance-eventually led to all but one becoming romantically involved with her much to her great delight and pleasure, and the one who had not she chalked up to their pact breaking well before it should have, well before the relationship had been given enough time to fully bloom. This one, though...

A second sigh audibly passed over her lips as they crossed the threshold of the store, the human they followed turning back to her after they moved roughly fifteen feet to the left beyond the door.

Her mood still sour, Shikiyoku informally took the bag the human extended down to her and almost sighed again when he still stared at her, his hands clasped together, his eyes bright and receptive to her next words, whatever they might be.

"Yes, yes." She grumbled, "Your work was sufficient, I suppose." She arranged the handles of the bag in one hand and held the other out towards him, palm down, her gaze cast to the side as if he were not worthy of meeting her full-on.

He murmured some sort of thanks or another and took her hand in both of his, pressing his awkward human lips onto her skin.

Shikiyoku snatched her hand away from him as soon as he brushed her with the kiss, "Go away now."

"When will I-"

"I said go away, worm." She commanded, and he turned to go, "And I hope 'never.'" She added in response to the question she did not let him finish as she released him from her influence. She made an awful face and wiped the back of her hand onto her black shirt. Her stomach churned angrily and she impatiently started to reach down into the bag for something to eat right then and there. 3

Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star