A/N: Hello once again, Readers!

Onwards to our chapter!

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 Youko/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.
[Anything written in italics inside square brackets is Youko speaking to Shuichi/Kurama inside their mind and is private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.]{Anything written in italics inside curly brackets is inner dialogue by Shuichi/Kurama to Youko, and is also private conversation, unable to be picked up by telepathy.}
"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!

Youko seeks out Akari, the latter of whom was looking for a day off and asked after him.

While exchanging distracting banter, Akari leads them to a store wherein they sit down
and order desserts, a sundae for Akari and a cherry shake for Youko.
Youko asks how she's been spending the last six months,
and they end up talking logistics about how a building is able to exist on all the layers.

In an effort to converse about something other than 'work,'
Youko wants to know what she's been avoiding since it seems all she's been doing is work.
That leads to Youko consequently being awkward about dreams and asking Akari if she's dreamed of him.

~!**!~

After tracking the demon who has been feeding on other demons,
Hiei is led to what had been Toriko's home, finding that the 'demon' is in fact Shikiyoku.
Sort of. She has no memory of him, and her appearance and her energy have become twisted as well.

After helping her through the nightmares she was having, she wakes up and Hiei begins speaking with her.
Initially she attacks him as he startles her, admitting that she has seen him somewhere in her dreams.

Hiei continues to try and jog her memory, calling her both 'lover' and 'Iro,'
and while she gives a little indication of a reaction to him, she tells him she believes him to be a hallucination.
Slightly irritated at both this strange condition he has found her in as well as her lack of reaction,
Hiei sets her shirt on fire.

Becoming overtaken by the disease she has contracted, she starts to collapse to the ground just as she asks who he is.
Hiei catches her, sending via the Jagan more memories and telling her he was once her Champion,
and lays her down gently while the two of them continue talking about who she was.

As she struggles with the desire to feed again, she attempts to think of other things to ask him,
and Hiei speaks up, encouraging her to say what is on her mind...

She shifted until she sat with her back leaning against the side of the bed, looking up only when he spoke, "What are you, a telepath?"

Her eyes flickered to his forehead, expression perfectly serious, "And here I was thinking you'd been so vain as to arrange for cosmetic surgery for that extra eye. I suppose you could add a Jagan explicitly for the aesthetic qualities." 3

Hiei's eyelids seemed to snap open at her words, and the stare he issued to her was not a harsh one, nor a curious one. If anything, it was one of surprise as he recognized what she was saying, and almost immediately he recalled the first time he'd heard words very similar to those, from that same person.

And he found he didn't know how to reply, though it was likely due to his sudden surprise at her words.

After a moment, he regained his composure and gave a sneer. He took a moment to recall what he'd said then, what he'd replied with. He even went so far as to consult his Jagan, which easily, almost readily gave him his answer, and the words came rolling from his tongue rather quickly.

"If you so believe that my third eye is so beautiful, then you obviously need more time to observe. Indeed it has its value, but beautiful is not the word. I do not do anything that pertains to how I look merely because that is a waste of my time. I have no idea what Prosthetic Surgery is, but I can assure you that I have never experienced it, since it seems directly involved with how one looks. I hold no interest in experimenting with my looks, and I never will."

He wasn't sure if this would help, but perhaps repeating old times would… help.

~!**!~

"Mmm," Akai hummed out, eyes gleaming slightly as she considered a few responses, a few ways to twist the situation, but in the end she decided against it. "I guess you'll simply be disappointed then, because I can assure you none of my dreams feature you."

She watched his slender fingers dive into his glass and fish for what she knew to be a cherry, and she glanced at her own, her fingers plucking it from the top of her ice cream before she quickly leaned over the booth and reached for his as well, a sly smile finding her features. "But, I guess you could humor me." she said as she made a grab for his cherry as well. *

Youko allowed her to have the cherry, though he only offered it after jerking his wrist just in time for her to miss, giving her an amused smile.

[Should I tell her yours or mine, Red?]

His counterpart gave out a sigh before responding.

{I'd just as soon neither.}

[I dunno. You had a fairly heavy one a couple of nights ago.]

{That was you.}

[She doesn't have to know that.]

{You're impossible.}

Youko leaned back in the booth again. "Mm, see the difficulty would be in choosing just one."

~!**!~

"Beautiful?" A single dark brow rose up her forehead, "That is a word of your own devising, though I will not disagree with the usage. A Jagan is very attractive to the right person." She leaned her head back against the bed and closed her eyes. "I would just as soon use the word handsome for yourself though." Her voice trailed off, "Why would every part of you not be attractive?"

She grew very quiet, taken by the odd sense of repetition of the moment, of reliving something that had happened before...3

"Perhaps one day you'll witness it for yourself, then." Hiei said easily, the Jagan feeding him exactly what he needed. However, instead of going on like he had before, he stopped there. He saw no reason to go on. So this time when his eyes turned to hers, they held a gleam of familiarity, and instead of seeing the changes he saw the similarities.

Progress is progress.

~!**!~

Akari sat back again when her fingers had hold of the cherry he'd allowed her to have, popping it into her mouth, stem and all. Using her teeth and tongue she separated the stem from the cherry before biting down on the fruit and savoring the flavor before swallowing it and taking to toying with the stem.

"I guess you have quite the problem then, no?" she spoke around the stem easily before falling silent again, her eyes turning to the window again to watch people pass by. *

Youko sighed long-sufferingly, "You have no idea how much of a problem you are, do you? A welcome problem," He was quick to say, "A most wonderful problem. But a problem ever-the-same."

He held out another cherry by the stem between two long fingers, "Care for another?"

{You're enjoying this.}

[Absolutely.]

~!**!~

"Ah," It came out like a sigh, her eyes still closed as her head rested against the bed while she started to mutter further, "What are you doing to me, fire-prince? It seems I cannot make sense of my own thoughts, and that you know them before I can remember. Are you cheating? Is that Eye of yours lending a hand?" 3

"It isn't cheating." Hiei said casually, giving a pause to allow his sneer to form again. "Merely utilizing my resources." He continued to watch her, realizing that she'd called him fire prince, something he hadn't been called in what felt like a very long time. And it seemed to bring about a sort of calm to his core, a sense of peace and, dare he say, fondness?

"You'll remember soon enough. In your own time."

~!**!~

Akari turned eyes that gleamed with amusement at Youko again before she suddenly popped the stem between her lips, her index finger and thumb grabbing it and holding it in front of her face for close inspection.

The knot she'd formed was a tiny one, and she was easily satisfied with it despite the fact that she hadn't done this in a couple of years. So, when Youko offered another, she simply held her hand out for it patiently.

"I'm glad to be of service. I rather enjoy causing problems, especially when I can get away with it." *

He almost released a growl at the sight of the knot and the thoughts it stirred within him, covering it by retracting the offer and placing the stem in his own teeth, cherry bouncing slightly against his lower lip.

{What? Not having fun anymore?}

[You know exactly what.]

The laugh that echoed at him in his own head was not a kind one.

"Tease me too much and you'll find yourself in a corner, pup. One that I will have backed you into personally." He grinned, showing the sharp teeth that firmly held the cherry.

{You did it to yourself. By ordering the flavor in the first place.}

[I thought it would be funny.]

{She's not going to get it. She wasn't raised among humans like you were with me.}

[Too bad for her.]

{I didn't know foxes purred, but I would say that was a fairly good imitation of it.}

[Only when their counterparts get their hackles all raised about it.]

{Hmph.}

~!**!~

The muscles at either side of her mouth twitched, "How did I know you'd think of it that way? Resource. Tch." When her eyes opened to stare at the ceiling though, there might have been a spark there that contradicted her tone if one was paying attention.

"Soon enough will never come soon enough." She complained softly. "You...you were important. My companion. My-" What had he said? Lover? ... Closer than a friend, perhaps.

My what?

"My Champion. How does one just forget something like that?" 3

Hiei didn't reply to Shikiyoku's words, only continued to stare at her from where he sat on the floor. He shifted which ankle crossed over the other, effectively waking the first and causing an odd sensation to shoot up to his knee. He ignored it easily once he stopped moving.

Another moment passed and Hiei let his head rest back against the wall.

"I could help," he murmured, not really meaning to do so. The Jagan could help, but… "But it would do nothing for you, should this happen a second time."

And it would only be for my own benefit.

~!**!~

Akari's brows raised at Youko's retracting offer, her eyes following the cherry until it came to rest against his bottom lip. Her eye twitched slightly and she turned a disappointed look up to the fox. "Those are my favorite. You're a cruel, cruel demon." she said, resisting the urge to just take it from him.

Though, she had the sneaking suspicion that that was exactly what he wanted her to do. What he would gain from it, though, she didn't know. So, to keep her hand from making a grab for it, she put her elbow on the table and her chin in her dominant hand, huffing once at him. "Cruel." *

Youko let out a chuckle, "Apparently you look and sound just like Nabu when you do that."

{...}

[Your thoughts betray you.]

The avatar within him just let out a heavy sigh.

~!**!~

She did not answer at first, trying to form words with the question, the only question, that popped into her head.

"And...and if it happened a second time...would you...do whatever it is for me again?" She pulled her head up from the bed. "I want to remember you." 3

Hiei resisted the frown his lips threatened to give her, resisted the urge to turn his eyes away from her again. "What would you gain if I did it for you?" he said, tone as calm as the mask his expression had become. "Nothing, in the end." He continued to stare at her, not saying anything else.

Because as much as he wanted to help her, it would do nothing for her, and if it did happen again, then it would only lead him back to here. And while it would be easier to throw her a lifeline, his core was almost entirely against it. She needed to…. be strong enough to do it herself.

"I would, however, be near should you ask it of me." It had been his job once, and he wouldn't mind it being his job- no, his privilege to do so again.

~!**!~

"Do I now?" Akari mumbled, giving a one-shoulder shrug. Her eyes again trailed to the cherry, eyeing it thoughtfully. What is the point of that gesture? She figured there had to be a reason. If she knew anything about demons, it was that they did everything for a reason.

She just so happened to be the exception to that rule.

"Tell your counterpart I say hello," she said with a grin, eyes looking up to his again before she moved on. "I hope you know I will find another cherry." *

"He can hear you perfectly fine. You can tell him yourself." Youko shrugged as if he'd thought she knew, his expression sliding into mock-disappointment, "Aw, you don't want to take my cherry?"

{She may not understand all of this business with the cherries, but I do and-}

[I know. What, you think I'm only doing this for her benefit? I thought better of you, Red.]

~!**!~

If her breath had come out her mouth, if would have been a scoff. Released from her nose made it a much softer reaction.

"You would deny us a moment of happiness then?" She appeared to be searching his face as if to understand better, "Even if it only lasted for the night? For the hour?" She continued, shaking her head, "And how can I ask something of you that can be nothing short of merciless for you to endure? How sadistic it must be- How cruel of me to ask that of you. Knowing that every time I look at you I see nothi-" Not nothing, "I only have a vague recollection that we were once-" She appeared at a loss for explanation, their previous relationship defying her current state of mind. 3

Hiei's expression gave way no reaction to Shikiyoku and her speech, his eyes regarding her calmly and only blinking at her twice. When she went quiet, he still didn't speak, still didn't even make that he'd heard her in any way.

Honestly, he felt as if giving her the answer would do more harm than good. That if he did it once he would have to continue doing it, over and over again, otherwise they'd both end up losing themselves.

"Think what you wish," he said calmly, "But whether you've noticed or not, you're already changing. Consider me cruel, I don't care, but I will not hand you the easy way out. Not when you have the capability to pull yourself out on your own."

~!**!~

Akari rolled her eyes at Youko. "You're defiled it." she stated simply, lifting her chin from her hand and pointing her index finger at him. "It's no longer pure, and quite frankly, I do not wish to taste your saliva on the stem or your breath on the fruit itself." She shrugged and set her chin in her hand again. "But, don't get me wrong, it's a very tempting offer." *

"Oh, as if driving the knife into my heart wasn't terrible enough, now you've gone and twisted it all around." Youko appeared awfully broken up about it, his expression dry, and he reclined back again, crossing one leg over the other. He made no further show of the cherry other than to deftly draw it into his mouth to eat it.

{She guessed at you rather aptly though, I might say. Even if she doesn't know it.}

[Oh hush.]

~!**!~

She rested her head against the bed again as if in defeat, "I meant it is I who would be cruel to ask you to be near while I am in such a state, fire-prince, not to imply your denying me what I want to be cruel. You're stronger than I in that respect, I suppose." She started mumbling again, "Even if I could probably just torture you until you did it anyway." It took on a growlish effect as she grumbled, "You'd still be right in the end I suppose." 3

Hiei stayed silent as she spoke, eyes narrowing slightly at her words of torture. Honestly, he didn't see why she hadn't done so already, but he gave no indication of such thoughts. It wasn't as if he'd actually give in out of pain anyway. Especially not if the Jagan was well aware of both the source of the pain and the style of the attack, both of which he'd noted earlier.

Even when she admitted that he'd be right, he didn't speak up, didn't change his expression. He merely sat in silence, waiting for anything else she had to say, anything else she wished to clarify. Not that it would change anything.

~!**!~

Akari frowned when the cherry disappeared between his lips, disappointed. Maybe she should have made a grab for it when he'd given her-

Not if he's giving you the chance, you moron.

She huffed and turned to her ice cream, noting the last of it was entirely melted now and nothing more than a sloshy cream. She pulled the spoon from the glass and stuck it in her mouth, letting it hang there as she turned to Youko again. "It's payback for the cruelty of taking the cherry back." She finally replied, her expression matching his easily. "You're absolutely no fun." *

"I. Am a bundle of fun, I'll have you know." Youko threw back at her, "I just get the feeling that my particular brand of fun is not something you wish at this juncture to dally in. You're really forcing me to make it up as I go along. I'm completely out of my element." His golden eyes gleamed.

~!**!~

Her core churned.

I just ate. ...didn't I?

Perhaps. But the demon across the room was starting to smell wonderful. And she wasn't talking about his skin.

And you've been consuming larger amounts recently.

Fever makes me hungry.

The sickness will consume you.

If I let it. That's why I have to eat more often.

Distraction.

"When...when was the last time I was happy? The last time you saw me happy?" Strange question. 3

"Eleven months ago." Hiei said without hesitation, the memory easily coming forth before she'd even finished asking him her question. "We were in the Northern Tribe," he began, not even aware he was speaking, not even seeing the room he sat in anymore. Instead, he was on the Ninth Level, watching a demon lean into Shikiyoku, who had turned to him with a smile and made to reach for him before the demon next to her leaned further into her.

"You'd danced, brought together a tribe in a way only you could do. We were there for a week, in the Northern Tribe's company and helping with daily endeavors. The last night, you had sat with several demons, joking, laughing, drinking."

He suddenly cut himself off, eyes losing the faraway haze and quickly focusing on the room again, staring at Shikiyoku for only a moment before his eyelids slid closed and he leaned back against the wall again.

~!**!~

"Glad to make you think about it. It means I present a challenge for the infamous thief." Akari turned her nose a bit higher in the air at him, her smile a smug one. "It wouldn't hurt to dabble in other brands of fun every once in a while, hm?" She let her teeth flash in a lopsided smirk. "I'd hate to be like the other women you've encountered. It makes this all the more fun for me." *

"Oh, I assure you, you're nothing like the other women I've encountered."

{Your wiles wouldn't work on me.}

[Well, then it's a good thing I'm not trying to woo you, then isn't?]

Youko put his now-empty milkshake back onto the table.

"Would a walk please your majesty, or is that not fun enough for you?"

~!**!~

She had her eyes closed, but nothing was coming to her. How sad to not remember the last time one had been happy. Comforting, she supposed, to have one that did remember nearby. Her life of late had been from one meal and bed to the next. At least that was all she could recall.

Something else, then. To distract her.

What else was there?

She did not take note of the fact that she had begun to rub again at the old wound in her arm. Her fever had made it begin to throb, which she was used to, and the action was one of habit at this point. 3

Hiei heard the smallest of sounds in the room and peeled his eyelids open to glance at Shikiyoku, red irises easily finding the almost too quiet sound and locking onto the hand that rubbed at her arm, over a spot he'd seen her rubbing earlier, but hadn't particularly cared to take note of.

Now, however, he realized he recognized the scar he saw between her fingers.

"That one came from the Ninth Level as well. You fell into a pit after pushing me out of the way." His tone seemed almost nonchalant as he spoke again. "That lead to us visiting a friend of yours, Shubou. You danced for his tribe as well, though slightly reluctantly."

~!**!~

Akari took to turning the spoon over and over her tongue, a brow raised at Youko. Sarcasm? Or seriousness? Her lips twitched a bit more and she lowered her chin to her hand again, her other hand retracting the spoon from her mouth, though she made a point to give no reply to Youko whatsoever.

Though, at the idea of a walk…

She dropped the spoon lightly into her glass, ignoring the small clink sound it made as she shifted, a hand sliding into her back pocket and pulling out some cash that she put onto the table as she slid away from the window. "Suits me just as well." *

"Only if you promise not to think about work as soon as we get out the door. I've been threatened to prevent you from doing that again. You're supposed to be taking some time off."

{Don't drag me into this.}

~!**!~

She looked up when he spoke, then down with surprise at her hand which had gotten over to the other arm. She moved her fingers to the side to stare at the scar shaped oddly in comparison to most of the others she had. Besides the fact that it was older and beneath any of the others.

She had a sudden revelation and turned to stare at her knee, moving her fingers over and touching the fabric of her pants lightly.

"Is that where this one comes from too?" 3

Hiei gave a short nod. "Both from a spike pit. It wasn't supposed to be triggered, but it had been, and you fell instead of me." He reached a hand up and scratched idly at the back of his neck, ridding himself of a bothersome itch in no time and resettling the way he'd been sitting all over again. "Both were healed in a hot spring a lur'mog had directed us to."

~!**!~

"Nice to know," Akari replied with a smile. "Only if you don't bring it up." She stood and stretched her arms over her head before letting her right arm rest atop her head, her left hand grabbing at her right elbow as she stood there, waiting on the fox to move as well.

She glanced at the waitress who had emerged from the back room with a smile, and Akari waved, then pointed to the table to indicate she had paid and wasn't simply skipping out.

Then she turned to Youko with a curious stare. "Lead the way, since you asked." *

"With pleasure." Came the smooth reply as he slunk out of the seat and sashayed towards the door, stopping and turning part-way back, tossing something in the waitress' direction with a wink before continuing out into the day.

He peered up at the sky, gauging the time and how long it would take to get where he meant to lead her, pausing to wait for Akari to fall in step beside him before moving down the path.

~!**!~

"A...lur'mog?" She blinked at the strange word. 3

Hiei had to resist a sigh. "It's a creature of the Ninth Level," he said calmly, though really he didn't have anything more to say about it than that. So, he let his Jagan envelop her mind and showed her the memory of the creature writhing beneath his index finger, chattering and pushing at his index finger to stop the gesture the fire demon had once made.

The image faded after a minute. "They're fascinating creatures, really."

~!**!~

Akari didn't look back to see what Youko tossed behind them, only following him out the door and into the sunlight of the mid-afternoon, the bustle of the sidewalk thin since it was the middle of a work day. "And where exactly do you have in mind?" She inquired of Youko when she caught up, easily keeping in stride with the fox. *

"Nowhere in particular." He replied easily, moving on silent feet down the road, his ears flicking every once in a while out of habit to check to see if they were being followed. "Does it matter?"

~!**!~

It became easier to see the memory when she closed her eyes, though it confused her and the warmth she felt intruding into her head distracted her.

"That was...you?" It looked more like his hands and she opened her eyes to glance over at them. "What were you doing?" 3

Hiei raised a brow, then his lips twitched, and his expression fell blank again. He struggled to find the word that described the action, suddenly realizing that she hadn't been awake for that. Or, not that he remembered. She'd been sleeping beside him.

"...tickling it." He finally admitted, the word finding its way on his tongue. "It was… amusing."

~!**!~

"Mmm, no. I was just curious, is all." Akari fell silent again, her own eyes turning about her surroundings almost curiously, taking in anything and everything they could as she passed. Her mind was, for once, void of any troubling thoughts, void of anything pertaining to business or anything to do with the recent events. Her muscles weren't tense, and she actually had the time to feel the breeze that blew by, that just brushed her cheeks and played with her hair.

Nabu was right. I needed this. *

Youko strolled along, taking particular notice of the tenseness that he had felt across Akari's shoulders melt away with the outside air. His silver hair and tail would pick up slightly in the wind or, more rarely, from his elegant stride.

"Feeling any better?" For the first time, he sounded genuine.

~!**!~

"Tickling?" She frowned. What the hell was that supposed to mean? He'd just been, what, pointing at it in what she saw? And such an action was amusing? Did one have to experience that to get that feeling? "Wait, were you doing that to it? Or was it tickling you?" 3

This time, Hiei didn't fight the sigh that left his lips and the slumping of his shoulders. She's impossible. "I was tickling the lur'mog." he emphasized, taking a hand and rubbing it on his temple, right over the vein that had begun throbbing. "It's…" he was at a loss for words. How would he describe something such as tickling?

"I can't explain it." he admitted finally with a shrug. "It's unimportant anyway."

~!**!~

Akari took in a deep breath through her nostrils, and for the first time since she'd called on Youko, she actually acknowledged his scent, which was, unsurprisingly, similar to Kurama's. And it was… enticing, pleasing to the senses, to say the least.

So it took a moment for her to respond, to even register Youko's question. Though, she did turn her eyes to him for a brief moment before turning them away. "Much, thank you." *

"Let it not be said that a kitsune is anything but simply a master of distraction." Youko replied with a upwards turn of his lips, "Though, I hear you're quite the master of such things yourself."

~!**!~

She had no reason not to believe him, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to think anyway.

"I, uh-" She tried to come up with another question, but her core was starting to rush in her ears, her vision darkening.

She didn't particularly want him to see her like this. Maybe she could lose him in the layers so he wouldn't have to see.

She did try to stand, using the bed as a sort of prop to help her, but only getting far enough to sit on top of it, leaning over with her hands planted on either side of her hips on top of the quilt and feeling the weakness in her limbs from the fever that still had a glisten of sweat along her hairline.

Distraction.

I can't think of one any more.

Not the hunger. Just go away.

It never listened. 3

When Shikiyoku did not go on with whatever she was going to say, Hiei turned his eyes up at her and watched, suddenly very aware of the tenseness in her weakened muscles, of the lines between her brows and the darkness that seemed to deepen in her eyes. And, most of all, the subtle shift in her energy. It began to thicken slightly, to permeate the air in a way he couldn't explain in any other word than 'frantic'. As if it were searching for something without her direct notice.

And he could feel the emotion that had begun to swell within her, taste it on the air and in the energy that had begun to swirl, unseen, about her body.

"What do you remember?" He asked in a calm voice, wondering if the chat helped at all. "Besides what I've shown you. What dreams have you had?"

~!**!~

"That's only when I have to be," Akari replied easily, giving a shrug of her shoulders. "And sometimes when it benefits me." This time, she turned glittering eyes onto Youko for a moment before turning forward again, feet still moving to follow wherever it was Youko went, whether or not he had a clear destination.

"And I must admit, it feels nice being on this end of the distraction for once." *

"Most happy to be of service to you." Youko inclined his head a little, "It's quite wonderful to be appreciated in my own time."

He stopped in place, lifting his nose to sniff at the air.

"Up for a bit of a chase?"

~!**!~

"I..." She struggled not to give in for another moment, "I often forget my dreams upon waking. I...remember you being there, though I would not have recalled without meeting you." As she attempted to remember, the desperation was channeled away into her thoughts, but these were jumbled.

She knew she had dreams but as to their subject, she generally could not sort through with to any satisfactory clarity, except-

"Running." She whispered hoarsely, "Lots of running. To or from something, I do not know, whether under duress or of my own free will, simply...running.

"Lots of red. I am most often running surrounded by red." She shook her head, "But that is all I can readily pull from them of my own volition." 3

Lots of red. Couple that with the fact that she'd admitted to him being in her dreams as well, and it wasn't hard for Hiei to guess at the setting for most of her dreams. "Red is the dominant color of the Ninth Level of Demon World, where we spent a lot of our time." He could see the difference that idle chatter made for her, and he continued it easily. "We ran from level to level, and around the Ninth Level quite a bit. It's where we escaped Queen Rae and…" What was his name? "Her prince." That will have to do. "With the aide of Uryo, might I add."

~!**!~

"I'm always happy to boost someone's ego," she replied with no small amount of humor in her eyes. And then she noted his nose in the air, though she did not repeat the action for her own self. I… Chase? She gave a sigh.

"It isn't working I suppose," she said with a shrug before giving a small smirk. "Why not?" *

"Slight catch..." He lifted a single finger, his form starting to blur, and before he left the layer entirely he said, "You're chasing me through layers."

As he started falling, or rather folding, the next layer around himself, he went ahead and took off running in the same direction they had been traveling, giving Akari only a single glance behind.

~!**!~

She appeared slightly crestfallen when he mentioned names and she pulled nothing from her memories-her dreams.

She shook her head, "Did she...did I know many people?" 3

"Many more than I did. Then again, that level, I believe, was of your home." Hiei shifted a bit, uncrossing his arms and instead crossing his fingers behind his head, his eyelids sliding shut all over again. "Then again, you are vastly different from myself. Where you thrived among others, I did not."

~!**!~

Akari paused and gave a raised brow. "I'm wha-" she gave a small sound of confusion. "Why would-" and then he was taking off, his image blurring even as he ran down the sidewalk. And, suddenly, she was thinking many months back, blinking away an image of Foko playing this very game, though obviously not in this manner.

"You're a child." she grumbled with a small sigh that, without her notice, ended with the turning up of her lips. "Fine, I'll play along."

Her feet began moving towards where he'd disappeared, her own image blurring from one layer to the next while her eyes searched not only for Youko, but also for his shadow.

Because, quite frankly, she liked to cheat at games. *

When he felt her sliding into the next layer behind him, he left that layer completely and wrapped himself in another, making sure she would at least sense which direction he was going before completely disappeared from it.

Though if she was anything like himself, he knew she would be able to see him no matter what layer he waded into, just as long as he ran slow enough for her to keep up.

~!**!~

Home.

She had such a place? Somewhere she had been born?

...it was all very strange, having a past and knowing nothing of it.

How am I supposed to act when I know nothing of what I did before?

Who am I?

"Then...why did you stay with me?" 3

Here, Hiei did hesitate a moment. Why? It was such an easy question, and he had the answer as soon as she'd asked, but… SImply saying it was a Champion's job did not seem like enough of a reason. He'd… enjoyed his time with her, despite the times she'd drove him almost into wanting to strangle her. Still..

"It's a Champion's job to watch over their Ward." He said anyway, giving a shrug. "And frankly, Demon World was rather entertaining." Again, he paused. Hesitated. When exactly did he start to hesitate when she was concerned? "The company was... intriguing." To say the least…

~!**!~

Akari traversed from the first to the second layers, eyes transfixed on Youko even as she ran, even as she followed him to the next layer, never having enough time to use her energy to her advantage. Not that that was surprising, in the least. She grumbled intangibly to herself as she made another attempt to get her sights on his shadow, and again was unable to do so.

Though, she was thoroughly amused that the actual fox thief enjoyed this game. *

Youko never faltered, never paused, never did anything other than maintain his pace, which kept him far enough away from Akari to keep himself out of trouble.

He easily traversed two more layers, but did not commit to the last one, staying in the midst of five and six, in that inbetween place that meant he did not actually exist in one or the other.

It was in fact darker down here, time having passed on into evening, and Youko consulted his internal direction system for the final place he meant to lead her.

~!**!~

"My company? Or others?" She didn't really understand why he wouldn't have just up and left if she had led him to places he didn't enjoy, though he seemed to indicate to her that it was his work ethic that forced him to stick around, being someone who left no job unfinished.

Is that why he had not giving up on searching for her? Even...how long did he say?...six months later? 3

Hiei raised a single brow, but didn't open his eyes to view Shikiyoku. "Yours, mainly." he admitted without pause, "though there were a few others. I'm not one for crowds." Or others, really. He took in a long breath through his nostrils, easily able to distinguish Shikiyoku's scent now that he'd become more aware of it. It would become handy later, he supposed, if she went on another one of her escapades.

~!**!~

Akari followed through the layers, landing on the sixth and continuing to follow after Youko, realizing that he had no shadow, and no absolute form. She blinked to herself as she ran, and then growled when she realized what he'd done. "How in the hell did you manage to do that?" she called after him. Stupid cheating fox. *

"Hm?" His voice sounded distorted, only floating on half the air from the sixth level, more in the "inbetween place" as he had taken to calling it. Youko glanced back at her over his shoulder, his hair and tail streaming behind him with his pace. He could easily see her form existing on the sixth level.

"Oh. I only do it to confound chasing pups, really." He looked back forward and kept moving.

~!**!~

His response led her to a question she felt she had been searching for since he had caught her falling to the floor, and for the first time in the whole conversation, she felt...anxious about the answer.

Anxious was not quite the right word. Eager? No, too much in the other direction.

"Did she..." She shook her head slightly and huffed a grunt as she scooted up onto the bed with only a slight struggle to sit criss-cross.

Feeding or sleeping, which do you prefer?

Find myself.

She scratched at the scar on her right brow, the one that curved down her entire face and stopped only after passing over her lips, and then dropped the hand back into her lap.

"Did I love you?" 3

This time, Hiei's eyes slid open to regard the female on the bed with an expressionless mask. How was he supposed to know that answer? He hadn't the first inkling of what many called love, and thus really held no answer-

Well, except the note she'd had passed along with his belongings, but it hadn't been a direct thing. And, actually…

He shifted about, his hands coming out from behind his head and reaching into a pocket, fishing out the folded up sheet of paper and tossing it over to her, deciding to give no verbal answer.

Because, really, only she knew the answer to that.

~!**!~

Akari had to struggle to catch the words that just barely reached her ears, had to struggle to make sense of them for a moment before she ended up huffing at him. You and Kurama both. Their odd desire to taunt and mock her seemed one and the same, no matter which one of them it was.

And it was the most irritating-

"You're lucky that doing that erases your shadow, otherwise I would have dropped you into a dimension of my own devising and left you there for however long I saw fit. No matter whether or not Kurama had a mother to return to." And, quite frankly, she meant every word. *

"Oh?" Youko replied archly, "And you did not first think that perhaps it was the very reason why I did so?"

His next words sounded bored, though he was grinning viciously.

"Do try to keep up, pup."

~!**!~

She picked the note up from her lap, unsure of his silence at first, and unfolded it, taking note of how well it had been kept.

She struggled at first to concentrate enough that the kanji made sense, her mind resisting the knowledge. Finally the symbols unjumbled themselves.

With all my love

~S

S. Was that her?

Me?

Had she not told this demon that she loved him? What would her motivation behind doing so be?

Her eyes looked up and around the room, searching for something, but not finding it.

With purpose, she gathered strength and scooted back until she was against the wall at the top of the bed, breath starting to come more quickly with the effort.

She leaned over and pulled open the drawer of the bedside table, eyes alighting on what she wished to find.

Picking up the pencil, she began copying the words on the front of the note to the back, flipping the sheet back and forth to take note of how the symbols were written with a concentrated expression before using her knee as a desk and writing slowly until she was satisfied with the result.

They looked...the writing looked...very much the same, she decided.

She sat back against the wall and stared down at the note still laying against her leg, pencil held loosely in one hand that had fallen on top of the bed next to her after she finished.

Funny how amidst everything else she had forgotten, she knew what it meant to love. Surprising to consider that she felt most certainly that she could still do so, if given the chance.

But did I love him?

She didn't look up at him, starting to struggle to stay awake.

"Is this-" She lifted the note in her other hand, "Am I 'S'?" 3

Hiei watched almost curiously as Shikiyoku rummaged around, first shifting the way she sat and then rummaging through a drawer, only sitting back when she had a pencil in hand and was scrawling- albeit a bit slowly- on the flipside of the paper he'd given her.

He'd kept it with him because it had held her scent for a while. And, quite frankly, he didn't simply want to throw it away. Not when it was a reminder that she'd been alive after the bond had dissipated. It had, in a way, driven him further to hunting her down despite her last words to him.

Or, rather, next to last words to him, though he hadn't caught the last thing she'd said.

Nor had he lingered on it.

Shikiyoku pulled him from his thoughts, bringing his calm eyes up to meet hers, followed by surveying the note. He merely nodded once. "Shikiyoku."

~!**!~

"You know, dropping you into the dimension sounds more and more satisfying the more you talk." Akari's words held an underlying growl to them, her irritation peaking as she pushed her legs to go faster, to make a better attempt at keeping up with the demon in hopes that she would figure out how to do what he was currently doing, and then do as she threatened to do.

The mere thought was satisfying.

"You can't stay in there forever." *

Youko almost made a sound meant to reprimand her as he felt her speeding up, keeping himself the same distance from her by simply matching her speed.

"I can stay in here longer than you. That will have to do for now." He sounded smug. His travels through the layers had been going on every day since he and his counterpart had become two fully separate consciousnesses and he had become quite proficient at a good many things regarded the transition between them.

They were getting close now.

~!**!~

Shiki...yoku.

She looked at the 'S' again, lowering her hand to consider the name behind it.

"Shiki...yoku." She tried it. She hadn't particularly thought of herself as anyone. She couldn't remember having a name. He had said this before to her though, yes? Since he had arrived?

Her eyes closed, feeling heavy, and her voice lowered, "Why did you find me?" Her chin started to sink towards her chest as she fell closer to slumber. 3

Hiei's brow raised only slightly before he regained control over his mask. The sound of her repeating her own name was odd, as if she were a child hearing her name for the first time and learning to speak the syllables presented to her.

And, really, he wasn't sure how to answer her question. Why? Because you're Shikiyoku. Because you were causing trouble. Because I was once your Champion. Because...

There could have been an entire list had he gone on and on. And really, none of them seemed to suffice for a proper answer. So, he countered her question.

"Why did you stop running?"

~!**!~

"You know, I like the redhead better." She commented when she noted the fox easily matching her speed, keeping the distance between them ever-the-same despite her efforts. She fell quiet, eyes staying trained on the kitsune's blurred visage, taking in the way that despite the inbetween layer he was in, she could still make out the individual strands of hair that were affected by his speed.

She made a sound of amusement to herself as another thought passed, but she dismissed it just as quickly. *

"Well, he likes you too." Youko replied with petulance.

{Youko.}

[Using that warning tone of voice with me does nothing you know.]

{I know, but it makes me feel better.}

Youko did begin to slow, making sure the speed reduction was measured enough that Akari would not be hindered behind.

Night time was almost upon them, the sun fading quickly into twilight over the trees.

He had brought her to a meadow, plain and grassy and wide and unadorned, open and free, and he finally came to a stop once in the midst of it, but remained wrapped between layers, turning to see her approach.

~!**!~

She had not fallen unconscious quite yet, though her eyes were closed and her head nodding a little, but in the middle of the waking and sleeping world, her dreams-her memories-started to drift past her with odd clarity and she became in those moments more like herself, more like Shikiyoku, than she had in over a decade.

Why did you stop running?

"Because-" She murmured, "-because I wanted you to find me. I stopped running a long time ago, but I had forgotten why. I saw you...today. And that's when I remembered." 3

Hiei wasn't aware of it, but his own expression shifted to a calmer one, an almost… softer one as she began to fall asleep, though continued talking. He became aware of the fact that this sounded more like the Shikiyoku he had once known, and her words… they brought about a sort of peace to his core that he hadn't known in a long while.

"Perhaps you should remember this, then." His own words were murmured, as if afraid he'd keep her from sleep. "Remember how it feels to remember." He paused, a line coming to mind that he gave no hesitation in speaking. "'Do what you're capable, and leave the rest to me.'"

~!**!~

"Yes, he's told me," Akari replied under her breath as she slowed a bit, frowning when she realized he was slowing but not leaving his in-between state. But, quite frankly, I'm not sure to what degree.

Where on earth did that come from?

Akari came to a calm meander when she noticed Youko had stopped in the middle of a field, her eyes looking about the calm area. She'd suspected he wanted to lead her somewhere, but… here?

She turned to him with a raised brow of curiosity. While the meadow was peaceful, she wasn't sure what he was thinking. *

He only stood long enough to make sure she wasn't going anywhere else, then he plopped down onto the ground without further ceremony, laying on his stomach.

His legs were bent at the knees so that they occasionally kicked idly in the air even as he crossed them at the ankles, and he held himself up with his elbows, one arm firmly on the ground to help prop him up, underneath where his chest was lifted, the other hand reaching out to pluck a stem from nearby before he set the elbow onto the grass and twirled the plant in front of his face.

Once settled, his hair flowed like so much water over his shoulders and down his back, some of it long enough to make rivlets in the grass next to him.

He took a deep breath, staying right where he was between layer five and six.

He wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't drop him in his own shadow if he gave her half a chance.

~!**!~

"As you wish, my Champion." Came her soft reply.

"Hiei." Shikiyoku breathed his name after a moment of silence, a small smile on her lips and full recognition behind the use of it, and she paused before going on to revel in that fact.

"You're a strange demon. Has anyone ever told you that?" 3

Hiei felt his lips give the smallest of twitches before his expression was once again a genuine calm one, riddled only with slight amusement at her words. "Only here and there." he replied calmly, still watching her, recognizing that she was speaking to him as if she remembered everything that had happened.

~!**!~

As soon as Youko was comfortable in the grass, Akari gave a small sigh and made to join him, taking to sitting about a foot in front of him and watching the way his slender fingers toyed with the stem in his hand. And his staying between the layers was not lost on her; it even brought an amused smile to her lips. "I'm not going to drop you through your shadow." she admitted with a restrained laugh as she crossed her legs beneath herself and took to looking around the meadow instead of at him. "As tempting as it may be…" *

He gave her a candid look. "You'll have to forgive me if I decide for myself when it is safe. We're not an easily trusting breed."

His gaze lifted with a reserved excitement as the sun finally started to disappear entirely and the whole sky, the whole meadow, seemed to hold its breath.

And when the stars above were just able to be seen, the field around them burst silently into bloom, stems unfolding to reveal that they had been hiding a particular type of flower that uncurled and glowed in the night, a soft bluish-green.

Youko said nothing, the stem in his hand acting like its brethren and unraveling as well, even as he gave it another twirl and then lifted his arm on the ground to rest his face in that hand as he watched it.

~!**!~

"I miss you." Her core ached with the truthfulness of the admission and her smile disappeared, though its effects on her face lingered, leaving behind the echo of its existence by peeling away some of the severity of her expression.

"It seemed like an eternity..." Her voice wandered off only to barely come back "...so much happened." 3

Hiei blinked once at Shikiyoku, his expression never changing and his eyes continuing to follow her movements, as few as they were at this point. "I'm not going anywhere," he stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the entire planet. "Much can happen to a person in a decade," he said slowly, indirectly inviting her to talk about it, but not saying it was a requirement. He would listen should she speak, and and stay should she not. Either way, he wasn't leaving any time soon.

~!**!~

Akari hadn't been paying too much attention to the time of day, or the different blades of grass in the meadow or anything of the sort. She'd simply been sitting, drinking in the fresh air and the serenity of the area when it suddenly burst to life. She gave a start as darkness was thrown away by the soft glow of the flowers that opened up all around her, their color radiant and beautiful. She wasn't aware of it, but her jaw fell open and her eyes widened as she took in the changes going on around her, her eyes turning down when she noticed a flower rather close to her unfurling its petals and tossing its glow up at her.

And for the first time in a very long time- six months, to be exact- she was rendered speechless. And the only thing she found she could do was reach out and run a finger along the petals of the nearby flowers before turning her amazed gaze up at Youko. *

When he'd sensed her distraction, her amazement, Youko relaxed and let his body settle onto the sixth layer, watching her happiness bloom in front of him like the flowers around him he meant for her to witness.

And when she looked at him, he only smiled that same small, mysterious smile that embodied him so perfectly.

{Well done.}

~!**!~

"I…" Shikiyoku appeared reluctant when she remembered their parting, felt amusement at how she had taken out her anger on the poor mountain whom she blamed for separating them. "I was lost. I don't know how long." Mentally, physically. Lost.

"You say only ten years? It felt like a hundred. It had to be a thousand. I-"

She remembered first seeking out Renai, to give herself up to his mate, the instigator of the entire situation that had started with her meeting Otento as Toriko so long ago. And instead of submitting, learning how to take on the aspect of pain and render herself useless. And also...the bond...useless.

"I need a Consort." She mumbled more quickly than her previous words, suddenly remembering and feeling her body fall deeper into sleep where she would not be able to talk to him, and not remember him when she awoke. "I...I am...stuck and-"

Relax. Everything is okay now. Everything will be okay.

She let her body sink a little more.

One last thing.

Shikiyoku fought the sleep off and licked her lips, parting them for the 'one last thing.'

"Don't forget me.

"...I love you."

If he answered her, she could not hear it, for after saying as much she fell beyond the waking world into sleep.

And not a blissful one, for her sense of self left her almost instantly and her dreams became haunting once more, nightmares that her body twitched within for she did not understand them.

Her hand clutched at the note he had tossed her.

She was running. And everything was red. 3

Hiei didn't respond to Shikiyoku, because really, he wasn't sure what to say. To any of it. He had no idea what a Consort was. And, it was obvious he wouldn't forget her. He'd already proven that, hadn't he? And as for…

"I love you."

It…

"Don't forget me…. I love you."

He..

She'd said that to him then. She hadn't told him to forget, she'd told him not to forget. And, those words he hadn't made out, those words that she'd tried to say that had come out muddled in his mind, come across weak and insensible, had been words he still didn't know how to respond to.

Luckily for him, she didn't seem to wait for a response. Instead, her mind was consumed with images that made her body twitch, her muscles jerk here and there as she again ran from whatever dreams she had.

His energy swept across the room, expanding enough to envelop the bedroom in warmth as if from a nearby campfire. Harmless, and meant to keep one warm. His Jagan swept across Shikiyoku's mind, presenting nothing but the peaceful blankness his own mind had become.

Perhaps… Maybe, helping her rest would be beneficial. Perhaps he could pull her back, just this once. And if not…

He'd figure it out, just as he'd said he would.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes left Youko as insects took flight from the grass and flowers, some full of colors, some too small to know if they even had color, and some… blinking with light that mirrored the color of the flowers that had bloomed. Her eyes followed the nearest insect that winked at her with its glow, her mouth finally closing and her lips pulling into a calm, fascinated smile as it hovered before her eyes, then took off and flew over her head.

She'd… never seen anything like this before.

"...thank you," she finally whispered, eyes still following the small insects that continued to rise into the air before falling down to take in the amount of flowers again, appreciating their soft glow. *

He had a dozen speeches prepared, a dozen different ways in which he was going to expound prolifically on how he, how they, had planted the meadow nearly eleven months before, how this was the first time it had ever bloomed, that she should feel privileged to be among the first to witness the results of his labor, but-

But at being enveloped by her joy which nearly radiated off of her seated form, Youko found himself staring more at her then at the beauty of the field around them.

{It seems the silver-tail has lost his silver-tongue.}

[Oh, hush you.]

{Well done, indeed.}

~!**!~

Not all at once, but slowly she felt pulled away from the dreams she didn't understand to a darkness which did not feel quite so unfamiliar. And, a strange thing, the darkness felt warm and comforting, hiding her from the view of the dreams which, the memories which-

"Hiei." She curled up in the middle of the darkness and relaxed, ignoring whatever colors or scenes of blurred trees or walls that threatened to pull her back under.

When she would awaken, she knew she would be driven by hunger, a hunger that even in her sleep she could feel growing steadily more powerful, fueled by her fever, by her sickness, in a way she could not control.

For now, though...she would remain blissfully unaware as best she could, drifting among the deeper parts of sleep inside the bubble of calm. 3

Hiei sat back- when he'd hunched forward, he didn't know- and rested his head against the wall again, inspecting the way Shikiyoku's body continued to twitch and move for a few more minutes, every ounce of his energy enveloping the room now without his direct notice. His energy seemed to wrap about Shikiyoku, the Jagan remaining locked on her mind even when his own eyes slid closed.

He wasn't threatened by sleep until he heard the shift in her breathing, heard it turn from short, panicked breaths to deep, calm ones as whatever nightmares she had were lifted.

He didn't know how long it would last, but for now, at least, she would have a reprieve.

And for the first time in eleven months, Hiei himself slipped into a dreamless sleep.

~!**!~

The soft glow in the meadow almost seemed to warm her to her very soul, as if the flowers that had opened up for her eyes to see were speaking words of peace to her. Their color was joyous, a color Akari had always deemed her favorite. So, it was almost impossible for her to turn her eyes away from the flowers and to the golden gaze that reflected the light just a little, to the person whose hair, ears, and even tail seemed to glow the very same color, shining almost brighter than the rest.

Normally, by now, she would have said something… snide or… sarcastic, but really, she couldn't find anything of the sort to say. So she settled for her thoughts on the location he'd lead her to.

"This is absolutely… beautiful." Her eyes again turned to the flowers near her crossed legs, a hand again reaching out to just touch, hardly even brush the petals with an index finger. *

Youko still did not say anything, as he felt he might break whatever spell he had accidently woven around the two of them in the meadow that night.

Instead, he made a small gesture towards her, with the hand that held the flower he had plucked, intending for her to take it from him.

He slowly moved until he was seated, mostly still watching her reaction, but now and again gathering a flower into his hand from here or there near him, his movements slow and measured as if picking only certain ones that he thought were the largest or shining the brightest.

~!**!~

When she awoke, she found that she had at some point during her sleep slipped off the wall and lay on her side on her bed, curled up until she was very small.

As she sat up, arms almost shaking with the effort, she heard a small crinkle and her eyes moved to the piece of paper still in hand. Sitting back on her feet, she opened it again, looked at the words again, and then turned the paper over to where she remembered copying those words down. 3

Hiei's ears twitched slightly as movement somewhere near him pulled his mind from the sleeping world out of pure reflex, his mind awake even before the sound of crinkling paper brought his eyelids open to look about the room calmly. He'd almost forgotten where he was. Almost left as soon as his mind had become aware of movement.

Instead, he'd stayed for reasons that he understood only after waking and his eyes laying sights on the female sitting up on the bed now, eyes down on a paper in her hands. He didn't say anything, merely watched, observing how she reacted to her surroundings and the note in her hand.

~!**!~

Akari caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her gleaming gaze up to the fox again, hand still lightly fiddling with the glower nearest her ankles even as she eyed the flower he extended to her. She felt her smile widen just a touch as she leaned forward and reached for the outstretched offer, her fingers curling around the thornless stem carefully, as if afraid it would break under her touch.

When he didn't retract the offer, she plucked it from Youko's grasp and lifted the flower to her nose, curious of its scent. She took a small whiff of the flower, the scent teasing her nose and the petals reacting as if she'd sniffed harshly at the air about them, curling inward slightly and just brushing her nose. She gave a small sound of amusement and another experimental sniff, finding the scent pleasing, but… indescribable. At least, to her it was as such.

Finally, she looked up at Youko, and her eyes stayed steadily focused on him. "Did, uh, you do this?" *

He nodded, paying little attention to how the glow was being reflected by his light-colored clothing, bathing him in a bluish-green light, and also not looking up from his work.

Youko had a good many flowers gathered now, and he had taken to weaving their stems together until their form became most obviously a crown, which when finished he lifted up to inspect for weak points, then leaned over without ceremony and gently crowned Akari with, taking only a moment to see how the flowers lit her copper hair in the darkness before turning back down to the rest of the pile in his lap and beginning again.3

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