Yu Yu Hakusho: An Alternate Reality

by Last of the Star Makers

What if Shinobu Sensui had one more bad guy? And what if Kurama's classmate got caught up in the whole saving the world mess? Starting in the midst of the Chapter Black Saga, Episode 73 of the anime, join CrisicMelody and Star's on-going roleplay full of action, adventure, and a little romance along the way. There's probably gonna be fun too. We think so. AU. OC/Kurama, OC/Hiei.

153. Episode 237

A/N: 'nother "chapter," as it were. Continues right where the last one left off.

Symbols Guide:

* : Written by CM; She writes primarily 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 primarily for 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.

(Words in italics and within parenthesis is dialogue between Hiei and Shikiyoku via the bond between them after Hiei became Shikiyoku's Consort. As soon as the 'thought' occurs, it can pass between them, and does not actually have to be formed into exact words-feelings and sensations can pass through as well-in order to be picked up and the meaning translated immediately by the other. For the sake of the coherence by the reader, words and sentences are used as normal. It cannot 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).

The Nabu Exception also applies to anyone when they are in an animal form, if the dialogue is in italics and quotations, unless stated otherwise.

---

"Ah, but there is a whole world of difference between you and I." She quipped, pointing at him with her spoon. "And if you think for an instant that I am not the luckiest so-called Queen alive to have you as my Consort, then you haven't been listening to me and my supposed truth-telling all these years after all, I'm afraid."

She leaned back in her chair after a moment and attended further to her bowl. 3

"Perhaps that world of difference is why it's so enjoyable to be your Consort," Hiei retorted just as quickly as she had replied to him. "As for you being the luckiest…" he dipped his spoon back into his bowl, not looking up at her but most definitely still smirking, "I would not mind hearing it again."

He peered at her from under his lashes with gleaming eyes and a teasing smirk. *

Shikiyoku pushed things around in her bowl for a moment as he spoke, her brows lifting again before glancing up to see him watching her.

"You just did."

She let her spoon rest in her bowl.

"But since you're admitting as much." She raised her head and leaned forward in his direction, reaching up with her free hand to rest her fingers beneath his chin so that he might look her in the eyes as she stared intently at him. "It is I who am the luckiest of all." 3

Hiei gave a little chuckle to himself at her initial response, and was turning back to his bowl until the sound of her spoon resting in her own bowl gave him pause. He looked up again, this time lifting his chin so he could fully see her, and he watched as she leaned across the table and coaxed him to come a little further forward in his chair.

He didn't mind following her direction, nor did he mind the gaze that held his or the words that fell from her lips in a purposeful manner.

His teasing smile melted into a calmer one that spoke of his fondness for her.

"And here I thought myself to be the luckiest." He held his spoon in her direction, offering a portion of his sweet snow and strawberries to her. "Perhaps, once again, we must agree to disagree." *

Her eyes flickered over to the offered bite and she let her thumb gently stroke the bottom of his jawline once before beginning to lower her hand back to her side.

She leaned forward the last bit of distance needed to take the bite from him. 3

Had he thought of it sooner, Hiei would have reached for the hand that retreated from his skin and fell back to her side. Instead, he watched Shikiyoku as she took the bite that he offered to her.

""In any case, I consider myself the luckiest of the cursed." When she pulled away from his spoon, he briefly bopped it to her nose before he dipped it into his bowl for another bite of his own. His smile softened some more. "I suppose I can't really count myself as cursed now that I've got such fortune on my side." *

Her eyes narrowed a little, if playfully, at him as he used the word, leaning back away from him and squinting a little as the spoon made contact with her skin.

"I think you underestimate yourself." She shook her head a little. "As I have said before, you are most certainly not and never were cursed." 3

Hiei slid the spoon between his lips and he took his time in savoring the sweet and tangy flavors there. His eyes stared thoughtfully at Shikiyoku, taking in her expression and the way her hair ruffled about her ears as she shook her head. He took yet another bite from his bowl, never looking away from her as he considered her.

A memory briefly washed over him, encompassing him in the surprise he had felt when he had heard her on the roof with Taka one night, and how she'd said as much when she thought he hadn't been listening.

And after all of this time, she had yet to change her mind on such a topic.

Miraculous. Out of all the beings in the world, perhaps this is the only one who may think as such from the very first day.

"Your capacity for love astounds me." He turned down to his bowl and poked its contents around in search of a strawberry chunk. He didn't rightfully know what love was, but if he were to find a definition, he was sure she would be a part of it in some way.

And perhaps she was teaching him more and more each day. *

Shikiyoku, having looked back down at her sweet snow and engaging with it once again, blushed abruptly at his statement, for a moment pushing around the pieces of shaved chocolate.

"I-..." Her eyes shifted to the side, avoiding everything, "...-don't know what you're talking about."

That's ridiculous. 3

A frown touched Hiei's features for the briefest of moments, having found no strawberries in his bowl, and he took the last two bites before Shikiyoku's response finally filled the air. It drew his eyes upward to stare at her reddened cheeks and the way her eyes were pointed away.

And the bond hummed with something he didn't quite have a word for.

A puff of air came from him in the form of a short chuckle. "I think you underestimate yourself." He worked on cleaning the last of the sweet treat from his bowl. *

She let out a huff of air in acknowledgement of his twisting her words back at her.

"We know not of such things." She murmured mostly to herself as she brought her spoon to her mouth one last time. 3

"I can't imagine what else it could be." He set his bowl onto the table and sat back in his chair, and he let his eyes remain on her as it had earlier at dinner. "I used to think it a weakness to have a feeling such as 'love' for another person or thing. After all, the humans say it's blinding." He shrugged.

"You've shown me otherwise. It gives you your strength in your day to day life." *

"..."

Shikiyoku's fingers fiddled with her bowl, and she had no answer for him.

Part of her completely understood, completely agreed. But that was the part of her that was her heritage, a small voice that had not been cultivated by her family as it might have been if she had not had to escape the horror that had been the decimation of her bloodline.

The more dominant part of her, the one that had intimately experienced how dreadful demons could and would treat one another, kept her voice, for the moment, silent. 3

The bond settled into the same silence that fell between himself and his date, and Hiei let himself remain within that silence, contemplating his more recent thoughts. Never before had he actually had the chance to simply sit and enjoy his time with Shikiyoku in the way they were currently doing. Never before had he allowed himself to lower his guard so much. And, he realized, he'd never really given himself the option of being so open and honest with the woman he'd been running around with for so long.

Sure, he'd started telling her that he wanted her as his Mate. But, really, he'd never fully sat and thought about the different reasons for that want, much less admitted them to himself or her.

He turned his eyes away to survey the empty tables around them, his mind occupied with this date and how fun he felt it to be. Was she having fun too? When he glanced at her again, he didn't see any discomfort or dislike for where they were and what he was leading her around for.

He thought about the dress sitting on her bed back at the house and the party that was to come, the dancing and the music that he'd lined up for the evening. Part of him worried that she wouldn't enjoy it, that she'd see it as too similar to their time at Rae's palace where they didn't have the choice to join in or do it for their own amusement.

Than again, she surely wouldn't do something she didn't want to do. If she didn't like it, he'd happily let her decide what to do next.

Hiei's lips stretched into a calm smile again as Shikiyoku finished her sweet snow. He slid his chair back and stood, then moved to stand beside Shikiyoku's chair. He offered her his hand in the same manner he hoped he'd get to do later at the dance.

"If you're ready, there's one more event I have planned for us tonight." *

Shikiyoku did not find the silence that grew between them to be any sort of uncomfortable, though she genuinely found herself refusing to dwell on the subject at hand, turning her thoughts away from ideas of this so-called 'love' to which Hiei referred, and turning her attention to the stracciatella and the final bites of it.

Hearing Hiei's chair move back, she looked up at him, picked up her trash and gathered herself to her feet, without thought placing her hand in his when he offered.

His statement had her staring at him in speechlessness for a pause before she managed, "Of course."

She gave a wry grin, "Is there no end to your surprises, Hiei?" 3

Hiei didn't miss the pause Shiki had, but when she agreed to the idea of the event, he realized that it wasn't the sort of pause that meant she wasn't looking forward to what was to come. If anything, he thought she looked surprised, which was only confirmed with her next words.

The fire demon gathered his trash in his free hand and he took her trash from her, combining it with his own so that when he began to lead her towards home again, he could throw it away for her.

"If I ever run out of them, I'll let you know," he replied smoothly, realizing that he had begun to surprise even himself where she was concerned.

~!**!~

"I'm clocking out, miss Hanase," Hana called from the front of the shop. Akari, standing just on the other side of the door to the back room, poked her head into the room and gave a small smile. "Thank you for your work today. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes ma'am," the girl replied as she tapped away on the register, finalizing her clock out time. Akari turned back to the rag on the counter and continued to clean up the coffee she had spilled.

The bell above the front door jingled and Akari immediately dropped the cloth again, making mental note to toss it in the little cart by the door to wash later. She glanced at Ryouta, noticing the stock he had sitting on the countertops as she made her way to the front.

"Welcome to the Corner Cafe," she greeted the couple.

The pair looked away from the chalkboard menu long enough to say a quick hello before they returned to their options, and Akari made herself available behind the barista bar, cleaning up mild little spots here and there on the machine. The woman stepped up first, "I'd like a caramel frappuccino please."

Akari met her gaze with a smile. "What size?"

"Medium. And can I get a muffin too? Warmed up please."

"Sure thing." Akari pulled a medium plastic cup from the stack of cups and wrote a little 'cf' in black marker on it. "For you, sir?"

The man stepped forward, wallet in hand, and continued to look over the menu. "I want a warmed croissant, for sure." Akari nodded and turned to pull the two treats from the fridge below the counter. While the customer contemplated his drink choices, Akari set the muffin on one plate and the croissant in another, and placed each item in a separate microwave for different times. When she turned back to the customer, he turned his eyes to a machine behind her. "I'd also like a large green tea with a little honey."

Akari grabbed the appropriate size cup and wrote the letters 'gt' and 'h' in marker, and set it next to the medium cup on the counter. "Of course. Anything else today?"

"No, I think that's it."

She met him at the register and he paid. "Feel free to sit anywhere, I'll let you know when it's ready." The woman thanked her, and Akari turned to the orders.

Quietly humming to herself, she started the shot of espresso for the frapp, turned to start the green tea, and then shuffled her way to the back with the plastic cup in her hand to grab some ice for the frozen drink.

She shoveled what she needed from the machine and returned to the front where she poured the ice into the blender and set the cup on the counter. She added the caramel and the cream, and when she hit the button to start the blender, she was met with the sound of the ice being crushed.

She turned her back on the machines and checked the muffin and croissant, finding they hadn't warmed quite enough, and she added thirty seconds to both microwave.

Suddenly, everything stopped working. The blender shut down, the microwave went dark and its cooking time disappeared, and the teapot's water stopped its simmering. Confused, she stood upright again and pressed the button to add time to the microwave again.

When that didn't work, she tried again on the second one.

She continued down the line, realizing that every single appliance in that area no longer worked.

She frowned and planted her hands on her hips. *

~!**!~

Hand firmly in his, Shikiyoku laughed pleasantly at his answer as he began to lead her away once more.

"Be sure that you do. I will want to take note of such a turn of events as I feel it will be of great significance." 3

Shikiyoku's laughter sang in the bond just as loudly as it did in the air around him, making the fire demon's own lips stretch into a smile wider than any other before it. He wanted to have a retort, some sort of witty response, but he found himself too wrapped up in the laughter she had had to think of much else.

So he lead her home with a smile on his lips and his eyes hardly ever leaving her face, as if he might commit this moment to his memory for the rest of his life.

And then he remembered she had no idea what was coming next, and he squeezed her hand in his own excitement to see her reaction to the next surprise.

When they finally reached the front door, he guided her in first with their linked hands and followed her inside. Just as quietly, he lead her up the stairs and towards what was Toriko's room.

When he opened the door, his eyes immediately fell on the emerald green dress that was carefully laid out on the bed and the green and silver heels that were situated under the nightstand. For a moment, he remembered the many shops he'd visited before finding this dress, and he turned to Shikiyoku with a proud little smile; he'd found the best one in all of the city.

"We're going out. Would you wear this?" He stepped closer to the dress for a moment, half worried she'd say no. "Please?" Before she could answer he turned and gestured with their linked hands to a black velvet box sitting open on the nightstand next to the bed. He eyed the necklace and earring combo, suddenly realizing it might be too much for the collar of the dress he'd chosen. "And don't worry too much if the necklace is too showy; use your judgement on that…"

~!**!~

Akari stared at the line of appliances as if that would make them suddenly work again, her frown slowly deepening when that did not immediately resolve her issues. Confused, she tried starting a few of them again, and when that didn't work, she glanced at the waiting customers. She waited until they weren't paying her any attention before she slipped to the back room, where Ryouta was standing at a panel in the wall, its door open and revealing the different switches.

"Ryouta, I'm not sure what happened, but I can't get the machines to work."

The raven nodded without looking at her, his eyes reading the paper taped to the inside of the metal door and one hand hovering thoughtfully over the switches. "It's probably a blown breaker," he finally said as he began to flip a couple of the switches.

He turned his head to the side, pointing his ear towards Akari and the room behind her. She watched as he frowned, not really sure what he was doing or why.

After a moment, he flipped the two switches one more time, and instead of turning his ear towards Akari, he instead turned to look at her. He raised a brow at her as if only just realizing that she was there. "...yes?"

Akari, feeling anxious, waved her hands in front of her. "I'm waiting on you to fix it." She dropped her hands to her sides and took to a little bounce instead. "I have people waiting for food and drinks."

He shut the metal door and finally turned to face her. "I can't."

"What do you mean? You fix everything!"

Ryouta took a deep breath. "I appreciate your confidence in me, but I assure you: this is way out of my paygrade."

Akari's frown deepened and she turned to look at the door to the front of the cafe. She'd never had to tell customers that their order wasn't able to be made before. She didn't even know how to solve this situation.

"Well, who can fix it?" she suddenly asked.

Ryouta blinked and finally gave in to the urge to rub the bridge of his nose while Akari wasn't looking. "Typically, an electrician."

"Ok…?"

"It's not going to be fixed today."

Akari's head whipped around and she stared at him with wide eyes. "So I really can't serve the customers that have already paid?" When Ryouta only stared at her, she huffed and turned to make her way to the front again, unsure of how to fix the problem.

She shuffled her way to the register and began to look through its prompts, looking for something, anything that might give her some idea of how to fix the issue without disappointing or upsetting her customers.

She pressed buttons until the refund option popped on the screen, and the demoness gave a small sigh to herself, a mix between relief and frustration. She glanced over at the espresso machine, noticing its lights still on.

Two options, she thought as she turned to shuffle around the counter and towards the customers. *

~!**!~

Finding herself smitten with him, with his smile, with his everything in those following moments, Shikiyoku hadn't the faintest idea what to expect of him next, finally finding somewhere the freedom to embrace the sensation of 'not knowing' and passing control over to Hiei as he lead her back home, beginning to grow excited at the possibility of whatever he might have planned for next.

The extravagance with which her eyes were met upon entering the bedroom made Shikiyoku catch her breath as she took in the sight of the emerald green, beaded, formal mermaid gown, the heeled shoes nearby that were a carefully chosen match, and the set of exquisite jewelry on the nightstand that seemed to be another extension of the intent of the two, obviously handcrafted by the hybrid demon himself, if not for the specific occasion itself then at least hand-picked to match.

She had certainly not worn anything like it in years, if not decades.

She breathed his name almost reverently in the moments following his words, eyes still taken with the scene, "Hiei...it...it's beautiful." 3

Hiei waited for her reaction in silence, part of him worried that it was all too much and the other excited for her reaction. For some reason he didn't understand, he found himself wanting to keep talking, to fill the silence as she looked at the outfit and accessories.

But when she finally murmured his name and he recognized the bond's telling him of her speechless, breathless state, his worries fell away and he was left only with his excitement for the rest of the evening and the time he'd get to spend with Shiki.

With that relief, he lifted their linked hands and kissed the top of her knuckles. "Take your time," he said as he began to slowly pull away. "I'm going to go change."

And before she could reply or stop him, he slipped from her grasp and out the door. He made his way towards the guest bedroom at the end of the hall and stepped inside, his eyes finding the tux hanging on the open door of the wardrobe.

Before he even so much as reached for his outfit, he pulled a cell phone from his pocket and he dialed a number. It rang a few times, and when someone answered on the other end, he let the company give its greeting before he spoke. "It's Hiei. Is the limo on its way?"

The man on the other end of the line answered immediately, "Yes sir, it should be there in the next five minutes."

"Great. Thanks." As he pulled the phone from his ear and hit the end call button, he realized the man had still been talking. Unphased, he began to undress and slowly change into the suit he'd bought.

~!**!~

Akari approached the edge of the table with empty hands and a nervous feeling in her stomach. "I'm so sorry," she began as the couple looked up at her expectantly, "but it seems we're having electrical issues. I can't make frozen drinks, or tea right now, but I can make hot espresso drinks like latte's and such."

She paused, giving the customers time to soak in the information before she continued on.

"Your croissant and muffin are warm, but I could make you a latte, cappuccino, americano, or a cold brew. If none of those appeal to you, I would happily give you a refund…"

The couple turned to one another and began to talk it over, the man unsure if he wanted coffee and the woman not seeming to mind a hot beverage. As they conversed, Akari politely turned her head away to look at her line of currently-not-working appliances, internally grumbling at them for their betrayal.

"Um, let's do two latte's please."

Akari nodded. "Of course! I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"Not at all!" the woman responded as Akari bowed in apology.

"I'll get those right out for you." She scurried away just as fast as she could in front of the humans, and she set to work on their hot drinks - both of them set a size large to compensate for the inconvenience.

When those were done, she delivered them with the pastries to the customers, and after their 'thank you's, she made sure to lock the front door and flip the sign to 'closed', knowing now that she'd have to call someone to get the electrical problems dealt with.

...which wouldn't be until morning, she realized.

...This sucks…. *

~!**!~

Shiki blushed a little at the sensation of Hiei's lips against her flesh, not having quite recovered enough to think of something to say before he slipped away with promises of his own wardrobe shift, leaving her silent behind and watching him go before glancing down at the place where his kiss had left a buzz against her skin.

Turning back to the outfit, Shikiyoku ran her fingers over the material as her own bit of spark flickered across her knuckles before vanishing at last and leaving her alone in the room.

Slipping out of her own clothes and recovering from the dresser nearby more appropriate undergarments for the gown than what she wore that day, Shiki stepped into the gown and picked up the heels and jewelry box in one hand, lifting her train in the other and rustling quietly to the bathroom one door down, immediately thinking of what makeup might still be useable, and which hair product might not have dried out.

Placing the heels on the floor nearby the bathroom mat, and the box on the counter, Shiki found herself making due with scant supplies, a few unbroken bobby pins and plugged-in curling iron resulting in an up-do that left a single curly ringlet unpinned at the nape of her neck-having run out of hair supplies for it-and little more than basic liner and shadow in working enough order to accent her features.

A practiced hand made quick work of the whole endeavour as best she could, and with earrings in ears, leaving the necklace for a better moment when she might put it on, at the last she turned to look over her shoulder at the mirror to get a view of her back, left bare to her waist by the low cut of the dress except for the single rogue curl she eyed with good-humored ire where it teased down her neck to brush her shoulder. 3

Hiei pulled his cloak from his shoulders and laid it on the bed, and he stepped out of his cloth shoes. He situated his shoes at the edge of the bed, and he next stepped out of his pants and pulled his tank top over his head.

As he tossed those articles on the bed to join the first, he felt a portion of his hair be tugged, and the sound of static crackled by his ear from the fabric. He ignored that for the moment and moved for the suit. He stared at the different pieces before he decided to grab the black pants and socks first, followed by the white button up shirt. He buttoned it up all the way, just like he'd seen on the mannequin in the store. He grabbed the belt and looped it around his waist expertly before tucking in the shirt, and then he moved on to the vest.

The green fabric was smooth and cool, so when he put it on, a part of him was surprised by how uncomfortable it was in the back. Deciding it was probably just one of those human outfit things, he proceeded to button it up too.

Then came the little plastic bag that held the tie.

He pulled the plastic away and tossed it in the little trash can by the door. Unsure how the tie was supposed to be tied, he looped it behind his neck and worked on tying it into a knot.

Except it didn't look right. Or feel right.

He frowned to himself, realizing he was going to need to ask Shiki for help on this article of clothing, and then turned to the shoes. He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned down to slip them on, his fingers playing with the laces for a moment before deciding that he would ask Shiki about those, too.

Hiei, proud as he was of this foreign outfit and how much he'd put together himself, rose from the bed and made his way to the bathroom, knowing he needed to fix his hair first. While he was at it, he figured he'd try to tie again.

On his way out the door, he slid the black suit jacket over his shoulders, though he left it unbuttoned for his own comfort's sake.

When Hiei turned to enter the bathroom, he pivoted on one foot and was taking the last step to stand in front of the mirror when he realized he'd stepped on his own shoe laces, and his body had already committed to the forward momentum of his next step.

He stumbled forward, his hands instinctively reaching out to grab the nearest surface to catch himself. One hand found the edge of the sink, but his other found Shikiyoku's shoulder.

He didn't understand it at first, but as he pushed himself upright, he could feel an unnatural amount of warmth in his cheeks. And as he slowly righted himself, he was given the opportunity to see Shikiyoku from foot to head in the dress he'd chosen for her, and his odd negative emotion was joined with a pleasant one of pride.

And then he turned and saw himself in the mirror.

His face grew exponentially warmer, and his reflection in the mirror turned a couple shades darker red than it had been a moment before.

He lifted a hand to his hair to fix the only thing he knew how to, which only gave him enough time to notice everything else that was wrong and messy. "Am I doing this right?" he asked as he continued to straighten out his hair.

~!**!~

Akari hovered uselessly behind the counter as her two customers ate and drank, suddenly aware of the silence in the room and just how little she could do without that line of appliances that no longer worked.

On occasion she would turn and press a button on one of the machines, a part of her hoping that maybe she wouldn't have to keep the shop closed tomorrow for the electrician.

Oh right.

Realizing that a closed shop meant her employees would be bored, she made the decision to go ahead and call the two baristas on the schedule for the next day and let them know that they had the day off.

She turned to one of the cabinets over the wall of dead electronics and rifled through a few loose papers until she came away with a single sheet of lined paper. She glanced at the four names written next two telephone numbers, nodded her head to herself, and pulled her cell phone from her pocket.

She dialed Shouta first, and was just about to call him when her last customers for the day stood from their chairs and began to gather their trash. Akari set her cell phone down, still flipped open and ready to make that call, and shuffled around the bar and towards the front door.

She had it unlocked and open for them to leave, so when they passed, she gave another bow of apology and appreciation. "Thank you for coming in, and I'm sorry again for that inconvenience. Have a good night."

"Thank you, you too!" the woman smiled warmly at Akari, and for the second time she felt relief flood her system. She hadn't exactly expected them to be upset and to get loud in their disappointment, but she sure was glad that they were patient and understanding with her.

She stood upright and closed the door behind them, and locked it for the remainder of the evening. *

~!**!~

One moment Shikiyoku was fiddling half-heartedly with the curl at the base of her neck and in the next Hiei had tripped into the room, appearing half-dressed and slightly ruffled as he looked her over and then noticed his own state in the mirror in front of them.

His recovery as he fluffed his hands up through his hair immediately made her smile, though she hid it behind her hand as she kindly made no laugh at his appearance, which luckily for him she found more than a little charming.

She turned and moved a step closer to him, shifting the dress aside with her feet and absently lifting it with one hand to help with the process as she peered up at him while he fixed what had been a small inconsistency in the direction of his hair and tilted her head from side to side once as if to take his question quite seriously.

She gave him an approving nod, "It looks perfect." And before she settled back down onto her feet proper, stretched up the last of the distance and kissed his cheek where she had noticed it turning more than a little pink. 3

Hiei wasn't sure what he was expecting from her. Maybe he expected her to laugh, or just stare in shock. But what he wasn't expecting was her coming closer and kissing him on the cheek. That, coupled with the sense of approval from her side of the bond, made his reflection in the mirror turn just as red as it was able - which was impressive since he didn't think it could have gotten any worse.

"Well, at least I did something right," he replied in kind, his hands still fiddling with the already straightened out section of hair.

After a second longer of self-consciously 'fixing' his hair, he let his arms drop and his hands slide into his pockets and he turned to face Shikiyoku.

"...Will you help me?"

~!**!~

The line rang only twice before Shouta picked up, surprising Akari since he usually was in class. "Hey, Akari. What's up?"

Akari smiled; he was the only of the three humans that had listened when she'd asked them to call her by her first name. "I'm calling to let you know of a schedule change. Tomorrow, it's going to be just me and Ryouta, and I want you to take the day off."

A beat of silence filtered over the line for a moment. "Okay, cool. That'll give me time to do some last minute homework then. Is the schedule for the rest of the week still the same?"

"I'll let you know. We have a wall of appliances that aren't working, so I'll let you know what the electrician says and when we'll be able to be open again. Hopefully it will only be the one day where we're closed."

She could hear papers shuffling in the background of the call. "Ok. Thanks, Akari."

"Enjoy your day off if you can." Shouta said a short goodbye and Akari hung up, glad that he was as flexible as he was in his day to day happenings. She quickly dialed Hana as she glanced at the time, making sure she wasn't calling too late. *

~!**!~

Oh, those EYES! How could I say no to that face?

"Only if you'll do something for me." She replied with a soft smile as she reached over and gently took his green vest in her hands and undid the only button he had managed to do so she could get to the white shirt underneath.

Taking part of his untucked shirt in her hands, she fixed a missed button that had made the rest of the job off by one, undoing and redoing every button after one at a time until she reached the top and had it fixed, taking his tie next and undoing the knot before slipping it from his shoulders to lay it over her own for a moment.

She reached up to fix a twist in the back of the strap of his vest near his neck, realizing quickly there was a bigger problem and asking him to take off his suit jacket and patiently showing him how to tuck his shirt in properly now that it was buttoned right and then get the vest on the correct way, helping him button the front.

Before he put his jacket back on, Shiki turned around so he could look down over her shoulder as she explained with the tie around her neck an easy knot for the occasion where after adjusting both ends to the proper length 'the cat chases the mouse around the couch and then down into the mouse hole,' before untying it and handing it over so he could do it for himself, coaching him through the process until it looked just right and wasn't choking him.

"There's a bit of a wrinkle here." She pointed to a place in the tie where, while she did not mention it, it was likely Hiei had pulled his knot so tight it left a mark and she showed him how with a gentle heat he could place it against his palm and use a finger to smooth it back out before they tucked the lower end of the tie behind his vest and then put his jacket back up over his shoulders.

Knowing his rocky entrance stemmed from the dress shoes on his feet, Shiki finally had Hiei bend down with her as she carefully joined him so she could show him how to handle the tightening he needed to do and then the loops that the shoelaces needed in order for the shoes to no longer be a bother. 3

Hiei had no hesitation in his answer to her request, immediately nodding his head. "Of course. Anything." She took a step closer and reached for him, "What do you need me to do?"

And then she began fixing him. She took his pieces and, little by little, walked him through putting himself back together again. And he listened intently to every word she said, his hands carefully following her instructions and a sense of appreciation flooding him when he realized just how easy it would be for her to simply do it for him instead of teaching him.

During the process, he momentarily forgot that he'd attempted to tie the tie and had left it in a knot, so when it came time for him to smooth out the wrinkles he'd caused, he made sure to do so carefully so he wouldn't set the fabric on fire.

He really didn't want to embarrass himself any further.

Finally, when he was down to tying his shoelaces, he found himself almost surprised at some of the simple things he'd messed up, and yet all the more adoring of Shikiyoku for not pointing out the silly little things he'd messed up.

After all, just about anyone else would have laughed at him, probably, and then simply fixed it all for him.

When he stood upright after tying the second set of laces, he made sure to take a moment and look in the mirror, committing to memory the way this outfit was supposed to look like on him.

He ran his hands through his hair again, fixing a few stray strands one more time before he turned to Shikiyoku again, less embarrassed and much calmer than he had been before.

"...You're too good for me."

And I'm the luckiest demon in the world to have you standing in front of me right now.

~!**!~

Hana was a little slower to pick up than Shouta was, which was understandable due to the chaos she could hear in the background almost immediately. Behind Hana's "Hi, Miss Hanase," was a screaming child and a barking dog. Not knowing if the girl had siblings or was babysitting, Akari decided to simply tune them out and focus entirely on the call.

"Hey Hana. There's been a schedule change due to some issues at the store."

"Is everything ok?"

"We have an electrical problem. Most of our machines aren't working, and we have nowhere else to put them to make beverages. So tomorrow morning I'm calling an electrician to get those fixed. Since we will be closed until that's done, I want you to take the day off."

"Oh… Um…" The hesitation and concern gave Akari pause, but she waited patiently for whatever it was that Hana was worried about. "Will I still get paid…?"

Akari blinked; she hadn't thought it would be necessary since it was only a day. She wondered briefly if the girl was helping her family financially, and then quickly decided that even if that was the case, it wasn't Akari's business unless Hana wanted it to be her business. "Not for tomorrow. But, if for some reason things can't be fixed in a day, I'll pay you for the rest of the missed days."

The relief was obvious in her voice, "Oh, good! Thank you!."

Akari frowned to herself, really hoping it wouldn't be that big of an issue. *

~!**!~

Shiki carefully rose back up, cautious of the extra fabric of the train of the dress and making sure her feet were where they should be, and then took a moment to admire how Hiei's charm now properly matched his outfit.

The thought of him being charming had never particularly occurred before now, she did not think.

She gave a little shake of her head, "No, I'm just good to you." Was her simple reply, a small smile of content on her features. 3

Hiei thought for a moment that he could disagree with Shikiyoku, that she was definitely too good for him. But, really, he also knew that was good to him, so disagreeing really wouldn't get him anywhere, since she'd continue to deny him the original point anyway.

So he silently let it go and let himself stare at her for a moment, fully appreciating her not just in how she looked, but in who she was as a person.

He did not, however, forget her first response to his request for help.

"...Okay, now what can I do to help you?"

Because you just helped me a lot… *

"Well..." Briefly her eyes darted to the left, and she felt her core skip a beat as she considered her response.

She genuinely wanted him to help her put the necklace on, since it would take him less time to fiddle with it than her.

However, she didn't honestly think she would get any chance later to do something she'd wanted ever since he first stumbled into the room, so she looked back up at him and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him closer, "For starters, you could kiss me." 3

Hiei watched her intently, waiting patiently and silently for her request so that he could at least make up for the crazy moment he'd just had and for making her all but completely dress him.

As she stepped closer though and wrapped her arms around his neck, he let her pull him down a little, and part of him thought that a single kiss wouldn't really be enough to match his appreciation for her in this moment.

But she vocalized her request. And, really, he wasn't sure when the last time she asked him for a kiss was.

A slow smile stretched across his lips. "Whatever you want," he responded naturally. He rested his hands on her waist and pulled her even closer so that when he leaned down, she didn't have to stand so tall on her tiptoes to reach him.

When his lips met hers, he did everything in his power to convey his appreciation and adoration for her in that simple gesture, hoping that maybe she would understand even a little of those feelings he had for her. *

It totally felt unfair to Shiki that at this point Hiei was already so much taller than her that she had to stretch up so much to meet him, even if in reality the difference wasn't quite half a head, but seeing as how it hadn't occurred to her to put her heels on first, she only noted the distance ruefully for a moment before the thought no longer mattered.

While the request had not been initialized with any sort of outer reaction, as Hiei obliged, a pinkish color settled over the mask of Shiki's face as little sparks of energy bloomed across her neck and shoulders in a pleasant sort of feeling that had her eventually pulling away from him with a smile.

"As to what I really want-" She murmured, paused, and then all at once let go and turned to retrieve the box with the necklace, holding it up between them with an expression something akin to the one Hiei had implored her with:

"...Will you help me?" 3

Part of Hiei didn't want the kiss to end just yet, but his internal clock was slowly beginning to remind him that they were currently late for a party. Not that anyone really would care, he figured, but he didn't want to miss too much of it.

After all, he'd put it all together for Shiki to enjoy, and so far he'd ended up a mess she had to help clean up.

So when she turned to him with the necklace in her hand, her expression one he had seen in the mirror not too longer than five minutes ago, he blinked and then stared at her for a short moment.

"Well, how can I say no to that face?" he teased as he took the necklace from her. Before she turned around, though, he leaned over her for one more quick kiss, silently saying that he knew what she was doing and completely adored her for it.

Then he stood upright and made quick work of clasping the necklace around her neck, his fingers brushing her stray curl just for a moment.

She's so pretty….

"You're my favorite." *

Somehow completely at ease in these moments with him, as Shikiyoku turned away from him, her face held the most pleased expression as he snuck another kiss before she did so.

Watching Hiei in the mirror out of the corner of her eye, Shiki waiting patiently for him to oblige before turning just her head to look at the two of them next to one another in the mirror with no small amount of fondness for him in her eyes as he stood gazing down at her from behind.

"Lucky me." She said quietly, for once not a single hint of mischievousness gleaming in her eyes at the statement. Simply truth. 3

Hiei briefly teased the curl at the back of her neck, twisting it around his finger a few times to redefine that curl almost absently as his eyes lifted to the mirror. He took in the reflection of himself standing next to Shikiyoku, the green of his vest matching perfectly with the green in her eyes and her dress. A sense of awe slowly fell over him as he realized just how happy she looked standing next to him.

It made him realize that he'd never really looked at himself in the mirror, especially not while standing next to her. So he took a minute to commit this moment, this day, to his memory.

After a few moments of standing with her in calm silence, he finally turned away and crouched low to the floor. He picked up the heels she had placed on the floor and turned to look up at Shiki, extending the right one first in a silent offer to slip the shoe onto her foot for her. *

Smiling at Hiei as they stood next to one another, after a moment, Shiki turned her head away and closed her eyes, still smiling.

"You're my favorite too, you know." She said to him as he moved to help her put on her shoes, lifting first the one foot and then the other before finally standing in the outfit she did not know he had only just that day assembled, still smiling at him. 3

When she had both shoes on and was standing perfectly in them, Hiei pushed himself up from the floor and gave her a look up and down. His smile widened a fraction with pride; he'd known the outfit would look good on her, but he hadn't been able to fully picture it on her. It seemed about as perfect as he was able to put together, he thought.

Mentally, he made note to do this again in the future sometime.

Finally he met her gaze with equal parts adoration of her and excitement for what was coming next.

Unsure how to reply to her calling him her favorite - something he hadn't thought she'd say - he instead turned towards the bathroom door and offered her his arm, just as he had done so long ago at Rae's palace.

"The car should be here by now." *

One hand reaching down to tend to her train, the other wove itself through his proffered arm and she looked herself over once they started moving to make sure everything was in the right place.

"Well, I am nothing if not at your disposal, my Consort. Lead the way." 3

More than simply content, Hiei lead Shikiyoku from the bathroom, down the hall and down the stairs, through the house and out the front door. He walked her to the door where the driver of the limo stood, waiting patiently. The human pulled the door open and Hiei let Shiki slide in first, making sure to watch the train of her dress so that it wouldn't catch on anything.

He slid in after her, taking the seat closest to the door. The driver shut the door behind Hiei.

The inside was simple. The black leather seats were neat and clean, almost new looking in their spotlessness. There were a couple of seats across from where Hiei and Shikiyoku sat, and next to those seats was a mini bar area that, even while sitting where he was, Hiei could easily access if he so desired.

The windows were tinted dark enough that people on the outside couldn't see in, but weren't so dark that Hiei couldn't see the driver walking to the front of the car.

It wasn't a long drive to the venue, and when they pulled up to the building, the brick exterior was calm and serene. It seemed to fit into this part of the city as if it had been there for just as long as the city itself had been, but it also seemed unassuming and simple. The only hint of there being any activity on the inside was the light filtering through the curtains inside the tall, rounded-top windows.

The driver opened the door and Hiei slid out expertly, as if he'd done this many times before. And, just as he had with her sliding in, Hiei helped Shikiyoku slide out by offering a hand and watching the train of her dress.

When she was on her feet and ready to go, Hiei lead her quietly, half excited and half nervous, into the front doors and down the long hallway to the right. With every step closer to the room he'd rented for the night, the sound of violins and cellos grew louder, accompanied by other various instruments.

When the pair were close enough to the double wooden doors, the humans standing on either side both bowed deeply in greeting before pulling open their respective doors.

Inside the room, the floors transitioned smoothly from the wooden hall floors and to marble that reflected the light from the crystal chandeliers hanging above. On the opposite end of the room stood the wooden stage for the live band, and between the band and the doors were demons dancing, each one just as dressed up as Hiei and Shikiyoku were. *

If anyone had asked Shiki how she thought her day was going to go, this certainly would not so much as been on the radar of her notions, much less be the actual accumulation of the events which Hiei had lead her through.

She wondered briefly-as she gave a nod to the humans on either side of the door that greeted the two of them when they entered-at what on earth had given Hiei these ideas. If her instincts were right, his manic running about she had been witness to while running the bar earlier in the day seemed to suggest that he had come up with all of this within twenty-four hours.

Scanning the room as her mind turned over his plans thus far, she let out a low bit of laughter as she began to realize that she recognized most, if not all of the others in the room, the vast majority of whom were in fact members of Hiei's guild.

A lot of them were engaged in the act of movement to the music begin provided by the small chamber orchestra, some more successfully than others, but frankly she would never have pegged a single one of them as having any interest whatsoever in anything remotely resembling...whatever Hiei had concocted for this evening.

And she couldn't quite get the question on her mind to form properly so she could ask Hiei why he had done all of this. 3

Hiei stalled in the opening of the room, taking in the scene for a moment. As he looked on, a small feeling of disbelief began to simmer in him, and when he turned to spy Shikiyoku still standing at his side, the feeling only seemed to grow stronger.

It wasn't a bad feeling in any way, he knew. It was just…

If anyone had told him years ago about this moment, he might have thought them delusional.

Yet here he was, and there she was.

"Care to dance with me, my Beloved?" *

Shiki let out another soft, if pleasant bit of laughter, unsure of her thoughts on what he called her, but her eyes teasing him as she peered up into his face.

"Is that why you've done all this?" She grinned, only half kidding as she raised an eyebrow at him, "Just so you can ask me to dance?" She turned back to watch the dancers and listen to the music, ready for the moment where Hiei wanted to lead her towards them. "This seems like a lot of trouble, Hiei. You of all people should know I would dance with you any time you wished." Her smile had faded, but stirred at the edges of her lips as she finished speaking. 3

Hiei blinked down at Shikiyoku, her question catching him off guard. Did he do this so they could dance? Definitely. But just to ask her to dance? ...No. But he wasn't sure how to put into words the other reasons he had put all of this together, so he began to pull her towards to dance floor as he mulled it over.

He took one of her hands in his and guided her into the dance easily, their bodies joining the others in the room as if they'd been there from the beginning.

"Well," he finally began to answer her, though he kept his eyes directed away, "I did want us to dance, but this isn't just to dance." He frowned slightly to himself, still unable to really explain in a way she might understand. "I wanted…"

He paused to spin her, and by the time she faced him he was looking at her with a crooked smile. "I wanted to figure out what this 'fun' is that you always speak of." *

For the most part, there had been such a growing frankness in Hiei's interactions with her as the evening wore on that Shikiyoku had found herself regarding him at face-value and strangely unswept away by her energy as she might have been in another, less staged moment.

This did not mean that as Hiei took her in his arms there was not a bit of buzzing to her energy in the places where his hands had found her skin, at her back, in his hand, but other than semi-pleasant reminders to the contact he sought with her, which she enjoyed, they did little to actually distract her from him as he continued their conversation once they had the privacy afforded to them of a dance partner's embrace.

Her eyes glittered with unvoiced laughter as she arrived back in his hold to his final response, finding that now while just about at eye-level with him, she did not need to peer up exactly for now.

Had tonight been, as he so aptly expressed, 'fun?'

She would not herself have given the events up to this point that exact adjective. Certainly, she enjoyed spending time with him in ways that they normally did not so much as breathe of. She supposed if pressed, then, yes, this had all been fun.

In many ways, she wasn't for sure what she truly considered to be fun any more. Things just were and she existed through them: running the bar, tending to other business ventures, seeing to Kurama and Minamino Corp. as needed.

"And what are your conclusions so far?" 3

That I am completely and utterly taken by you.

The fire demon's smile widened just a fraction, though it spoke whispers of the emotions that followed the thought of her and their day together. He pulled her further into his embrace and he leaned closer as if to tell her a secret that no other should be privileged enough to hear.

"My conclusion is that no matter where we are, it's you that makes it all worthwhile." *

Shikiyoku's eyes gave off a sudden spark as if after all this time he had landed on the truth, though she might have argued a case in regards to it being her.

"A bold statement." She noted aloud with a bit of a grin, "Is that what you think to have been the secret this whole time?" 3

Hiei leaned away and turned his eyes to the ceiling as if contemplating her question. The bond hummed with his faux thoughtfulness and he turned her in place again, only listening to the music enough to keep in time with the set tempo.

"It would seem so. That doesn't mean, however, that I don't enjoy putting all of this together in any case."

The song ended and Hiei pulled her as close to him as he could, his feet coming to a standstill as the last of the music died away. *

"Well, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but you did put this on for me, so I would say your original statement still stands, no?" Shiki murmured between them as her lips tugged into a somewhat mischievous half-smile, staring into Hiei's eyes as he drew her up against him, the rest of the room which had up to this point been of little consequence to her fading more completely away. 3

The next song began with a slightly faster tempo, and Hiei picked up on the beat with relative ease as he lead Shikiyoku into the next dance. His eyes sparkled with mirth and other emotions that the bond hummed with, and while he had no doubt to her answer, his lips moved with a question he'd been wanting to ask since their dinner.

"Well, what about you? Do you find this to be fun?"

Because I was worried, and I want you to enjoy it too.

He watched as she opened her mouth to answer, anticipation thrilling through him and hoping that he'd done well enough to entertain her.

And then a blur of a bulky man slipped by, stopping just long enough to turn to Hiei with a grin. "My turn, Boss." And then Hiei's hands were lacking a particular warmth and Tarou disappeared with Shikiyoku, spinning completely across the room from the fire demon.

...You're lucky I like you. *

Shikiyoku found Hiei's question to be one she genuinely wanted to answer, and yet as she parted her lips to do so, her brows twitched at something and then in the next instant she found herself deftly removed from the warmth of Hiei's presence and suddenly spun off in a rather haphazard fashion, only able to send Hiei a flirtatious wink in reply as she quickly lost sight of him and turned her gaze onto Tarou, whose embrace was neither as poised nor as elegant as Hiei's all at the same time.

Even so, she couldn't help but smile at his resulting grin of successful shenanigans.

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Mother." He waggled his eyebrows once the instant they were settled into whatever rhythm he wished, regardless of the true nature of the music. "He'll come get you when he absolutely can't stand it any longer. In the meantime..." 3

Hiei stood where he'd been relinquished of his date for a few moments, his eyes following Tarou and Shikiyoku as they danced at a completely different pace from the music.

Hiei realized Shikiyoku hadn't really had time to verbally answer him, only enough time to wink.

I… wanted to hear that answer….

His frown became more pronounced. Sure, she'd implied that she was having fun, but he'd wanted to hear her say it.

Instead, he turned in place to take in the room, his eyes alighting on a table with various beverages and snacks. He made his way towards that, deciding to at least familiarize himself with the spread.

~!**!~

"He'll come get you when he absolutely can't stand it any longer. In the meantime..." Tarou led his dance partner in a dance that completely contradicted the beat of the music playing, his lips spreading into a wide smile.

"Soooooo, Mother." Mischief glittered in his eyes as he surveyed the room for a moment, taking note of the reactions of the other guildies. "Tell me. How does it feel to be swept off your feet?" *

"I wouldn't know." She regarded him steadily, expression unchanging in a way that seemed intentionally off-putting, though the good-humored gleam in her eye had not faded even once her gaze left Hiei. "I would have to say so far your efforts have been rather unsuccessful." 3

Tarou tossed back his head and barked out a good-natured laugh, knowing he brought that on himself. "Fair point!" He crouched until their joined hands were over his head and he acted as if she were leading him into a spin, which he did so in a surprisingly effortless manner given his height when compared to hers.

When he stood up again he was still grinning. "Luckily for you, I'm probably the worst dancer here, so your next few partners should be better." *

Shikiyoku absolutely did not want to laugh at him, but laugh she did.

"Luckily for you, it doesn't appear as if I'm going to have a chance to teach you a single thing. I'm rather disappointed."

One of the youngest demons of the guild had seen fit to come to her rescue, "You're disappointing Mommy." He told the other, making no hesitation to pull her away. 3

Tarou knew his little spin would end their dance before it really began, but that didn't keep him from scrunching his face at the baby of the guild as he pulled Shikiyoku from his grasp. "You lot just don't know how to have fun!"

Despite his playful accusation, he knew that the next few dances would turn out eventful. So he turned to return to his date, a wonderful woman he'd met at the bar last week. She smiled at him as he approached and immediately met him halfway.

"D'ya mind if we add another to our dance? The boy's left his date behind, poor girl."

~!**!~

Hiei polished off a drink as his eyes tracked Tarou's movements across the ballroom, a spark lighting in his eyes as he and his date moved towards the girl that his other guildmate had left for Shiki.

To his amusement, Tarou invited the girl to dance with him and his date, and the trio linked hands in a silly little dance where they simply swayed back and forth in time with the song.

He flit across the room in a mere second and took Tarou's date's hand in his own. "Excuse me, I believe it's my turn."

When the woman didn't so much as protest, Hiei tore off with Tarou's date, not missing the shout of 'good one, boss' that followed after him. *

"She's the one that suggested I come get you." Chisai was telling Shikiyoku as he gently pulled her back into the waltz at hand.

The two of them had spotted how the natural disaster moved to 'keep Chisai's date company,' the poor girl continuing to take one for the team as Hiei snatched Tarou's date instead of her, though Chisai knew she could handle herself and would likely just as soon grab something to eat when the moment arose.

He had brought his sister with him, knowing she didn't get opportunities to enjoy herself like this often.

"I get the feeling Tarou would be more at home in a nightclub than an event like this, but I suppose he'll make due however he can." Shikiyoku smiled at Chisai as they flowed across the floor. 3

Once Hiei was far enough away from Tarou that the likelihood of him stealing his date back was low, the fire demon stepped right into the waltz, completely unbothered by the fact that his dance partner was taller than he was.

Realizing he was technically the host of this party, the fire demon turned his eyes away from Shikiyoku and up to the purple haired demoness, meeting her olive gaze. "Enjoying the dance?"

"It's not typically my scene," the woman admitted with a smirk, "but It's enjoyable in its own right." *

"He had us running around like mad. He was really intent on you having a good time today." Chisai commented as he noticed Shikiyoku's eyes following after the fire demon who had, naturally, found the tallest woman in the room when not occupied with Shiki herself.

"I am equally as thankful to find he is enjoying himself." She replied with a side-long grin as she saw Hiei begin to converse with Tarou's date, who despite her natural grace appeared somewhat uncomfortable to be in her position as Hiei endeavoured to calmly lead her through the steps. 3

In the crowd, Ikigai danced with his date in the only way both of them knew how: simple swaying back and forth. But the demon didn't miss the goings on where Momma was involved, so when he thought that Chisai had had more than enough time with Shikiyoku, he turned to his date.

"Mind if we swap partners for a moment? I have a friend I want to see."

His date, who was also his love interest for more than a few years now, shook her head and offered a smile. She knew about his relationship with everyone involved with the guild, and she knew that Shikiyoku was not a person to worry about.

Ikigai turned and lead her through the crowd by the hand, and he tapped lightly on Chisai's shoulder when within reach. "Sorry, not sorry, but I want to dance with Momma now." He offered his date's hand to Chisai. "Just...don't let Tarou badger her, yeah?" *

"Uh, sure." Chisai said, grinning for a moment at Shiki and passing her hand to Ikigai. He glanced over his shoulder to see, as he had originally thought, his sister standing nearby the food, so he led Ikigai's partner in the opposite direction, knowing eventually Tarou would spot the group at the refreshment stand and want to know why they weren't dancing.

Ikigai's smile could have split his face in two as Shikiyoku set her gaze on him and rested her hands over his shoulders when he moved to put a hand on either of her hips and their movement was suddenly restricted to just shifting weight from one foot back to the other, after the initial moment of his moving into place where he made a solid step on Shiki's toes.3

Hiei found himself being led around the room, somehow no longer leading the dance between himself and Tarou's date. Not really caring one way or another, he simply went with it, and that was how he danced until Tarou 'rescued her' from Hiei and whisked her away.

The fire demon had made his way towards the snack table again, this time catching sight of Chisai's date. They carried mild conversation, and somewhere in those moments he recognized the familial bond between the girl and his guildmate.

Thinking about if he were in Chisai's shoes, he decided to dance Chisai's sister to Chisai himself, where they traded partners and Hiei was left gently swaying with Ikigai's human date.

He didn't miss the girl's inability to look away from his hair as they conversed, Hiei asking similar questions to her as he had with Tarou's date, grateful when the girl seemed genuinely impressed with the whole ordeal. "I've never been to anything like this before," she admitted with a shy smile.

Hiei felt a sudden pain in his foot and discreetly steered the girl a little away, thinking at first that maybe she had accidentally stepped too far forward. When she didn't seem to notice his guiding her away - and the pain happened two more times, no less - he turned and looked for Shiki, realizing that the pain was not his own, but hers.

Right. She's dancing with Gai… Makes sense.

~!**!~

Akihiko, who had been hanging around at the edges of the room for most of the time, watched each dancing couple with a sense of amusement at the unfolding shenanigans. He watched the partner swapping with a slight smile on his face, recalling days past where he and his mate used to do the same.

So when he saw Hiei steer his current partner a little away, he recognized the reaction, but hadn't quite seen the actual cause for it. So he watched Ikigai and Shikiyoku for a few moments, and honestly found himself amazed at how the man was bad enough at dancing to step on her toes even when they had kept movement to such a minimal area.

Naturally, he pushed away from the wall and glided through the dancers. He approached Shikiyoku and immediately bowed with a hand over his chest. "Mother," he began as he raised himself upright again and offered his hand palm up for her, "May I have this dance?"

And, as if he had planned it to happen this way, the song abruptly changed. *

Gai frowned a bit at the intrusion, certain that his dance had been the shortest out of them all, but far be it for him to refuse Hiei's second, and he relinquished his grasp so Akihiko might have a moment with the woman who seemed at this point in the very least amused at each of the guild members feeling as if they all needed to spend time with her. 3

Akihiko didn't miss the disappointment from Gai, but he did feel that disappointment almost fill the room from the rest of the guild. "I overheard something of a bet, and I've come to disappoint them all," the second in command said as he and Shikiyoku took to the appropriate dance to the song playing.

He knew well enough that not a single man in the guild would approach him for a turn with Shikiyoku, and the idea of their bet amongst themselves falling apart was an amusing one to him. "I suppose you're with me until Hiei decides he can't stand being away from you." His smile was almost a teasing one. *

Akihiko's expression was met with an equally amused smile from Shikiyoku as she found herself somewhat surprised that the second-in-command actually knew at least a thing or two about what he was doing.

"A bet?" Shikiyoku raised an eyebrow. "I can't imagine over what. Breaking hearts again, Hiko?" 3

"Always," he responded almost instantly as they danced, his feet moving only by muscle memory across the marble floors. A part of him ached; this was the first time he had danced this way since his Mate's passing. But, with all things, time dulled the sharp edge of the pain at his core, and he was able to remove himself from those thoughts almost immediately after they formed. "I am ever the heartbreaker." *

"I know." Shikiyoku replied, leveling a look at him that knew of his former mate but also the women who passed through the bar and sought his attention.

Settling into his arms until he grew more comfortable, the song passed by without a single other interruption, despite the looks and desires of the others which Shikiyoku more than noticed being passed their way.

Requesting their direction be that of the refreshments, Akihiko let her lead him from the dance floor where the joined the group near the table.

The moment happened quickly.

Within the span of half a breath, several quiet thuds of bodies hitting the floor were accompanied by the slow fade of the music nearby.

Faces whose eyes darted in the direction of the musicians caught sight of a ragged figure with dark eyes standing over what was left of the ensemble, just the humans, as he regarded the rest of them with a look of calculating, if insatiable hunger as the energy leaking from his body seemed to pull from the other demons in the vicinity their vitality and sent them slack to the floor.

Others who glanced at the main doorway noticed it was open, humans frozen in terror, but the nearest demons having collapsed to the ground in the wake of a second individual whose sharp features and black gaze were scanning with equal intelligence those who were left.

While Akihiko was a member of the first to notice the musicians and had positioned himself in the next half breath between Shikiyoku and the adversary he spotted, she in turn stepped back to his to shield him from a third Crusnik who stood so close to her the energy dripping from his body, from his fanged and open mouth, tugged at her own and had already left several unconscious at his feet.

Almost as if appearing from the shadows of the room, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth of these ultra-aware beings began to stalk forward with a purpose to their step as they moved into better positions that Shikiyoku recognized almost as if it was her own.

And at one time...it had been.

"You need...to get...the others...out." Shikiyoku said slowly as she stared down the Crusnik-crazed demon nearest to her and began to give off a gentle glow.

Regardless of fighting prowess, one or two of these creatures were enough of a threat to send entire groups of battle-hardened Hunters to their deaths if unprepared, much less five or six of them who seemed to be moving as a pack.

And to make matters worse, Shiki recognized this one with whom she found herself unwilling to break gaze with, the token of his self-proclaimed Queen still hanging on by a thread to what was left of the fur-lined cloak adorning his shoulders.3

In the half-beat where heavy thuds resounded around the room and people seemed to stop moving, Hiei immediately stilled and called upon his Jagan. His head turned to spy the doors he heard open, and he stilled entirely as his stare landed on an Infected demon who sent a thrill down his spine.

The energy that spilled from that one as it fed on its victim's energies felt more wrong and dangerous than any that he'd felt in a long time, and when he realized that it was familiar in its danger, he internally turned to the bond.

I… have no weapon. Only speed and fists.

I haven't ever fought these types. I only chased Shikiyoku, and I was fortunate that she recognized me enough to have restraint.

The guild has never seen one of these types before.

The Jagan swept over the room. ...There's six in total.

All of those thoughts happened within a second, the last one projected on the still-conscious demons around him.

He really didn't want to fight these creatures. He wasn't sure how that would come to pass, or even if it were possible.

"I...can...summon…" Tarou began from somewhere to Hiei's left, his words falling from his lips at the same time as Shikiyoku's. But he went quiet in the face of the approaching Crusnik in front of him and to his left.

Hiei didn't even know where to begin, didn't even know what to do first other then to lead the danger from the humans. Or the humans from the danger. And he realized that of the seventeen or so demons in the room, a little less than half of them were incapacitated.

Mentally, Hiei immediately turned to a specific guild member, though anyone outside of the Crusnik willing to listen or chime in were able to do so if needed or desired. "Tarou."

"...Yes Boss."

"You're going to lose a lot of energy if you try to summon your weapons bank. Be aware of that and your limits." He didn't get an answer, though he didn't expect one. ...I have no idea what to do. *

Shikiyoku wasn't certain how word of a pack of Crusnik had yet to reach her ears.

She wasn't certain they hadn't just arrived on the level, and were drawn to a place where a high concentration of food happened to be conveniently gathered.

She knew for a fact that if left to their own devices, the entire city could drop overnight.

(They're hungry. That's all that drives them. That's why they're here. But they're smart. And they won't be keen to let a single one of us go free. Not with their directive on the line.)

There was only one place in the entire New Human World that was even remotely prepared for a situation like this, and unfortunately for them, it lay six levels below.

The glow that settled over her body had not grown brighter, but covered Shikiyoku now from head to toe.

(Hiei...do you trust me?)3

Hiei didn't want to ask Tarou to open up his energy-vault of weapons. He didn't want to put his guild member immediately in the spotlight of six different Crusnik. He didn't want anyone in the spotlight of the Crusnik.

But he only had the one idea.

I could run them off, if they're fast enough and one-track-minded enough to keep up…. He thought to himself, though he doubted they'd follow him. And even if they did, the bigger issue was in how he'd get back to Shikiyoku without bringing them to her again. ….Or, worse, dying.

So when Shikiyoku spoke through their bond, Hiei could only imagine her idea and what it might entail, or how similar to his own it might be.

(Of course.) He took another look around the room with the Jagan. (...What's your plan?) *

As Shikiyoku's energy slowly began to fill the room, wafting away from the general vicinity of each Crusnik, but becoming harder to keep as such with each millisecond she took to do so, she didn't dare to even blink as she stared down the one in front of her, beginning to feel now the others caught sight of her as well.

(Get to The Last Stand as fast as you can. Warn them of how many are coming. If they can activate the defenses, it's possible we can get these to scatter at worst, and take them down at best.)

(And when I give the signal, tell the others they're supposed to duck.)

In spite of the overwhelming tension in the room, Shikiyoku's lips twitched into the barest of smiles.

(And when you get there, tell them you're going to need a room.)3

Hiei… wasn't surprised. Really, her plan wasn't all that different from the one he had thought up, it just wasn't entirely what he wanted.

You don't have the luxury of want right now. Only survival.

As much as he wanted to argue, to tell Shikiyoku that he did not want to leave her behind, he was more than willing to admit that her option was the best afforded to them, even if the others had plans.

(Alright.) It's a shame the dress will be ripped. (I trust you.)

He opened himself up to the others telepathically again, making his presence known in each individual's mind and waiting for Shikiyoku's signal. *

The instant Hiei didn't seem to have any better ideas, the energy in the room suddenly fluxxed and sparks shocked into the faces of the advancing Crusnik around them, all of the prior events having fallen into place within a minute of them entering the area.

(Go!)

A following bright flash blinded the vision even of those who had dropped to the ground, each of the Crusnik snarling and starting back before they surged forward even while still blind.

"Hello, boys."

The noises of anger stopped as the Crusnik blinked clear their eyes and were staring with rapt attention at the bounty of golden energy now standing in the middle of the room for the taking as it began licking upwards into the air around her, having already filled the room with its invisible scent.

Glittering gaze darting quickly between each figure, Shikiyoku knew she was going to give Hiei as much of a headstart as she was able.

"You just crashed the wrong party." 3

Hiei felt all of his muscles tighten in anticipation, and he wasn't surprised to see that the Crusnik nearest him noticed. But he waited for seconds that felt like minutes for Shikiyoku's signal.

Shikiyoku's signal came, and he echoed it by forcing the human he held on to to drop to the floor. "Drop!"

The bond alerted him to Shikiyoku's energy flux a breath before the blinding light lit the room, giving him time to close his eyes against it. The sound of people hitting the floor and ducking was lost to the sound of his suit jacket whipping behind him in his sudden sprint from the building.

(...Be safe. See you on the Seventh.)

He had every intention to get there, warn the others, and turn back to help her.

The distance between himself and Shikiyoku grew exponentially in a matter of seconds, and it continued to grow as he ran without any self-imposed limitations. For the first time in as long as he could remember in that moment, he ran the fastest he could go.

But it wasn't fast enough, he thought.

He could feel the wind around him whipping into his jacket, making it flap and billow around his waist as it tore from its buttoned state. Knowing he needed to be as unrestrained as possible, he shed the jacket and let it fall wherever it could.

His speed picked up immediately, and he knew he was just as fast as he could be. *

Gathering her hands together, Shikiyoku slowly stretched her arms above her head as she shook back the cascade of white hair flowing over her shoulders towards her waist, the intensity of the wafting energy about her keeping her features only intermittently revealed: wicked amber eyes, the long limbs of an hourglass shape of smooth, coffee colored skin.

Her response to him was tinged with amusement.

(Just run, flameboy. I'll follow soon enough.)

She felt a twinge of regret for the state of the dress, pieces of which still hung around her frame. Thankfully, her shoes had been removed as she stepped towards the center of the room.

In a brief moment after a second puff of energy into the attentions of the Crusnik who were growing closer, starting to slowly absorb her wafting energy in the room, where her eyes passed between them as they advanced, she caught a couple of Hiei's guildmates staring intermittently from where they lay frozen in place on the floor and gave them a wink.

"It's such a shame." She spoke again, more of her enchantment weaving into the air as she sought to keep attention on her as well as those on the ground she had dropped to the floor initially with the first mesmer in place. "You've really caught us at a rather bad time. Perhaps we should seek to further your interests elsewhere." A shimmer of power wavered out from her eyes and shot in the direction of the Crusnik furthest away from her who had been distracted by nearly stumbling over the body of one of the guild members on the ground.

She sent out another puff of the underlying scent that they were now more quickly absorbing, knowing that in another moment she was going to have to turn tail and run.3

As Hiei's feet hit the ground, creating almost no break in sound due to his speed, he thought about how long he would be running and just how far it would be to run the levels all at once and at this constant speed.

He'd never done it before, he realized. He'd always kept at a slower pace, either out of necessity for the guild or simply because his top speed hadn't been necessary for such a long distance run.

The only other instance he could readily recall was his sprint from Rae's palace.

I can do it, easy.

He pushed himself faster and faster, realizing that his top speed was even faster than he remembered it to be.

The wind whipped violently around him, flattening his hair and pulling the tie from its place tucked under his vest. He didn't at first notice it, but the second it began to feel as if it would start to choke him, he ripped it from his neck and let that too fall to the ground.

Not too long after that and he entered the Second Level. As he crossed this Level, he shed the green vest he'd been wearing too. *

Slowly, beckoning them forward with her energy and keeping the others in place on the floor, Shikiyoku began to back out of the room, eyes ticking between six individuals who were moving after her and with this third puff at their faces seeming less affected each time.

"Now." She was still wearing that same self-confident grin that clearly indicated she felt certain this would either work, or it would no longer be her problem. "No offense to all of you wonderful people at my feet, but I'm doing this in part for you. So please don't take advantage of my unexpected benevolence and do...anything...stupid.

"You'll know sooner rather than later as to whether or not we were successful in this whole endeavour.

"Also, it's probably going to take you longer than you like before you can get up. Sorry about that."

Having reached the main doors of the room, drawing the six as close to her as she dared and knowing they had consumed every bit of energy that lay beyond the doors, one of them suddenly snarled and rushed forward to strike at her, only to find she wasn't quite where they remembered and missed.

She let out an indignant little sniff and wiggled a finger at him.

"Ah, ah, ah. Naughty demon. No touch, only smell." She spared a moment to set her glimmering gaze on one of the humans on the floor near the door. "If you would be a dear and close this for me, then I can safely be on my way."

And once the door was closed, she turned and ran.

Her process was a simple one: running from them and trailing her energy out behind her in a constant stream beneath their metaphorical noses so they wouldn't have a chance to be distracted.

Eventually as she descended the levels moving for the Seventh and The Last Stand, amidst her dodging their attacks as her alluring affect on them began to fade, a tug at her core shifted her form and her tactics changed into a mad dash of true escapism, forced to blast their faces with the energy of her pain form when they inevitably grew too close, and yet give them enough of an incentive to continue following.

Between balancing her speed, her energy, and her advancement down the levels, Shikiyoku was allowed little time to think, only at first reacting to what few desires she felt and then later honestly trying to put distance between herself and them and maintain enough of a beacon to be desirable. 3

As Hiei continued to descend the levels, he lost all notion of time passing. His mind became a blank tunnel with the light at the end being the Last Stand, and nothing else He channeled every bit of his energy into his feet and the path he took across level after level.

Eventually he recognized that the blurring of his surroundings was not quite as pronounced as before, and that what had once been just blurs of color were slowly becoming blurred shapes instead.

This became more pronounced once he recognized the terrain of the Fifth beginning to give way to the Sixth's entrance. Mindlessly he pushed himself even further beyond his own limits, gaining a tad bit of speed back but not enough to change his perception of the passing scenery.

The Sixth Level seemed to stretch on much longer than the others, and the only reason Hiei recognized that was due to the fact that blurred shapes had almost become trees and shrubbery. Rain no longer instantly dried on his skin from the wind, and on the few occasions he ran past an infected, it was becoming more frequent that they even noticed his presence, whereas before he was going by so quickly that they hadn't even had time to notice a breeze change or dirt being kicked up.

When he crossed to the Seventh finally, it was with a couple of the usual infected - not that he noticed their lack of energy behind him. Eventually they fell behind or were taken out by bigger prey - or even on occasion a demon just passing through the area unaware of his mission.

When the Last Stand was finally in his sights, a sort of relief momentarily lit the corners of his mind at the end of his journey and the possibility of turning back and running to help Shikiyoku.

He burst through the door and was immediately greeted with silence and eyes turning to him. The second he stopped, the walls suddenly appeared to be moving around him, stretching forward as if away from him.

"Six," Hiei began breathlessly, realizing that he recognized a few Hunters in the room, for one, and that, second, he was actually out of breath. "Crusnik. Six Crusnik coming." He took a step forward, his tired foot seeming to pulsate in protest against the wooden floor. "Ready Defenses."

I… can't go help Shiki.

"And last… I need a room."

She's so smart…

The demon sitting at the table closest to the door recognized the forward momentum of the black haired demon and he stood abruptly, just barely catching the blacking-out male before his face hit the floor. *

They weren't going to attack until the very moment they pulled her through the bar's barrier in the hopes she would draw them as close as possible and they could spring their traps on the Crusnik.

As she wound her way in their direction through the Seventh as quickly as she could manage while still keeping their attention, they waited, half-holding their breath, until their opening arrived.

She had never danced for so long in her entire life, but she was forced to reduce her actions to those memories of muscle in order to keep moving, changing steps in reaction to the minds of the six around her that clamored for her attention.

When she finally stumbled through the barrier, knowing her goal had been reached, she gratefully accepted the help of those that had pulled her through as they darted with her towards the building, her arms thrown behind their necks as they helped keep her standing and a cloak finding its way around her shoulders as the silence that had settled over the land was suddenly broken all at once with the sounds of battle as traps were sprung and defenses tested.

But as for Shiki, her part in it was done, and once the trio were beyond the main fighting force, they slowed their pace as they moved across the barren ground for the door. 3

When Hiei woke, there was an oppressive silence hanging in the air. He immediately searched for Shikiyoku, first in the room and then in the bond. At first, neither seemed to give him what he wanted, and he shot upright in bed.

The room swirled around him and his muscles protested, but he ignored those things and turned inwards in search for the bond. He scoured every crevice of his mind until he found it, quiet and cold and distant, but still active. Recognizing this as how it acted when she was in her scarred form, relief instantly flooded his muscles and he relaxed.

But she wasn't there yet, and that worried him. He'd been out, but he didn't know how long he'd been out. Worry settled into his core and he shifted on the bed, sliding his heavy, almost deadened legs over the edge and setting his tired, still-aching feet on the floor.

He blinked at the black slacks he wore, the ends ripped, mudy, and torn all the way up to his knee. And he wore no shoes.

It matters not.

He made himself stand even as his legs wobbled a little, the muscles protesting from their excessive use. He grunted with the first two steps, but forced himself to press his lips together and make his way down to the bar on the first floor, where the tension was radiating from.

It took him much longer than he'd like to admit to reach the base of the stairs. He pushed the door open and glanced around the room, meeting a few hardened stares.

She's not on the level yet. They've no idea how long until she's here, and I can't tell them yet.

He shuffled his way to the nearest table and slumped into the chair, all of his physical energy taken with that action. And that was where he stayed as the days passed, each more tense than the first.

A few demons talked to Hiei here and there, about their work and about the upcoming battle. A few made sure he ate and drank when he would sink into the bond for hours at a time.

In the twenty four hours before Shikiyoku's arrival on the Level, Hiei stayed in the bond the entire time, waiting for any change, any indication of her presence growing closer.

The very second she crossed to the Level, Hiei announced it to the room before he sunk further into it, planning to give the demons around him warning about two hours before her arrival.

He wanted to run to her, to help her. But the one time he got up to move, he still felt a stiffness in his legs that told him he'd be no help to her even if he could get to her. So he sat where he was until he announced her growing closer.

Everything came alive then. Demons began moving this way and that, preparing to retrieve her and knowing that, if he hadn't been able to walk after his arrival, she likely wouldn't be able to either.

At the time of retrieval, Hiei planted himself just outside the door of the establishment, taking in the defenses around the building and how they worked, but staying out of the way even as the demons carried her closer.

When she was close enough to see his expression, Hiei's lips settled into a smile as his way of greeting, but he held the door open so that the demon carrying her could take her wherever she wished to be, and he followed closely behind.

(Glad you made it.)

~!**!~

The morning after Akari's machines had stopped working, she took her time in getting dressed - dressing a bit more casual than usual due to the lack of business for the day - and she holed herself up in the office in the back room of the cafe.

She buried her nose in a phone book - something Ryouta gave her an odd look for - and browsed through every local electrician option she could find. On occasion, the raven demon would pop into her office and drop a piece of paper with a list of phone numbers on it, and she added to the ones she had found.

The first five places she called were not electrical companies, or anything related to electricity, despite what the grand book of numbers had told her. And the three after that were no longer in service.

Ryouta's list of numbers proved more fruitful than her own, but they came with their own issues.

One place wouldn't be able to dispatch a worker until the end of the week. Another place was understaffed and overpriced, so she declined their services.

The one company she decided to go with hadn't been able to dispatch anyone until late the next day. Unsatisfied with having to wait but unable to fix the situation herself, Akari sent Ryouta home and changed the schedule for the next day, calling the appropriate baristas and giving them another day off.

She hadn't liked having a whole day of nothing to do, so she'd spent her time on the Fourth, and only came back to the first to feed Nabu and Kiyoko and get the usual two hours of sleep.

When the Electrician arrived - a middle-aged human in a uniform with scruffy facial hair - Akari talked him through what was happening and then left him to do his job while she did her own in her office.

She called her ingredient company and requested a delay in delivery - she hadn't used enough stock to require replenishment yet. She looked through emails and replied to any that might have needed it - though they were few in number and even fewer still required her actual attention.

She even reorganized her office when nothing else was available for her to do.

Ryouta stopped by long enough to see her clicking her pen against her desk and listening to the electrician's work, and he passed her an odd little trinket meant to keep her hands busy.

"If you need me, call me," he'd said.

She'd opened her mouth to reference a song that she'd heard earlier that day, but decided against it as he disappeared from her view and could be heard leaving the shop.*

~!**!~

After making sure the poncho-like cloak had gotten over her head, one of the demons under Shikiyoku's arm had been called off just a few hundred yards from the door as another rushed past and once she had been escorted inside the building, the second nodded to her and left to join his station in the fray, leaving the scar-faced Shiki all but alone in the bar with her Consort.

Clutching the covering about her, she took a few more staggering steps towards the nearest table out of the way of the door before turning back, sternly giving Hiei a once-over to make sure he was all there and then all at once reaching an arm around him and nearly lifting him from his feet as her other hand found the back of his neck and tilted his face up to meet her as she planted her lips against his, pulling back a little before he might have a chance to even consider changing her back and staring into his crimson gaze with her own.

"...hi..." 3

Hiei looked Shikiyoku up and down several times, looking for any injuries other than her sore and tired muscles. When he found none the first time, he checked two more times, and before he could check a fourth time, he found himself swept up by the woman he'd been scrutinizing.

He returned her kiss instantly and without hesitation, returning the sentiment of relief even without the bond being able to tell him that that's what she was feeling in those moments.

When she pulled away, he briefly smirked at her. "Hi."

This time he kissed her, and not once did he consider changing her back. He was simply too happy to see her to think of it.

He did, however, feel his legs protest with his standing, so when he pulled away, it was to sit in the chair nearest him.

~!**!~

Akari fiddled with the odd little cube of moving parts, her eyes staring straight ahead and her ears trained on the man in the front of the shop. She swiveled this part and clicked that one, and was about to turn it over and find the sliding mechanism when she heard the human setting his tools down and walking towards the back room.

She made herself look busy on the computer so that maybe he wouldn't think she'd been waiting specifically on his approach.

He popped his head around the corner of her office door. "Miss, I've had a look at your wall."

Akari swiveled in her chair and turned to look at him, and immediately decided she did not like the look on his face. "Well, what's up?"

He turned to head towards the front. Akari scrambled to follow, catching up and staying right on his heels until he came to a standstill in front of a gutted outlet. "Well, It's unfixable."

Akari blinked and looked from the outlet to the man who'd pulled it apart. "I'm sorry?"

"It's the parts. Or, well, it's the building in general." He gestured to another outlet further towards the front door that he'd pulled from the wall. "The wiring here is just too old to maintain. The parts you need to fix what's corroded aren't even being made anymore, and the parts you do have are so old that, frankly, I'm surprised the building hasn't burned down."

Akari blinked at the man in disbelief. "You're... serious."

He leveled her with a look. "I don't get paid to make jokes, ma'am."

She frowned at him and crossed her arms. "Well, what can I do to improve the wiring and prevent any future issues like this?"

The man hesitated with a look around the room, his eyes going from outlet to outlet. "Well, with the costs of replacing the wiring - which would also mean tearing out the walls, taking out the old wiring, and putting in new wiring - you'd spend…." He continued to look around the room thoughtfully. When he did finally turn back to her, it was with a stare that made her uncomfortable. "It's probably cost more than this building is even worth, appliances and all included."

WHAT?!

He began to gather his tools from the nearby countertop, not even bothering to put the outlet covers back on. "My advice to you: don't waste your time and money on knocking out walls and replacing the wiring. If the wiring is this bad, I'm sure the plumbing is just as awful." He gave a sigh. "To get to the point: you'd spend a lot less money if you just bulldozed the whole lot and started over from the ground up. All new equipment, all new wiring, all new… everything."

Speechless at just the idea of such an undertaking, Akari couldn't even stop the electrician from giving her his bill and leaving, his work completed. *

~!**!~

Shikiyoku gently let him slip from her grasp, herself now stunned to be after so long standing still.

Her darkened amber eyes swept the room around them, staring for a moment at the door and hearing through it occasional sounds of the resulting conflict outside.

"Seems like you made it in plenty of time." She murmured, proud of him, but eyes ever watchful on the door. 3

With Shikiyoku's attention turned to the door, Hiei's eyes followed suit, the Jagan trained on the happenings outside the establishment and watching for any threat past the defenses.

"Once I hit the Sixth, I realized I was slowing way down. For a minute I thought you might catch up, given your stamina over mine," he admitted as he thought about his mindless running. He wasn't sure how long it had taken him, but if he had to venture a guess, he'd say almost a week and a half.

He felt the Jagan blink slowly, and he realized that he'd had it open for even longer than that. He slowly instructed it to close, to rest like the rest of his muscles, and he instead watched the door with just his own two eyes.

~!**!~

Once the electrician had left, Akari couldn't really bring herself to walk away from the exposed wires and the broken pieces of the building. She simply stood there, bill from the man in her hand, staring at the mess.

After a while she called Ryouta to relay this information, and was met with silence on the other end of the line. His silence gave her plenty of time to question her willingness to fix this huge problem, and to question her desire to continue on the path she had been on up until this point.

"I'll be right there," he finally said, and then the line went dead.

It wasn't more than ten minutes later that Ryouta walked into the door and locked it behind himself again. He turned and found the dog demoness standing right where he imagined she'd be, staring at the hole in the wall with her phone in one hand and papers in the other, both hanging lifelessly at her side.

She was getting ready to run from the problem, he realized. He could see the doubts swirling around her as if they had a physical form, and he could just imagine the excuses for not wanting to fix what was hers.

He swallowed a sigh and herded her to a table. He got her to sit and then took the seat across from her with a hand held out for the paperwork. She forked it over robotically, but with a sigh.

He unfolded the paper and scanned its contents. "What's your plan of action?"

"I… don't have one."

I'm not surprised. He read the notes about the old wiring, finding that that was even less surprising than Akari's inability to see the opportunity in front of her. He thought in silence for a few moments, preparing himself for gently leading an otherwise unwilling canine demon towards what he knew would be good in the coming months.

"It's… a lot," she whispered suddenly, and Ryouta took a moment to look at her from over the paperwork.

"Anything worth having comes at a price," he said slowly. "If it were easy, it would be boring."

She made a face, and he didn't have to be a mind reader to know her thoughts. She'd been living in complacency for a while, it seemed.

"Before you decide on whether or not this is something you want to do, we should make sure it's even something you can do."

Akari blinked and slowly lifted her head to stare at Ryouta, confused. "What'ya mean?"

"Where's the deed to the building?" *

~!**!~

Knowing the battle could take hours and turn them into days, Shikiyoku shifted to face Hiei just as the Jagan closed and she nearly smiled at him as she watched his face for a moment.

"You did well, little fire. Now it is their turn." She couldn't rightly decide if she was hungry or thirsty, but her eyes lifted again to sweep the room for a second time. 3

Hiei continued to watch the door for a few more moments, thinking about nothing in particular but aware of everything around him. He took in the silence that followed his admittance and realized that Shikiyoku had run longer than he had, and that the only person available to care for her as the others had cared for him was, well, him.

He pushed himself to stand slowly as she talked, his face giving away nothing of the stiff soreness still in his legs even as he moved for the bar. He took up residence behind the barkeep's station and began to mix a couple of drinks, his hands moving with the precision afforded to him by the instances he'd worked in Shikiyoku's bar.

Along with the alcohol, he made sure to pour a glass of water for Shiki too, and he walked those beverages to her before starting any type of meal. When behind the bar again, he had to search for their sandwich ingredients and other easy meal things, glad that it seemed set up similarly to how the bar back home was when he almost immediately found what he needed.

He put together two sandwiches, grabbed some chips, and then sat with her again, passing her the two sandwiches, two bags of chips, and keeping a bag for himself. "If you need more, let me know."

~!**!~

Akari rifled through the filing cabinets in her office until she finally came away with the contract she'd signed when Gramps had given her the keys to the shop. She stared at it, looking for the word deed on it, and when she didn't find it, she made her way back to the table where Ryouta was sitting.

"This is what I got when I was given the shop," she passed the contract over.

"Given?" he repeated as he took the paper and began to read it over.

Akari sat in her seat across from him and folded her hands in her lap. "When I started working here, the original owner was this older couple. A family run place, yknow?" He nodded and she continued. "Well, one of them fell and got hurt, and I guess it just made them realize that they couldn't do it anymore, so they sold the shop. But the person who bought it from them specifically put in the agreement that I was to be owner. I think."

Ryouta glanced up at her briefly. "Not owner. Manager."

She blinked at him.

"The buyer still owns it. You only oversee the inside and the workers. Basically, you have a boss who isn't really interested in managing you or the store, just in the building itself."

"Okay… What does that mean?"

"It means that, while you do have all the authority of hiring, firing, stocking, and running this 'company'," he made air quotes around the word company, "you have no say in the structure itself. If you wanted to even so much as paint the interior, you'd need approval from the building's owner."

When Akari didn't respond, he turned back down to the contract.

"So, my question for you is: do you like running this shop?" *

~!**!~

Her shoulder flinching once in the growing silence as her eyes darted around again as if expecting a pair of dark eyes from a corner to advance on her position, Shikiyoku took mild notice of the stiffness she felt in Hiei's form within the bond as he moved, and her gaze continued to scan the tables and benches and chairs and even the fireplace in the corner which had up until very recently been tended and still cast a warm and merry glow onto the otherwise well-lit room.

Hiei's noises nearby made her slightly pointed ears twitch as she took note of them, watching as he placed drinks on the table she stood over and then moved away again, her darting expression finding him a second time when he returned again and sat down with the food.

She had yet to move much from the place where she came to a final stand, next to the table he had initially sat down at, head swiveling again almost absently to mark each shadow for the tenth time and while knowing there were drinks and food at hand, at the moment only nodding at either, at Hiei, and shifting to survey the room. 3

Hiei recognized the darting eyes of Shikiyoku's fear, and he understood. She'd gone so long without sleep, without rest in any way, and had been chased and stalked the whole way, unable to really get away and not doing so even though she wanted to. So, slowly, he reached a hand out to take hers, his touch gentle and warm against her chilled skin.

"You've done your part, my Jewel. It's their turn now, and there's nothing inside these walls but you, me, the bar, and empty rooms."

~!**!~

"I…" Akari lowered her eyes from Ryouta's unwavering stare, and instead turned to stare at her hands in her lap. "I've never thought about enjoying it. I've always just…"

Ryouta nodded as if he'd known that all along. "This would be the prime opportunity to take something given to you and make it yours. That being said, this is not a decision to make lightly." He looked up at her again and was surprised to see her meet his gaze. "If you are not absolutely certain that you want to go through with this…. With building a new shop and taking charge of it, and being responsible for it and all of its parts, then you should seriously consider what it is you do want with it. Because as it is now, it'll never make enough money to stay open."

The pair stared at one another for a while, Akari contemplating Ryouta's words and Ryouta gauging her response to his little push. She watched him watch her as she thought, and after a while she found herself looking around at the shop, considering the memories inside and the people who currently worked for her.

Did she really want to continue working here? DId she really want to oversee such a huge change and start over again?

I'll have to start over either way. Either I start over with the shop, or I start over with a new job.

She blinked slowly at that realization and the negative emotion that settled in her stomach at the thought of finding a new job.

I… really don't want to do anything else.

As she stared at the various machines on the counters, she realized some of them look old and worn, almost overused. But each one had a memory attached to it, and she found that those memories could almost be considered pleasant ones.

...perhaps she really had grown fond of this place.

When she turned to look at Ryouta again, there was a spark in her irises that hadn't been there before. The raven gave her a small nod of approval before he looked down at the contract again. "Alright. So now your next step is to get the owner of the building to approve of demolishing and rebuilding." He found the number in seconds and turned the paper so she could see it when he pointed it out. "Call this number. You may not get an answer immediately; they probably own several businesses. In the meantime, you should be thinking about what you want this place to look like."

"..I have no idea where to even begin with that."

"Than I suggest you do some research." *

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's fingers wrapped themselves around Hiei's hand when he took it in his grasp, his voice pulling her eyes in his direction.

"Of course." She nodded again, glancing at the door out of the corner of her eye but giving his hand a squeeze. "...It feels so strange to be doing nothing." She admitted. 3

Hiei nodded in understanding; had he not passed out at his arrival, he may have felt the same as she did. And, really, while he had been sitting motionlessly most of the time here, he really had been waiting and observing the bond, acting like a sentry of sorts to alarm the Hunters and others of Shikiyoku's approach.

He picked up a sandwich with his free hand and lifted it to her in an offer. "I'm sure if they need us, they'll inform us on how we can help." *

Shikiyoku's eyes seemed to flit vaguely with amusement at the prospect, even as after a moment she found herself sweeping the room absently again.

"I am of use to no one right now, I do not think. But a part of me seems to believe I should still be running. Will have to start again at any moment." She had yet to sit down, but accepted the sandwich in her free hand, only to look over her shoulder at the door. 3

With his bag of chips in his free hand, Hiei pinched the plastic and used his teeth to pull it open, and without hesitation he began to dump chips from the bag and into his mouth, hoping Shikiyoku might see him eating and decide she should do the same for herself.

He lowered the bag from his lips and chewed noisily for a moment, his eyes still on her as she stared at the door.

He recognized that she'd made it farther than he had by running longer than he did and not immediately collapsing once she was in safety. This coupled with the fact that she didn't normally run for such long stretches of time made Hiei worry that the moment she sat still, she'd pass out in a similar way that he did, and he wouldn't be able to get her to bed so she could properly rest.

So instead of tugging on her hand and guiding her to sit, he tugged on her hand to get her attention. "You need to eat and at least have the one glass of water. That's what you need to do." *

Another ear twitch at a sound coming from beyond the door, eyes darting to the crackling fire's movement.

"You are not wrong." Was Shikiyoku's somewhat gruff reply, gaze turning to regard him for a second where he sat. "I do not know if I have the strength to eat yet."

The shadows at the edges of her eyes shifted as if she might smile, "I feel as if I have danced a thousand nights." 3

Hiei emptied his small bag of chips into his mouth and dropped the plastic to the table, not a single crumb left inside. His gaze flickered between her face and the sandwich in her hand at her side, and he patiently pushed himself to stand again.

He wondered if her body was simply too tired to do the things he wanted her to do.

Not to mention her short attention span being so trained on the only task she'd been doing for the past two weeks. She'd fallen into a routine, and now she needed to rest and reset.

But he didn't want to chance her starving in her sleep.

So when he got to his feet, he pushed his chair closer to her, grabbed her second sandwich from the table, and climbed to stand on the seat he had previously been sitting on. His thighs protested, but he ignored it in favor of caring for Shikiyoku, who he knew needed rest and nutrition.

"Here." He released her hand long enough to tear a piece of the sandwich off from the whole and he pushed it past her lips. "Let's rest after you've eaten. You need it." *

Had it been a moment between them anywhere else, Shikiyoku might have laughed as Hiei was suddenly in direct line of sight and trying to hand-feed her the food he assembled.

As it was, her eyes glimmered with distant amusement at him as she steadied her gaze on his features, raising an eyebrow as he spoke.

She shifted herself up to the chair where he stood and wrapped her free arm around his waist to hold him against her, accepting his offering with a particular look that did not leave his eyes as she contented herself with staring at him.3

Hiei gave no arguments to Shikiyoku's sudden rapt attention, nor did he mind the arm she wrapped around his waist as he pulled his hand away from her mouth to tear another piece of the sandwich from the whole.

He did however meet her stare when he looked up at her again, a part of him waiting for a reaction, any reaction, as he met her gaze for gaze. He offered the bite of sandwich to her again, still staring right back at her as he tapped her lips with it.

What she's doing is… what I'd do if the roles were reversed, he thought to himself as a sort of discomfort began to bloom beneath the surface. But he kept staring and offering her food all the same. *

With Hiei finally this close, and not going anywhere any time soon, Shikiyoku leveled her gaze on him and without batting an eye continued to take the food he offered her as long as he did so until, once the sandwich was gone, she continued for a few seconds more to just stare at him, face unreadable.

In one smooth motion, she slipped the sandwich in her other hand onto the table where it had already nearly fallen out of her grasp anyway, and decided she had stored up enough strength to get them both into the nearest bed, finished with the entire affair and sweeping Hiei all at once off his feet and into her arms as she turned to leave. 3

Bit by bit Hiei fed the sandwich to her, his gaze staying locked with hers in a moment of his self-perceived challenge. He paid little mind to the warmth at his face, and had even less care for the slight urge to fidget under that unreadable stare.

Is this what it's like? He thought briefly about all the times he'd stared at her in much the same way. He wasn't sure if he liked it or disliked it.

By the time he might have formed an opinion on the matter, he'd finished feeding her the sandwich and the world was suddenly moving. He quickly reached for the water, his first thought being that she would need that too, and once it was in his grasp the world began moving again.

Shikiyoku had taken all of two steps before he realized that it was not his own feet moving him towards the stairs, and he looked down at himself and the arms curled under and around him.

How…. How did I get here?

He turned to stare up at Shiki with no small amount of confusion at his 'predicament'. *

"You are having trouble getting around." Shiki told him frankly, her gaze meeting his with its usual blank steadiness. "And I find myself impatient."

She continued moving, looking forward again.

"Having gathered the strength, I thought it easier this way." She started up the stairs, glancing briefly at his face with something that could have been amusement. "Since I currently have no other way of repaying your kindness." 3

Hiei blinked once at Shikiyoku before simply giving a nod. "Understandable," he replied verbally, though some part of him was still confused about something or another. Perhaps it was the gleam behind her gaze that gave him pause, or her mention of his 'kindness', but whatever it was, he internally grumbled at it to go away and he turned to watch the water glass in his hands.*

Knowing she would have little choice but to find the nearest possible bed, Shiki made no ceremony of opening the first door she came across and entering it, closing it behind her while continuing to hold Hiei close and moving to the bedside, setting him down on its surface and making no hesitation of crawling over him to the other side to collapse on top of the blankets, stretching her legs down the length of the bed.

She meant to pull him closer, but only stopped moving because of the glass of water he held. 3

Hiei's eyes watched the sloshing water intently, almost hellbent on not spilling a single drop as he was carried up the stairs, into a room, and then laid across the comfortable surface of the bed, the cup still resting against his stomach and between his hands.

He frowned at it as the water stilled, his distraction no longer serving its purpose as Shiki crawled over him and stretched out next to him.

And when he realized Shiki was staring at him - or the water glass, he wasn't sure and didn't particularly want to look and find out - he slowly turned to set it on the nearby bedside table.

Today has been a weird day…

But Shiki is here.

That thought had the fire demon turning to face Shikiyoku completely and staring into her face, taking a moment to fully appreciate her presence, despite the silence of the bond. *

Arms still stretched halfway between them, after a beat of pause once Hiei turned to look at her where she only stared silently into his eyes, she flicked the tips of her fingers twice as if it might encourage him to draw closer.

"You are much too far away, little fire." 3

Hiei had fully expected to be pulled closer to the woman across from him. He had fully expected her to simply situate him however she was most comfortable, and he definitely would not have minded since he wasn't able to read her half of their shared bond.

When she instead kept her arms extended in his direction and hinted that he had to be the one to make that decision, he gave a little hn of amusement and obliged.

He shifted himself around on the bed until he was laying with his arms around her waist and his head resting on a pillow next to her shoulder. "Better?"*

As Hiei moved closer, Shikiyoku gathered him up into her arms as he shifted, stared deeply into his eyes for a moment when he asked, and then kissed him soundly on the lips, eventually pulling away to shift her head onto a pillow.

"A little." 3

Internally, Hiei made a long sound that might have resembled a protest if he wasn't actually enjoying these moments as much as he was. And, really, the problem wasn't that he disliked the situation he was in, but rather that he liked it and had no idea what to do about it.

The bond, of course, was working overtime with his rampant, unchecked emotions in these moments, eager to tell Shikiyoku almost exactly how happy her attentions and affections made him feel.

Especially during the kiss.

When she did pull away and rest her head on the pillow, Hiei followed for a moment and planted one more quick kiss on her, as if he hadn't quite gotten enough of her yet.

He wanted to reply something witty. Really, he did. But in this moment, staring into the face of this woman in this form, the fire demon found himself incapable of thinking, much less responding. *

At the kiss her retreat received, Shiki's features looked a little less severe than before as if perhaps pleased, and she sunk further into the bed as exhaustion suddenly reared its demands on her body.

A single, dull-amber eye opened under his stare to regard him with that same unreadable air as before and she shifted her head slightly to open the other one and stare back.

After a moment, one of her eyebrows rose further amidst the scars that colored her ashen-grey face with their memories.

"See something you like?" 3

A quiet sense of relief settled over Hiei as Shiki's eyelids slid closed and she relaxed into the bed. He wanted her to rest, to sleep while the world around them worried about the problem she had worried about for two weeks. He wanted her to be comfortable and content.

Because somehow, their harebrained plan had worked, and neither one of them had sustained any injuries other then sore muscles.

May we never have to do that again….

Shikiyoku's question pulled him from his thoughts and he looked her up and down. A slight smile came to rest over his expression, bringing a light to his eyes as he gestured vaguely at her in response. *

"Hm." The noise did not part Shikiyoku's lips as she hummed against them in regards to his response, her own expression almost unchanging until as she moved her head back to where it was, she let out a deep sigh and the barest of tension passed briefly across her brow as she pulled her lips into her mouth to pass the tip of her tongue over a part of the heart-shaped scar that she would forever bear.

"...my scars ache..." She murmured half into sleep, letting out a sigh as her body gave in to the comforts around it. The hand with Kitoushi's Consort marking twitched, the constantly underlying pulse of pain from it and the one at her lip something that had never, would never, go away. 3

A frown began to crease the space between Hiei's brows as he noticed the general hints of discomfort in her actions. It left him faced with the fact that he couldn't read her in this form, that the bond either couldn't or wouldn't share whatever it was that may or may not be bothering her.

So when she verbally revealed a physical pain to him, a touch of frustration bloomed. He couldn't really take the pain away or split it with her through their usual bond.

But he wanted to make her feel better. He wanted her to be able to relax and sleep pain-free.

Without much thought on the matter, the fire demon carefully took hold of her twitching hand and lifted it to his lips, where he kissed the heart shaped scar as if that might transfer her pain to him. And he did the same with the scar on her lips.

When he pulled away from the kiss on her lips, he stared at her for a brief second, considering the unreadable expression and almost deadened bond. After a breath of silence and what might have been hesitation, he leaned forward again and pressed his lips to hers for a second time, this time with the intent to have her switch forms and be relieved of the pain of her past. *

Nearly asleep in the embrace of the covers and the pillow and the arms of her Consort, after two weeks of constant chase, Shikiyoku watched through half-lidded eyes as she felt Hiei move her hand to his lips and then his lips to her own, eyes closing as if she knew that he would take away their pain if he was able.

When he pulled away for a second time, she relaxed more fully, sinking into the mattress below her and almost overtaken by the darkness of sleep as her eyes fluttered open for a moment when she felt him kiss her again, and this time the wash of his desire to shift her forms shimmered through their bond and across her body, starting at her lips where he met them with his and sending a dull energy over her.

It was only at the very last that her size shifted. While the scars had filled in and disappeared, the skin beginning to glow and heal, and the hair whispering to life around her ears, it was not until at the very last that Shikiyoku made the conscious choice this time to change into her more human form as she lay next to Hiei. Once fully herself, she gave him a sleepy smile as her tired green eyes opened to look at him.

"Yah did good, flameboy." She mumbled, shifting closer and holding him tight.3

Hiei smirked, "I know."

(I'm glad you're here.)

He pulled her closer and went quiet, knowing she needed to rest and hoping she would get a lot of it if she were warm and felt safe. He touched his lips to the top of her head and pulled away just enough that her hair wouldn't tickle his nose, but stayed close enough that all he would be able to smell was her.

She'd been too far away for far too long.

~!**!~

After adequate amounts of rest and enough time passing that Hiei's stiffness in his legs was gone, he paid the bartender for the food and drinks he'd made for Shikiyoku, and then they were on their way back to home.

For a while they ran together, Hiei maintaining a speed that was comfortable to Shikiyoku but not so fast that she would tire quickly. They didn't rush home, really, but they didn't exactly dawdle either.

At one point, he'd taken to carrying her and running a little faster. He didn't do this because of her lack of speed, but more so because he'd just wanted to. And she didn't really seem to protest to this either.

They ran in this way until Hiei crossed onto the First Level, where the air changed and became lighter and more familiar, more like what he associated with home. Only here did he set Shikiyoku onto her own feet again, but he took her hand into his own for the rest of the way to the bar.

Approaching the bar was met with high energy and an obvious gathering of many demons inside the establishment - more than he'd remembered being there when he'd left the last time. Despite this, there was an odd lack of noise that he didn't particularly care enough to speculate on, instead chalking it up to the noise-cancelling enchantments on the front door.

So when he pushed the door open - his eyes pointed to Shikiyoku behind him with a smile that spoke volumes about his being happy to be back - he felt a jolt of surprise when the silence was broken up with an uproar of voices.

He didn't even have time to react before Tarou was past him and spinning, Shikiyoku in his arms. Over the other loud shouts of congratulations, Tarou's words of approval and excitement were lost to Hiei, and they continued to be so when Akihiko approached with a hand extended in a formal welcoming gesture.

"Welcome home, Boss."

~!**!~

Days passed for Akari one after another, each more frustrating than the last. She called and called the number on the contract, at first getting no answer and leaving very formal voicemails detailing the situation. But, as the days wore on and she continued to get no response, she began balancing her time between checking out different coffee shops for ideas for her own shop and calling the number.

Finally, one day she had been able to get someone to pick up the phone, but it had been only a secretary who had no answers to Akari's questions, and could only leave a message to the person she actually needed to get hold of.

And every call after that was the same. She always got a different secretary who couldn't tell her when the building owner would be back in town, or even if they would be back anytime soon. The excuses were different from person to person, but they usually bounced from 'vacation' to 'family leave' to 'business trips'.

Eventually, she gave up calling and decided she'd harassed the people enough. Either she'd get a call back, or she would leave and never go back to the building. Either option suited her, despite her sudden dislike of the idea of never going back to the shop.

She began to spend all of her free time with Nabu and Kiyoko, who were more than pleased to have her undivided attention while she waited for that call back. They often spent hours at the park together, going on runs and playing games that helped keep Akari from feeling antsy and from running to the Fourth, where cell phone reception was nonexistent.

She began to spend some time with Botan, who didn't seem to mind taking excursions to furniture stores and coffee shops to help her get ideas for interior designs.

It was refreshing to be spending time with someone who wanted nothing from her but friendship, and it was equally so to find that this person not only had ideas, but was even encouraging in the moments where Akari wanted to just drop the whole thing and run.

So when Akari bumped into Botan coming out of a bookstore in the middle of the afternoon - Akari looking for magazines and books about interior design and coffee shops - she wasted no time in hugging the girl and asking about her buy.

"Well, you know Yukina's wedding to Kuwabara is coming up, and Shikiyoku has been making the dress and all that. Yukina's been helping, and Shikiyoku and I have both told her this isn't true, but she thinks her 'helping' with the dress is adding flaws and messing it up. So, I thought I'd stop by and get her a few books on sewing and embroidery, to make her feel more confident!"

Akari stared, a sinking feeling in her stomach the longer Botan talked.

"It's a lot of fun, really, watching Yukina help make the kimono. It's going to be so pretty when it's done!"

"Botan… What time do you guys have dinner?"

The blue haired woman blinked, confused by the subject change. "Uh, early evening. Why?"

"...I'm buying dinner."

"...okay?"*

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had gotten lost in Hiei's expression as the two of them passed over the threshold of her bar, so that by the time two muscular arms had wrapped around her shoulders and lifted her from the ground as she let go of Hiei in surprise, Shikiyoku only blinked and then felt the giant smooch on her cheek before realizing Tarou was holding her off the floor after at least one spin.

"Boy am I SO glad to see you!" He exclaimed as he rubbed the side of his somewhat scruffy face against her own momentarily before they were mobbed not only by familiar faces of guild members and patrons alike, but also countless eyes she had never seen in her bar before now.

The guild had been the first to move, surrounding her now with their own hugs and sometimes kisses of relief, voicing similar sentiments as Tarou and one of them doing so with tears in his eyes that Shikiyoku fawned over with reassurances and gently kissed away as they fell down the sides of his face.

Though certainly not initially aware of the celebratory air, the notion dawned on her as a couple of them lifted her up onto their shoulders as if parading her around, and proceeding to carry her over to one of the long tables and plopping her down in a seat before presenting her with a large drink as the conversations and congratulations and thanks continued in a stream of what seemed to Shiki an unending assortment of words and faces and emotions.

"So, I guess YOU'RE the new celebrity around here!" A shove and a grin later, an extremely familiar face had commandeered the seat next to Shiki as none other than Yusuke Urameshi himself made an appearance. "These guys needed something new to yammer about. All the other stories have gotten a bit stale."

Shikiyoku was smiling, but shook her head, "I never asked for this, Yusuke."

"Yeah, well, neither did I." He admitted, Shikiyoku noting the momentary chagrin of past deeds' remembrance and his subsequent notoriety falling across his expression all at one.

He lifted his own tankard up, gestured towards her beverage with it, and waited for her to oblige by bringing it between them before making his private toast with her in the middle of the raucous of those around them.

"To the regret of saving the world." He nodding once, knowing they had an understanding as they stared into one another's eyes and their drinks met briefly between them.

...for it was at that moment Shiki realized just how far the guild had spread the word of her deed. 3

Lots of things were happening around him, and Hiei only had enough time to register who was passing by him before he stepped out of and away from the crowd, unwilling to be elbowed and shoved. Several demons welcomed him back, but most ran for Shikiyoku, which was more than okay to the smiling fire demon.

Tarou at some point forced a large drink into his hands with a wink - you're not getting out of this, Boss - before he disappeared into the crowd again.

Akihiko stood next to Hiei and the pair quietly watched the guild carry Shikiyoku across the bar and to a table, where she was lost to the crowd that surrounded them. The two demons took a drink from their respective tankards, shared a look, nodded, and turned back to watch the celebrations.

"Alright, you fucks, listen up!" Tarou's voice boomed over the crowd and almost immediately silenced the bar as he came into view, standing on top of the table where Shikiyoku sat. For the first time, Hiei noticed Yusuke among the crowd, but he hung back in favor of not crowding Shiki. "It's story time!"

Akihiko sighed and shook his head. Hiei silently agreed and downed half of his drink.

"You all have heard of her! Lots of you have seen her! Well now, you're going to get to know her!" Tarou gestured with an open hand to Shikiyoku, in the crowd. "And of course, we can't have this story without her faithful sidekick!" Tarou gestured to Hiei, who was so happy to be back that he didn't seem to mind being called a sidekick. "So sit down, shut up, and drink yah damn booze, because this story is a wild one!"

"He's been waiting to tell this story all week," Akihiko mumbled over his cup.

~!**!~

Akari slipped into a restaurant while Botan finished her shopping. She ordered a little bit of almost everything, hoping she'd get at least a couple of things people liked. She grumbled incoherently to herself, chastising herself for not thinking to ask what everyone liked.

But, she was sure that was a very small problem when compared to Akari's forgetfulness where the wedding was concerned.

I… am a jerk.

She smiled at the cashier and passed over her card, saying a brief thank you as bags of to go boxes were set on the counter. She gathered them carefully in one hand, stuffed her card and the receipt in her pocket, then split the bags between her two hands and met up with Botan.

Akari didn't really hear any of Botan's attempts at idle chatter. She was too worried about what to say to Yukina that time passed quicker than usual, and she was standing at the door behind the former ferry girl.

She was sure Botan announced their arrival as she opened the door, but she didn't really hear that either as she stepped inside and stepped out of her tennis shoes. She took a few steps into the apartment and glanced around, looking for the kitchen.

"Oh, the kitchen's this way!"

Akari nodded and followed Botan quietly, still ruminating over what was to come.*

Yukina looked up from where she stood in the corner of the living room and had been tugging gently at the sleeve of the dress where it sat on the torso mannequin.

"Hi Akari! Welcome home, Botan. Keiko should be getting off work soon." She finished as she followed them once she realized Keiko was not entering with them.

~!**!~

The private moment Yusuke and Shikiyoku had together did not last much more than a single moment as the two of them briefly had their shoulders shoved apart as first one giant stomp landed on the bench between them and then a second tromped up onto the table, the already towering form of Tarou now more than just head and shoulders above the rest and seeming to bring the entire room into as quiet as it would likely grow with this many bodies packed into its walls.

Shikiyoku's expression as Tarou started grew more and more uncomfortable as she realized just what the hulking demon had decided to do in this moment.

Please don't do this.

Her silent plea went unnoticed by the exuberant male above her.

Yusuke gently nudged his shoulder against hers and indicated the drink in her hand, which she suddenly remembered and quickly downed as much in one go as she could stand.

Had this been even a couple of centuries ago, Shikiyoku would have been up on that table with Tarou, feeding off the gazes of those in the crowd. As it was, she really just wished the floor would swallow her up. 3

As Tarou went on weaving his tale, beginning with how he met Shikiyoku by helping build the bar, Hiei became aware of the growing discomfort in the bond. He finished his drink and turned inwards to analyze his and Shikiyoku's link even as he made his way to the bar, leaving Akihiko standing alone outside of the crowd.

Hiei filled his tankard up first before he grabbed a bottle and shuffled his way towards the crowd, taking long draws from his beverage.

"So there I was….!" Tarou gave a look about the room as if only noticing the crowd. "Wait, hold on." He took a long drink from a cup he found on the table before he stood upright again. "So! That's how I met these kind and loving people!"

A few confused mumbled filtered through the room.

"Except you, Boss!" Tarou waved his near-empty tankard in Hiei's direction. "You've never once told me you loved me!" A few questionable chuckles made their rounds in the room. "In fact, you're the worst!"

Unphased, Hiei lifted his cup in the demon's direction in acknowledgement. "I know!" This brought several people's attention to him, and he was able to easily navigate himself to Shikiyoku's side. He set the unopened bottle of demon's fire between her and Yusuke.

"So, there we were, having the time of our lives…" Tarou's voice grew quieter and he turned to look at Hiei. "We were partying, and drinking..." Hiei, who had been reaching to set his cup among those on the table, suddenly found himself not only yanked onto the table with Tarou, but was just as suddenly being spun around the table in a dance not unlike the one the brute had with Shikiyoku. "We were dancing, having a grand 'ol time! And then suddenly, BAM!"

Tarou froze in place, Hiei held off the table and mid-stride for whatever fancy dance he'd been pulled into.

"We were surrounded!"

~!**!~

Botan stopped on her way to the kitchen and poked her head into the living area, "I brought some stuff for you!" Plastic bags ruffled as she dug into the bags and pulled the embroidery books from their depths.

Akari kept moving to the kitchen even as Botan moved to hand Yukina the books she'd bought. One by one, the demoness set the different to go boxes out in a buffet-style setup, and she opened the boxes of appetizers before even considering opening the entres.

"I thought you might like these, since you've been working with Shikiyoku on your dress," Botan chittered as she extended the books to Yukina.

Akari moved into the room behind her, her hands working at the hem of her shirt as she watched the girls. "Yukina…" She lowered her head and took a moment to stare at the floor, as if that might help her find the words. "I know it's not nearly enough to make up for it, but I bought dinner for you and the others." She quickly dropped into a formal bow, afraid to look up at the girl. "I'msorryIforgotabouttheweddingbutKuwabaratoldmeaboutitandaskedmetobeinitand-"

She had to suck in a deep breath.

"And I'd totally understand if I wasn't welcome!"

The memory of Kuwabara's asking her to be a part of the wedding filled her mind and her stomach rolled.

"Before I leave, I'm going to ask Yukina if she'll marry me. In exactly one year. Don't really have time to do it today." He laughed nervously. "If she...says yes...will you...be a bridesmaid?"

"Of course. It'll be wonderful."

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter. *

Yukina gratefully took the books from Botan and glanced at their covers, front and back.

Taken aback by the sudden overflow of words from the red-head and sharing a confused glance with Botan, who seemed just as surprised as herself, Yukina gave an extremely pleasant laugh and reached forward to touch Akari on the arm.

"Unwelcome? No! You would be welcome any time, I am sure."

Botan nodded vigorously in agreement.

"I am very sorry if you felt you had forgotten about the wedding. We've certainly done no such thing here." She seemed a bit dry on the last part. "But Shiki still has a few sessions left on my dress, and hasn't mentioned anything yet about measurements for the bridesmaids, so I didn't even think to reach out to you yet!" She tapped her chin thoughtfully with a finger. "I doubt she's forgotten, but it may be worth mentioning to her next time that we don't have those measurements yet."

~!**!~

Hiei's approach and subsequent offering of alcohol was met with an expression of gratefulness from Shikiyoku and an (I could kiss you right now.) resonating within their bond.

And while Shiki's momentary relief was palatable as Tarou switched the story and pulled the unsuspecting fire demon onto the table in the proverbial spotlight with him, the amusement at the following situation was properly expressed by Yusuke's sudden bark of laughter and Shikiyoku's eyebrows raising much higher on her face-now more at ease as the drink continued to settle in her veins-as she leaned over to Yusuke where they sat near Tarou's feet and murmured to the other:

"I always knew he would look good with a taller man." ...which resulted in Yusuke immediately spitting up part of the gulp he had been taking. 3

As Hiei had been setting down his tankard, fully intending to fill Shikiyoku's, Yusuke's, and his own with the alcohol he'd just set down, he'd given the slightest of smiles at Shikiyoku. (Two weeks is a lot to make up fo-)

And the sound that whooshed from his lungs as he'd been pulled away was a sound he'd never made before.

The room spun around him a few times, his feet scrambling to keep up, before he was lifted completely from his feet and swept up into the arms of the storyteller. Yusuke's laugh created a crack in Hiei's otherwise flatline state, but Shikiyoku's comment is what pulled the fire demon back into reality long enough to shoot her a glare.

Hiei was suddenly set on his feet again and he found himself looking out at the crowd of demons, their faces a mix of confused, amused, and rapt attention. Tarou's hands landed on either shoulder, and Hiei realized he was standing against his guildmate's chest.

One of Tarou's hands left Hiei's shoulders to sweep the area in front of him. "They were everywhere. These twelve beasts-"

"There were six!" a random voice shouted from the crowd - definitely one of the guildmates.

"The twenty devils crept closer, their eyes-"

"THERE WERE ONLY SIX!"

"-dark and hungry."

"(I'm going to kill you all)", Hiei thought as he made an attempt to step away from Tarou.

"BUT!" Tarou's voice suddenly boomed throughout the nearly silent room. "Shikiyoku," he gestured at the main character of his story, "thought fast and, through her supersonic link with this guy," Tarou slammed a hand into Hiei's back, making him wheeze out and stumble forward, "formulated a plan to save the world!"

~!**!~

Yukina's laugh caught Akari so off guard that she quickly lifted her chin enough to look at the ice koorime, confusion the most dominant emotion on her face. Slowly, as if she thought it might not have been okay to do so just yet, the dog demoness straightened up and took a glance between the two women in the room.

She's not upset?

She didn't know how to react to the touch on her arm or the apology fired right back at her. She almost apologized again for making Yukina feel like she needed to apologize, but she bit her tongue at the mention of measurements and things.

Her frown only seemed to deepen.

"I really am sorry." I really gotta be better. "Also… I've never been in a wedding, so I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. So… if there's anything you need or want me to do…" She turned down to her hands again, as if their wringing the hem of her shirt would work away her worry. *

"Well...I've never been in one either!" Yukina gave Akari a reassuring smile and another soft laugh, "And neither has Botan. Keiko has been a big help and Shizuru has attended a couple herself."

"A couple of what?" Keiko wanted to know as she took off her shoes, having just come in on the tail-end of the conversation at hand.

"Weddings!" Yukina cheerfully replied and Keiko nodded back as her two roommates welcomed her home.

"Oh yeah. I was the maid of honor in one for a middle school friend a while back."

"Which is why we nominated you for the job for this wedding!" Botan exclaimed with a smile.

~!**!~

(Me first.) Shikiyoku replied even as she heard Hiei saying the statement to a room full of deaf ears to anything the fire demon might have to add in the moment, begging him with a: (Please.) 3

"Now, this guy here," Tarou pat Hiei on the same shoulder he'd slammed his hand into, "Is the fastest demon I know. So as I'm told to drop to the floor, a bright light fills the ballroom, and when I'm finally able to see, this glorious bastard in all his tattoos and death glaring wonder - Yeah, you can kill me later, Boss - is gone before my vision even clears!"

Hiei had turned his glare straight to Tarou, who had yet to let him take even a single step forward. This was perhaps the only instant he had ever wished Tarou was not a part of his guild.

"And there I see 'er, standing in the middle of the crazy, virus-driven creatures from hell, and all I'm thinkin' - with all respect to the Boss and their relationship - is holy hell she's hot!"

"GET ON WITH THE STORY!"

"Hold your damn horses, ya punk!" Tarou pointed at whoever had yelled from the crowd, Hiei not caring enough to notice, before he continued on. "Anyway, There she is, standing in nothin' but glorious yellow energy, talking to these crazed bastards as if they give a damn. And then she did something braver than any battle-hardened soldier would ever think to do!"

He paused for dramatic effect, and no one in the room seemed to notice Hiei's murderous glare over his shoulder at the storyteller.

"She ran. She smacked those shits in the face with her energy to get their attention, and then she ran through the levels, chased endlessly and without rest by creatures that would kill her in an instant if she so much as misstepped!"

This time, when Tarou turned to look at Shikiyoku, he had a genuine smile of appreciation and pride for the person he often referred to as any variation of 'Mom' he could think of. "This woman looked death in the eyes six different times at once and lead it straight to its doom. And she did it without hesitation, saving probably the entire world from certain devastation." He finally let go of Hiei long enough to reach down and grab a drink from the table, and he held it up in her direction.

"Without you, I'm certain we'd all be dead by now." He nodded his head at her once, momentarily apologizing for putting her on the spot. "And OF COURSE," he bellowed as Hiei dropped from the table to stand next to Shikiyoku, his now-full tankard in his hands, "She couldn't have done it without having absolute trust and faith in her Consort and his ability to outrun her. So, here's to the saviour of the world, and to her messenger boy!"

He took a long drink.

~!**!~

Akari smiled in spite of herself and her shoulders suddenly dropped. Yukina's laugh and attempts at making Akari feel welcomed broke through the wall of fear and dissolved her doubts, giving the demon the chance to actually relax and accept that not everyone reacted the same when she messed up.

Or maybe she had been afraid because she hadn't previously had anything to fear?

She suddenly realized just how blandly she'd been going on. As the girls bantered around her, she wondered what it might be like if she let herself partake in the side of life that this group of friends lived day to day.

She let out a breath. You've only yourself to blame for your isolation, Akari. Get over it.

"Hi Keiko," she called to the woman as she stepped into the apartment. "I brought dinner." Akari turned to Botan and Yukina again. "I didn't know what everyone liked, so I grabbed a little of everything." *

"Hello, Akari. It's good to see you. It's been a while." Keiko made her way towards the hall on the right with her things still in her arms. "Let me put my stuff down. Whatever you've brought smells lovely."

"Don't expect us to wait on you!" Botan called after her, having already grabbed for a piece of whatever she could snag and put it in her mouth, chewing and turning to the cabinets for plates as Yukina helped arrange the rest of the food that wasn't ready yet.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's amusement, luckily for Tarou, remained intact as he recounted a story she could only imagine he had already told just about anybody who would listen. And she freely admitted, to herself, the telling wasn't half-bad.

She definitely finished off another round of booze before he was done in any case, thankful the idiot hadn't insisted on pulling her up onto the table as well.

(I suppose being able to outrun me is a compliment.) She noted with more amusement.

The bodies around them lifted their drinks when Tarou did the same, and the whole building fell into a peaceful, communal imbibe at the proclamation. Once their long gulp was over, the cheering started up again, and nearby hands and voices found Shikiyoku as she stood up from the bench and nodded to acknowledge them even as she turned and gave Hiei a smile. 3

During the time where the demons around him took their drink, Hiei downed his entire tankard. He lowered his empty cup to his navel and was in the middle of considering what to have next when Shikiyoku's quip resounded across the bond, drawing his eyes to her.

His general mixed feelings on the matter filled the silence of the bond from his side, unsure if it really was a compliment to be known solely for his running speed. Then again, he didn't quite mind that Shikiyoku was seen as the hero in this story either, since she'd done the hard work.

He'd just about reached the conclusion that he didn't mind being called the messenger boy when Shikiyoku turned a smile in his direction, and completely on impulse, the fire demon grabbed her face and pulled her into a kiss.

When he pulled away, his hands lingered on her cheeks, partially due to his own shock and partially because he wasn't quite sure he wanted to walk away yet.

(...It isn't so bad.) He gave her a slightly lopsided smile. (So long as you're the one running after me.)

~!**!~

Akari began to shuffle styrofoam boxes around, making sure to open the ones she had yet to open even as Yukina did the same with the ones just out of her reach. She lined the boxes neatly, making sure to leave the appetizers at the front and the fillers such as rice on one side.

She took the plates that Botan pulled from the cabinets and passed one to Yukina. "Your dress looks beautiful. Botan mentioned you've been working on it with Shikiyoku?"

Akari waited until Keiko was in the room to pass her one of the two plates she'd been holding, and she didn't start filling her own plate until after Keiko began to fill hers. *

Yukina gave a nod as she busied herself with filling her plate.

"It's kind of funny...I was sitting there watching her one day wanting to help and she just turned to me and started showing me how to do it. I'm not nearly as good as she-"

"But you've gotten a lot better!" Botan interjected, moving the food in her mouth off to the side so she can speak around it. "And Shikiyoku's right: there's a certain charm to it now that it didn't have before."

"If by 'charm' you mean 'mistakes,' then-" Yukina let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. But she had a small smile on her face.

~!**!~

While Yusuke had been sitting in fairly rapt attention by Shikiyoku's shoulder during the entire story, he joined all the others in the toast and subsequent cheering, banging his fist on the wooden table in tandem with the others who made equally loud noises of excitement, and only looked up when a strangely charged ripple flowed through the crowd before the cheering grew even stronger.

Jaw dropping to the floor, Yusuke stared at the pair next to him as they kissed, Hiei's hands holding Shikiyoku's face as the latter seemed initially surprised by the action, if not quite so violently surprised as Yusuke.

When Hiei pulled away and grinned at her already beverage-flushed face, Shikiyoku's lips remained parted as she stared back at him, into his eyes, and after a moment Yusuke saw one of her eyebrows dart higher up on her face as her lips came together in what he read to be a somewhat flirty smirk of a smile.

(I'd chase you anywhere, flameboy.)3

Hiei, still stunned as to why he'd just kissed Shiki and yet completely unremorseful about it, met the stare of the surprised woman evenly, as if he'd planned it all along. He momentarily thought about the booze he'd been about to go grab, but all it did was remind him of the taste on Shikiyoku's lips when he'd kissed her.

He leaned forward and kissed her one more time, this time quicker than before, and when he pulled away it was to lick his own lips.

(You're my favorite drink to get drunk on.) Finally, his hands fell away from her face and his tunnel vision began to open up until he was aware of the shouts, cheers, and fists hitting the table in excitement.

Suddenly feeling very self conscious, the fire demon turned about-face and cut his way through the crowd towards the bar, passing his guild who had gathered in a circle with heads bowed and something being exchanged between them all.

(Want me to make you anything while I'm here?)

Somewhere in the room, he could hear Tarou laughing. "Aight you animals, it's time to party!"

~!**!~

Akari filled her plate little by little, picking through what she knew she liked and leaving all unknowns for the others. "Well," she began with a soft smile of her own, "I think the only person who will see those places as 'mistakes' will be you."

She lifted a piece of tempura to her lips, but paused just before taking a bite from it. "If anyone else notices them, they'll probably see it as part of the design. I definitely didn't see anything that didn't fit."

She took a bite from the tempura and continued to file her plate.

"...Plus," she swallowed, "It'll be you and Kuwabara everyone's looking at." *

"Maybe you can finally talk some sense into her!" Botan decided with a slightly dangerous gleam in her eye upon consideration.

"I half think Shiki goes back and fixes things when I'm not looking." Yukina admitted, trying to gloss over whatever it was Botan had it in her head that Yukina needed to change her mind about.

~!**!~

If Shikiyoku had not been expecting the kiss the first time, she most definitely did not think he would do it a second.

And neither did Yusuke for that matter, who watched in mock-horror as Hiei appeared to enjoy the act enough to repeat it, even going so far as to lick his lips. Yusuke at least recognized that move, given how much Shikiyoku had been drinking and Hiei had not.

As Shiki stood there, stunned and suddenly complete abuzz from head to toe, Yusuke popped up out of his seat as Hiei disappeared into the crowd and bear-hugged the woman Hiei left behind.

"You absolute fox!"

The phrase seemed to shake Shikiyoku from her daze of golden-shimmering eyes following Hiei very closely as he left her.

(Not unless it's more of whatever that was.) She immediately gave a mental start as if the admission embarrassed her, and her focus shifted to Yusuke.

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, I never thought I'd live to see the day! What a lucky gal! How did you manage that? I was pretty sure the little softie would never come around!" 3

Hiei gave the briefest of pauses mid-stride at the immediate, almost knee-jerk response from Shikiyoku's end of the bond. He considered turning right around and giving her exactly what she'd asked for. His feet, however, continued on their way to the bar, reminding him just how far behind everyone else he was in the drinking game.

Amusement filtered through the bond. (There's two weeks worth of that to make up for.)

The fire demon stepped behind the bar and began mixing drinks as his awareness of the room around him became clearer. For the first time since Tarou's story, he was aware of each and every person in the bar.

Of course, as Hiei was making his own drink plus two more, several demons took up residence at the bar seats in front of him, ordering drinks and making commentary on the story and his role - as small as it was - in Shikiyoku's saving of the worlds.

He didn't quite understand the sudden silence when a few of them looked up at him as he set drinks in front of them. He balanced the three he'd initially made into his hands and turned to walk away.. "For your next orders, see the other bartenders."

Hiei made his way through the crowd again, and when he reached Shikiyoku and Yusuke, he held the largest drink in the detective's direction. As for Shikiyoku's drink, Hiei simply repeated his earlier action of giving Shikiyoku a quick kiss and following it up with a lick of his lips.

As he took a sip from one of the two glasses in his hands, he watched her. (I didn't make you anything, since you said that's all you wanted.)

~!**!~

Akari shook her head and stood back on her heels, a pair of disposable chopsticks in one hand and her plate in the other. "I dunno." She poked around at the food on her plate. "If I asked someone to help me work on a project, I wouldn't 'fix it' when they're gone."

She thought about her coffee shop and its current conditions.

"That would just waste time. If I want something done a certain way, I do it myself." She slurped some noodles, chewed, and swallowed before continuing on. "I don't know about Shikiyoku, but if I ask someone to help me with something, it's because i want them to be part of it, not because I want it done faster or… well, any other way."

She stuffed her face some more so she'd shut up. *

"In any case, it was very sweet of her to offer. The work is extremely intricate, but she's a very patient teacher and I really do enjoy the work."

Botan was staring at Akari when all of a sudden she piped up with, "How do you feel about gambling?"

~!**!~

Now finally back at home and somewhat in her element without all the eyes trained on her person, Shikiyoku relaxed even as Yusuke gathered her up in a hug, and slowly her energy began filtering off of her only partially encouraged by the drink and the manner of the fire demon who replied to her unintentional commentary with an amused sort of agreement. Which she didn't know how to feel about.

"So did Kurama finally give up on you or what?" Yusuke wanted to know somewhere in the midst of commentary and conversation Shikiyoku was continuing to get from the celebrating crowd around her.

She raised an eyebrow at Yusuke's question.

He shrugged, "I've known ole three eyes there longer than you have and if you had told me he'd be laying hands on anybody like that, I would have died laughing." He took another giant swig of his beverage. "Fighting, sure. Maybe some sort of angry rough and tumble in the sheets, yeah. But that?" His eyes were trained on Hiei behind the bar and Yusuke watched as the other smiled almost to himself as he filled absently orders.

He recognized that smile. Hell, he'd worn that smile. That smile was, for him, the soft brown hair and warm chocolate eyes as he drew her close at the end of a long week and let his hands move over her smooth, satiny skin.

"That's almost, affectionate." Yusuke let the word drip out of his mouth as if using the term to describe Hiei might literally kill him.

Shikiyoku just laughed and shook her head.

"He is most certainly different than from when I first met him." Shikiyoku allowed, glancing fondly across the bar at him. "But to answer your first question-" She gave Yusuke an arch look that spoke deeply of many things between herself and Kurama, "No."

Before Yusuke had a chance to respond, he found himself with a second drink, giving a grin and thanks to the fire demon as he quickly finished off his first to give attention to the new one.

The kiss between herself and Hiei left Shikiyoku staring, frozen in place as she watched his tongue snake out from between his lips, and suddenly her gaze darted to the side as she found herself enjoying it more than she thought she should: she could feel the heat settling across the mask of her face in a pink flush of her skin as she lifted the drink in her hand up to her lips and still refused to look back at him over it. 3

Hiei sipped on his drink for a few extra seconds, using that as an excuse for not speaking aloud when he did finally turn to Yusuke, unaware of the conversation he and Shikiyoku had been having. As he turned, he extended the second drink to Shikiyoku in a sort of peace offering. He hadn't missed her blushing face, and he didn't quite mind giving her a moment to get herself together.

"Good to see you outside of working hours, Detective." Once Hiei's hand was freed of the second drink, he extended a hand to Yusuke, a good natured smirk on his lips. "How's business?"

~!**!~

"Well, I'm sure as long as you're enjoying it, it will turn out better than you'd think."

She hoped she could say the same about her current predicament at the shop. She still hadn't heard from the owner of the building, and she was starting to worry that she might have to leave it be after finally having decided to take ownership of it all.

Botan's sudden question about gambling shook Akari out of her thoughts, and she furrowed her brows at the girl. "Gambling?"

She chewed on some shrimp as she considered the question and the person asking it. "I guess it depends. Are you talking about money or boons?" She turned her head slightly to one side. "Or alcohol? Because all of those have very different answers from me." *

"Like...a casino." Botan responded, still intently looking at her.

"Not this again." Yukina commented.

"No, this is great! She can break the tie!"

~!**!~

Yusuke allowed himself a chance to actually taste the beverage Hiei handed him, having achieved his buzz with the first round, and he gave Hiei an approving, appreciative nod and gesture to the drink.

"Fantastic as always, man." He returned Hiei's shake.

"It's good to see you too. I had a couple of your guild drop by my shop earlier to let me know what had happened. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who keeps getting dragged into the whole saving the world business anymore."

He gave one of his patented goofy grins, "I have to admit I'm more than a little concerned about the suddenness of this one. Usually Shizuru can give me a heads up about something if it isn't something her students can handle."

Shikiyoku had accepted the drink from Hiei absently, finishing off what she had and putting it next to the bottle on the table he brought earlier, which she and Yusuke had been working their way through. She stayed quiet, listening and sipping at the drink Hiei gave her. 3

The fire demon gave a small nod of thanks at the compliment on the mixed drink.

"If there's a world, it's going to need saving until there's nothing left to save," Hiei remarked half-jokingly as he took a draw from his glass. He lowered the drink to his navel as a passing guildsman pat him on the shoulder, but continued on to address Shikiyoku on the side.

Hiei's attention returned to Yusuke at the mention of Shizuru's lack of forewarning. His lips pressed together in a thoughtful frown, and he took a moment to recall the incident in its entirety.

"It's possible that we diverted trouble before it could become something on her scale of awareness," he finally said. He glanced over his shoulder at Shikiyoku thoughtfully. "There was quite a few of us there. We were the largest and easiest target, if not for her."

Raion, who had been the one to pat Hiei on the back and move on to Shikiyoku, extended a long, thin hand towards the woman with an almost calculative smile. "Before the others approach, Mum, may I have the first dance?" The blond demon tilted his head in the direction of the dancefloor, where demons were beginning to gather and music was beginning to filter through the room. "I'll save you from the unending praise and spotlight," he joked with a wink.

~!**!~

Akari's face immediately scrunched up into one of disgust as she imagined the casinos she'd only ever seen on television. She imagined the smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke mixing with sweat and body odor. She recalled the amount of sound pollution in the movie she'd seen recently, with shouting and coins dropping and cards shuffling and all sorts of other things.

She violently shook her head back and forth.

"No. Absolutely not. That would be entirely overwhelming, no matter the circumstances. You couldn't get me drunk enough to even consider it."

That's worse than gambling away boons. *

"Dammit!"

"Ha!"

The exclamations happened almost at the exact same moment, Botan the first leaning back against the cabinets in defeat and Keiko the second pointing at Botan in victory.

"I told you it was a terrible idea!"

"They're trying to decide what all they want to do for a bachelorette party." Yukina explained.

"Or, rather, Shizuru and Botan think we should have a bachelorette party and Yukina doesn't particularly want one." Keiko added.

~!**!~

Yusuke laughed at there always being something save, "Ain't that the truth." He even drank to it.

He considered Hiei's commentary about getting no warning from Shizuru with a this-or-that sort of bob to his head, "That's possible. It's been a long time since we haven't had a single bit of warning for an incident of that magnitude though. From what I hear, those six could have wiped out the first level in a matter of hours." He sized up Hiei for a moment and then glanced over at Shikiyoku's back as she left with the blonde to weave through the crowd towards the dance floor at the far end of the room.

He let out another breathy laugh, "I guess it just wasn't something that wouldn't already be taken care of."

"Please do." Shikiyoku insisted as she took Raion's soft hand in her own and let him lead her over to the side of the room where the rhythms and harmonies had just started to pick up again after Tarou's story-telling. 3

Hiei's frown deepened and he took a long, thoughtful drink. He hadn't taken the time to think about the situation now that it was over. He'd been too busy being glad they'd survived to even consider the rarity of what had happened, and any likelihood of it happening again.

He felt a disturbance at the very center of his being when he remembered the stare of the creatures he'd been face to face with.

"...the only time I've ever been against one with so much intelligence was back when I was looking for Shikiyoku." When he lowered his glass, his eyes turned down to the amber liquid inside. I got lucky. She didn't want me dead.

He suddenly felt very sober.

~!**!~

Raion's tail twitched behind him, curling lightly before relaxing again as he lead Shikiyoku to the dance floor. "I don't envy you," he commented as he noticed several pairs of eyes following them. His nose twitched slightly, the action helping him to hide the smile he'd been about to give.

He pulled her to the dance floor and immediately spun her by her hand, creating a cleared-out area where people didn't want to be in her way.

~!**!~

Hazel eyes turned to consider Yukina thoughtfully. She imagined the sappy movies she'd seen since her first stay with Sensui and the types of parties in those particular films. She didn't think any of those would work.

"I can't really say anything about it, since I don't really know what that means," she admitted to Keiko. "But," she turned to Yukina again, "in the movies I've seen, the bride is usually the one who decides where to go? Or if one even happens?" She turned to her plate. "Again, you're talking to a demon whose only experience with these things is through romantic comedies. I'm sure they're not very accurate to real life." *

"While I certainly think the bride should have a say," Keiko began, "It's usually the maid of honor that arranges most of those sorts of events. And that position is usually given to someone that knows the tastes of the bride well enough to be able to surprise her.

"Given the circumstances, that Kuwabara won't get the same courtesy-" Keiko briefly rubbed the bridge of her nose, just imagining what sort of bachelor party Yusuke would have dragged the poor red-head on if given half a chance. "-and Yukina not having any interest in what would be typical party festivities-"

"Shizuru and I are still in the midst of negotiations for a roaring good time!" Botan interrupted with a smile.

~!**!~

"No?" Shikiyoku replied. "How strange! Apparently there is much to envy, I've been told!" Her eyes sparkled with good-humor as she followed Raion's turn, but her gaze never quite left him.

He probably wasn't her favorite guildie, if she had favorites, but at times like this one it was difficult to tell. He reminded her much of Kitoushi, in all of the good ways. And she enjoyed that.

~!**!~

"Yeah, I've heard of more than a few of above-average Infected like that." Yusuke remarked. "Shikiyoku was definitely the first, but that was years ago. They've started calling that subset of the Infected 'Crusnik.' Smarter. Faster. They were powerful demons before they turned, and all of the ones I've been given information on have come from the ninth as far as anyone can tell. Seems like everybody down there is a cut above the rest of us." He took another long drink.

"But what I haven't heard of-" He pointed with a finger of the hand holding his drink. "Is such beasts working together. Which is the impression I got from what I've heard of this recent encounter." 3

Hiei's brows rose until they disappeared in his bangs; he hadn't really been looking into such infected, so hearing that they were all from the ninth was new to him. He mulled that info over before giving a short nod to himself; it didn't sound outlandish, in any case. "It's a different world down there," he commented mildly, recalling his decade long stint in the ninth. He also thought shortly on Kitoushi, who had fallen to the Infection just before his and Shikiyoku's summons to Mukuro. He rifled through his own memories and the ones that had been passed over through the Bond that day, but he couldn't rightly recall if Kit had even had the chance to become one of the more clever Infected.

Crusnik.

He shook his head mildly. "They're adapting, and I'm not sure we're ready for it." He finished off his drink. "But we will be, now that we know it's possible."

~!**!~

Reddish-brown eyes sparkled at Shikiyoku, rivaling even the shine on the golden jewelry Raion wore around his neck and wrists. "The only part of you I envy is that golden energy of yours. I can only hope to replicate it through jewels and metals."

"Then again, I'd be far too desirable with a shine such as yours."

~!**!~

Akari shook her head a little at the pair. She could understand Yukina's not wanting a party of any sort. She herself didn't enjoy the idea of going out and doing things. She spent most of her 'fun time' with Nabu and Kiyoko at a dog park or in the apartment watching television.

The type of party Botan was imagining was much too far out of her league, and probably even further so out of Yukina's.

Then again, she didn't know Yukina.

"Well, wouldn't it be fair to the groom to not have a bachelorette party since Kuwabara won't get a… uh…" She frowned. "Bachelor party." She shrugged. "But I also know life isn't fair so I can see why you want to throw one."

She turned to Yukina. "You know, I don't know you well enough to suggest something that you might like. Something other than simply not having one. So, if you had a say, what would you choose if you absolutely had to have a party?" She turned to Botan and Keiko. "Y'know... for ideas?"*

"Hm. We could go somewhere nice and have tea-"

"Or a drink!" Botan chimed in.

"Or tea and then a drink." Keiko allowed.

"There just isn't really much I would know about doing."

"And Shizuru gets shot down every time she tries." Botan said with a grin.

"She hasn't suggested anything to do with the dojo yet." Keiko pointed out.

"I'm pretty sure she knows a lost cause when she sees one." Botan laughed.

~!**!~

Shikiyoku narrowed her eyes playfully at Raion, "Your envy is misplaced. What I wouldn't give to have fur as golden and soft as yours, my lion. That is what I would pronounce 'desirable.'"

~!**!~

Yusuke raised an eyebrow at Hiei's confidence at their capability for handling the problem, but said nothing at first.

Obviously, it wasn't something that couldn't be handled, or he would have heard from Shizuru about it. Or Shizuru was losing her knack and Yusuke didn't want to consider it.

But to his knowledge, they got lucky things went as well as they did, given the rumors he heard of Shikiyoku as she descended the levels. Word had already reached him of demons who had seen her from a distance as she wrangled the six-six-Crusnik who were attacking in tandem, seeking to wear her down and thankfully too absorbed by her supply to think of little else but their pursuit.

Yusuke finally shook his head, "I haven't the faintest idea how exactly we're supposed to be ready for it. Even the strongest of the Hunters make great sacrifices to give chase to a single Crusnik, much less multiple, and I haven't heard yet if they even managed to take down even just one of the ones Shikiyoku brought to them. I doubt a trick like that is going to work again." 3

Hiei stared at the inside of his empty cup with a frown, almost wishing he had the ability to magically fill it at his own will without having to go to the bar.

As it was, he motioned to a passing waitress and set his cup on her tray. He ordered a drink with her too, though made sure she knew that his was not a rush order. Not that it mattered much.

"Maybe that split them up long enough that we'll at least have some idea of what to do next time," the fire demon finally replied to Yusuke. Right now, though, he didn't really want to think about it.

"How's Keiko?" he asked suddenly, only just realizing the woman was not with Yusuke - not that he had expected her to be.

~!**!~

Raion's smile turned catlike in its mischievousness. "You know, Mum," he breathed as he pulled her closer, one hand holding hers and the other resting on her waist, careful not to spill the shot glass in that hand. "It's a real tragedy that you're so hidden in this form."

His hand lifted from her waist long enough to tease the ends of her hair. "You're quite the rare Jewel." His eyes sparkled at her.

~!**!~

Akari turned to her plate as the conversations moved around the room, though she listened intently as she ate. She thought about this and that, but with any idea she had she would glance at Yukina, shake her head, and move on to another one.

Plus, she was pretty sure that whatever she thought up, Botan and Shizuru had likely already argued about it.

And, truth be told, Akari herself didn't have any ideas outside of sitting at home and marathoning some stupid movies and eating popcorn. Or whatever. *

"-but your place serves some baked things, doesn't it Akari?" Botan wanted to know.

The conversation had steered, as it had lately, in the direction of the wedding.

"Cupcakes might be nice." Yukina admitted thoughtfully.

~!**!~

Finding herself suddenly up against Raion, and not entirely displeased with the attention, Shikiyoku gave him a cattish grin of her own.

"Oh? Did you like seeing so much of me?" She winked at him, a particular gleam in her eyes. "Some might even say I'm a gem."

~!**!~

Yusuke gave a grin and reached over to the nearby table where Shikiyoku's drink and the bottle Hiei procured still sat.

Offering to fill Hiei's first, Yusuke gave himself some as well and then replaced the bottle.

"Doing well for herself!" He replied. "She ought to finish her schooling in the next couple of years, and between that and being Yukina's maid of honor for the wedding, which includes wrangling Shizuru and Botan, she's keeping busy."

He laughed, "As near as I can make out, Yukina wants everything simple and Botan and Shizuru are determined to go all out." 3

The fire demon gratefully accepted the refill from Yusuke and thanked him with a raise of his glass in the other's direction.

Hiei's smile this time was full of fondness for his twin, and he made a mental note to start making something for Yukina's wedding once everything settled down. "Well, let me know when she finishes school." He thought briefly about the woman and he realized it was easy to think of something to put together for her.

Though… he realized what he currently made was probably a little overstated for anyone outside of Shikiyoku.

Okay, maybe a lot overstated...

It'd be fun to experiment, nonetheless.

""When I visited Yukina last, Botan and Shizuru were arguing about napkins," he almost laughed at the memory. "Maybe Keiko can be the middlewoman and find good ground to make everyone happy."

~!**!~

Raion completely disregarded the faster tempo of the new song and gave all of his attention to the demon in his embrace. He leaned closer until his lips were hovering near her ear.

"I quite prefer your original coloring," he whispered. "It's a shame that I didn't get to see all of you."

He pulled away all at once and spun her in a turn, his glittering eyes following her every move.

~!**!~

"Hm?" Akari lifted her head to look at Botan with a slight turn of her head. "Yeah, a few things. Most of it is shipped frozen, truth be told, but the cupcakes aren't."

She turned to Yukina. "The recipes I have are pretty easy, so making a decent sized batch wouldn't be hard, if you decide that's what you want." *

"Oh, would you?" Yukina had finished her food and stood around with the others, clasping her hands together with bright eyes at the possibility. "I think that would be lovely! Can you do different flavors and colors? I'd like to have something for everyone."

Keiko smiled and shook her head a little.

Only Yukina would be thinking of others on her wedding day.

~!**!~

"Most do." Shikiyoku's eyes flashed.

"However, what you speak of is an honor only one other demon in existence is old enough to have had the pleasure to experience." Her eyes were narrowed in mischievous calculation as she leaned up towards his face with a grin. "What makes you think you're worthy of such a boon, my lion?"

~!**!~

Yusuke nodded that he would at Hiei wishing to know when Keiko finished school, perhaps distracted by Hiei's smile, an expression on the fire demon's face which he was not used to as of yet.

"She's good at that." Yusuke said of Keiko. "And it seems to be something she enjoys, finding out what works for everyone so everyone is happy.

"What about you? Aside from recent events. How have things been going for you?"

After that little incident-the one with the kiss-he was dying to know, but respected the three-eyed demon too much to be the first one to pry if he didn't have any other prompting. 3

Hiei gave a short nod at Yusuke, acknowledging his praise of Keiko.

"I've been plenty busy," he glanced at the members of his guild around the bar, watching them have their different types of fun. "Most days I'm out with the guild or working on a project on the lower levels. Every other day I'm either working in the bar or-"

His eyes glazed over briefly as he thought about the bed upstairs and how much he wanted to lay with Shikiyoku for a while.

"-keeping in good company with Shiki."

The room came into focus again and he found himself staring at Shikiyoku's back as she danced with Raion.

"It's been interesting, to say the least."

~!**!~

Raion's golden brows rose until they disappeared in his bangs. "Only one, hm?"

He stole a glance at Hiei across the room, not missing the stare he directed their way. Definitely not old enough, if it's been some time.

"Whoever he is, he's a lucky bastard," he commented as he turned back to Shikiyoku, giving her a toothy smile instead of a verbal answer.

~!**!~

Akari gave a quick nod. "Of course." Her eyes traveled to the ceiling as she thought of what she currently had in stock. She thought about the vanilla and the chocolate, the strawberry and the blueberry, and other flavors she had yet to try.

The demoness turned a soft smile to the koorime, but included the room when she said, "Feel free to come by the shop any time,."

She suddenly remembered her shop wasn't functional.

"...Or, actually, my apartment could work to. Or I could bring stuff to you. My shop is currently out of commission, and I'm not sure how long it will be before I can rework it and be operational again…" She gave a thoughtful frown. *

Yukina nodded as Akari spoke, appearing concerned about the state of her shop.

"Oh dear! I am sorry to hear that!"

Botan and Keiko both expressed similar sentiments.

"I do hope whatever is the issue gets resolved soon." She looked thoughtful, "What would you need to do some examples? I would love to try them. Is it something you could use our kitchen for?"

~!**!~

"Mm," Shikiyoku glanced to the side and rescinded, "Lucky to be alive, that is." She gave Raion a wicked sort of smirk as her eyes briefly gleamed with the notion, adding with an air of nonchalance, "The rest were all killed."

It did turn her thoughts to Kurama the Youko, however, and how she missed him and how it had been more than two weeks since she had been in contact with him...

~!**!~

"Interesting? With that one?" Yusuke followed Hiei's gaze with a goofy sort of grin that he couldn't manage to hide, "I can't imagine why. She seems so average."

Out among the other demons, she didn't particularly stand out except for looking so very normal compared to most of them. Almost human, if not for the slight shimmer he could occasionally catch dancing across her skin.

Although new to demonkind himself, Yusuke's senses had refined themselves to the point that while he could actually smell Shikiyoku on the little fire demon-he heard rumors of those other tattoos Hiei wore now and supposedly they had been forged by the energy of the female-but he could catch little of Hiei on her other than usual proximity. Which spoke much of the nature of their relationship, or rather what it lacked, despite the very public show of affection they exchanged right in front of him. 3

Hiei made a sound of amusement at the back of his throat and gave a short shake of his head. Yusuke's grin held all of the happiness that Hiei himself felt, though he did catch Raion's glance his way.

It wasn't unusual for the lion to make attempts at getting under his skin. He only raised a brow at the guild member before turning away and towards the detective again.

He opened his mouth to say something on the nature of Shikiyoku's ability to make even the more mundane things 'interesting', but one of the waitresses popped into his peripherals and offered him a tray with two drinks.

One he recognized as the beverage he had ordered with her several minutes prior, but the other swirled with requests for things the fire demon was less than willing to fulfill.

He took the drink he had ordered and waved away the second even as he searched the room with his eyes for the sender.

"Life is never boring," he finally said to Yusuke.