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.

157. Episode 241

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.

---

When the waitress brought over Tarou's requested drinks, he handed off the empty glass and slid one of the two mixed drinks to Shikiyoku. He sat back in his chair and stopped the waitress before she could leave, asking for a pitcher of water and an empty glass.

"Yeah," Ikigai answered without looking up. "Airi's family always gives these-" he blinked down at his work, "shoot…" His tongue snaked back into his mouth and he counted under his breath for a moment. "They make these gifts and give them to people," he said as he continued his needlework. "It looked fun so I asked her to teach me."

"So what, you make…." Raitoningu placed a mark in the book he'd had and closed it.

"Scarves, hats, gloves… I think her sister makes dolls for kids? I can only make scarves and really big blankets."

"It's a practical skill," Chisai held a blue gemstone up to the light above his head, one eye closed and the other squinted at it. *

Shikiyoku smiled and watched him work.

It was similar to the way she worked with fabric, but as she watched him, she realized it would be much easier to weave enchantments into the material if done that way, as opposed to her coming along and doing so via the embroidery like she was with Yukina's wedding dress.

When she thought about it, she could recall others who had similar skills with their energy, though usually employing them for nets that would catch more fish or a belt that could hold more weight hanging from it.

Raion leaned back and stretched his arm out behind Shikiyoku's chair, something popping at his shoulder as he lifted his eyes from his papers for a moment and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing at first, agreeing with Chisai.

"It seems much easier than the struggle leather can be, sometimes." He watched Ikigai's fingers fiddling for a moment before the other sighed and pulled at an end to undo a bit of his work. "Though I doubt it's quite as resilient."

The drink Tarou ordered for her stayed put where he had initially placed it, as if Shikiyoku hadn't seen it yet. 3

When the waitress appeared at Tarou's elbow again and set his requested pitcher of water and glass next to him, and before she took off, she lifted Shikiyoku's drink from the table, moved to her other side, and placed it right in front of her with a glance at Tarou, who only shrugged.

Tsundora signed another letter and sealed it in an envelope and set it with several others to the side. He clicked his pen to hide the nib and set it down just below his small stack. "If it's not as resilient, what's it for?"

"Accessorizing sometimes, and when it's cold, it helps them stay warm."

A collective ahh sounded around the table.

"Yeah, the natives are a touch more sensitive to the weather changes, aren't they?" Chisai lowered the blue gem to the table and lifted another, smaller blue gem up over his head and to the light.

"And they don't fight nearly as much as we do," Raitoningu nodded. "Makes sense."

"How long does something like that take, Gai?" Tarou asked, halfway through his first cup of water.

"Well, for Airi, she could get a scarf done in, like, an hour, if it doesn't have any extra designs or fringe."

"How fascinating," Chisai breathed. *

Shikiyoku let out a huff of breath that was nearly a laugh, "For those of us who don't wade into the middle of battle while armed to the teeth, material such as that can be quite useful.

"It is much easier to weave an enchantment into a piece when you are building from the ground up anyway."

She looked over at Raiton and commented lightly, "Hiei wears only cloth."

"That's because he doesn't get hit." Tarou snorted.

She shook her head and frowned, "I've never understood why anyone would endeavour to get hit."

"It's not so much the wanting to get hit as the taking up so much space that it happens." As if to prove his point, Tarou leaned back and stretched his limbs out a bit, Tsundora giving him a look.

"You're also slow as molasses."

Taou narrowed his eyes at the wolf, but didn't say anything for a minute.

"I...don't know what that means, but I get the distinct impression it was not a compliment."

"Go with the feeling." One of Tsundora's ears flicked as he lowered his gaze and reached over to check his stack of envelopes. 3

Chisai lowered the smaller blue gem from over his head and turned to Raion with a frown. "Do you have the certificate for this one?"

Raion studied the stone for a moment before he spread his papers further around him. When he found the one he'd been looking for, he studied it for a moment before he passed it behind Ikigai and to Chisai. "It's a forgery."

"I thought so."

Raion leaned back in his chair again, his arm finding the back of Shikiyoku's once more. "It's a well done one too. Almost didn't notice it."

"Still working on that one job?" Raitoningu leaned further over the table to get a glance at the various certificates Raion had spread around him. "DIdn't you finish that one last week?"

"They sent more yesterday when we were out at Akari's. I didn't get them until this morning." Chisai set the gem and its paired certificate aside.

A runner appeared at Tsundora's side, and the wolf passed his stack of envelopes to the demon, along with a pouch, and the demon disappeared again. "Mother, what kind of enchantments do you put into clothing?" *

Shikiyoku's face shifted into an expression more true to form as her lips pulled into a sidelong grin and she raised an eyebrow, "What kind of enchantments do I put into clothing, or what kind of enchantments are usually put into clothing?" 3

"You, specifically." Tsundora sat back in his chair and gave her a very small smile. "I didn't know you did the weaving of enchantments."

Chisai leaned behind Ikigai again to extend a stone to Raion and whisper a few words, trying not to interrupt the conversation at the table. Another certificate was passed, Chisai leaned back over, and Raion gave a small sigh.

"Gai, trade me seats."

"Hold on, I'm in the middle of a row, and-"

"You'll be able to concentrate more if I'm not talking behind you. Come on, up." The lion gathered his papers in one hand and grabbed Gai's bowl with its yarn in the other, swapping the two. "You'll thank me later."

The pair switched chairs and Raion and Chisai ducked their heads over the papers and stones.

"We have a weaver in the pack as well," Tsundora continued after the shuffle was over, "but they're limited quite a bit by the knowledge accessible to them down there." *

Shikiyoku's smile shifted, and she nodded, "Mm. I kept myself busy with it on the Ninth in my early years when I wasn't tending to court affairs. You should have seen what they could do with a strip of fabric down there." She briefly appeared nostalgic at the remembrance.

She watched fondly as the rest of the guild interacted around their conversation.

"Well, if you aren't going to drink it, Za Joi-" The waitress from earlier caught Shikiyoku's attention before she could reply to Tsundora and the woman brusquely shifted the drink in front of Shikiyoku back over to Tarou with a knowing wink, "-then don't let it go to waste-" before putting down a cup of coffee on a saucer for her and pinning her with a good stare.

Passing her a grateful look, this time Shikiyoku reached for the drink. It never did much for their kind, but it would help.

"Yeah, that's better." The waitress intoned before looking up at the rest of them. "Anything else I can get for you lot while I'm standing 'ere?" 3

Tsundora's eyebrows rose considerably as he turned to glance at Raitoningu, who hadn't missed the comment about 'court affairs'. But before either of them could ask her more about it, they were watching the waitress instead.

Tarou lowered the nearly empty pitcher of water from his lips and gave the waitress a smile.

"I think we should all have lunch," Ikigai commented as he lowered his needles to the table and looked around the group. "I don't think we've eaten yet, except for Chisai." He turned a smile back to the waitress. "May I have and order of yakitori?"

Raion's hand suddenly shot into the air. "Make that two." He ducked his head back over a questionable certificate.

The brothers spoke in tandem, "Kushiaki, please ma'am."

Tarou, having finished the absolute last of the water straight from the pitcher, gave the waitress a grin. "I'll drink my lunch. Thank you, doll." *

"Yeah, you outta, sweetheart." The waitress patted Tarou's shoulder a few times before grabbing for the empty pitcher to eventually return with it, but first looking out at the rest of them as she took another step and nodded at their orders.

When Shikiyoku started to rise out of her chair, the waitress now on her other side suddenly had an iron grip on her shoulder and wouldn't let her get any further.

"And just where do you think you're going, hun?" Black sclera sharply contrasting with piercing yellow irises constricted their dark pupils into vertical slits, as if the serpentine scales that articulated the mask of her face weren't already indication enough of her not being human. When her eyes narrowed, it shifted the scales more prominently about.

As if the waitress didn't already have a guess.

"To-"

"You sit right back down there-"

Tarou's hand had also almost absently shot out to envelop Shikiyoku's other shoulder as soon as her mouth opened to reply and he and the waitress slowly pushed her back into her chair.

"-and drink your coffee. I already know you gonna tell me you don't want anything to eat and that's bad enough."

Once she and Tarou had Shikiyoku sitting back down, the waitress moved away and left Shikiyoku sheepishly tucking a bit of her hair behind her ear and reaching for her coffee. 3

Tarou had leaned forward to take the first sip of the two drinks he'd ordered when Shikiyoku had begun to protest, and he smiled over her head at the waitress once Shikiyoku was back into her chair.

Raitoningu and Tsundora, who had been talking amongst themselves about something pack related, blinked up at the retreating back of their server and then over at Tarou, who sipped at his drink as if nothing had happened.

Gai leaned closer to Shiki and tilted his unevenly made, not-quite-finished scarf in her direction. "Do you think she'll like this?" He eyed the little areas where he'd miscounted with a bit of a frown, thinking of his girlfriend's much nicer scarves, hats, and gloves.

Chisai's head bobbed up from over his stones as Raion began to roll up a few of his papers. "Tsundora, is your runner still on this level?" When the wolf nodded, he turned and handed Raion the plastic tubes that the papers had come in, and dropped the appropriate stones in with it. "Can you call him back?"

"He'll be going to the Second only."

"That's fine. These are going to the city just outside the portal anyway."

Raitoningu turned to Tarou. "You gonna slow on the drinks today?"

"Yeah, probably." *

Shikiyoku's expression flickered into something almost inexplicable as she leaned her shoulder into Ikigai's and looked at his work.

Where Gai only saw the bits and pieces and places where parts of yarn were bunched up or knotted or skipped, all she could read in his handiwork was the amount of love he had poured into it. As much as he could muster, at present. Which wasn't a lot, in the big scheme of things. But humans were able to sense the stuff in works like this, the care and time dedicated to gifts as in by making them one was almost weaving a part of themselves to give away inside.

She couldn't help teasing him a little, "Well, you're going to finish it first, aren't you?" 3

Ikigai smiled sheepishly up at Shikiyoku. "I think so?" He lowered the work to his lap for a moment, staring at it contemplatively. He hadn't shown Airi any of his other 'completed' projects either, but he knew she'd been waiting to see something of his work.

"Yeah. I'm gonna finish it," he finally said, and he lifted the needles to continue his work.

Raion leaned into Gai's other shoulder. "Don't worry about it, kid. I'm sure she won't notice or even care about… whatever it is you're worried about."

The runner appeared at Tsundora's side again, collected payment and items from Chisai, and disappeared once more. Now free to converse, Tsundora turned his gaze to Shikiyoku again. "You mentioned you were part of the Court on the Ninth. Do you mean… royalty? Or something like what the humans have as their law system?" *

"You should." Shikiyoku replied quietly and sat back up in her chair, staring down at her coffee cup whose contents had barely lowered beneath the middle, but she saw a hand come over her shoulder anyway and begin to fill it up.

"Whole pot just for you." Wink at Shikiyoku, setting down Tarou's refilled pitcher of water, and then the waitress was out of sight again.

"Uh-" Shikiyoku blinked at Tsundora as she considered the last part of his question before she came back to the conversation and smiled a little. "If it is anything like what the humans have, then only as they refer to it in their history books. Like their-" Her eyes darted to the side in thought. "Aristocracy. In a way, I guess. Monarchy, maybe." She shrugged. "Royalty works just as well, I suppose."

"It's just as much like any other pockets of civilization you find around the rest of- Well, of what used to be Demon World. Constant politics. Vying for higher seats of power, if not by outright strength, then by other means." She shrugged. 3

"Whatcha readin' Raiton?"

The wolf shifted the book so that Tarou could see the cover. "It's a play Akihiko recommended. Apparently one of the more popular ones in the Americas."

"Ah, I never understand their old languages." Tarou flipped the paperback book open to a random page to scan over the English words, having trouble with both the translations and the wording. "And I don't see how you've had the time to learn another language, either."

"I pick it up here and there." He shrugged. "Has its uses."

With his evaluations of the gems done and over with, Chisai sat back in his chair and rubbed at his left eye, "What's the Ninth like?" He asked Shikiyoku, peering at her with his right eye even as he continued to rub at the other. *

"It's very boring." Shikiyoku replied without so much as a tell whether or not she was being serious. "Lots of red. And filled with creatures who would just as soon kill you as look at you."

"That doesn't sound boring to me." Ikigai piped up.

"Sounds like a fun challenge to me." Tarou waggled his eyebrows.

"Yeah, sure. Fun." One of her eyebrows quirked in irritation as she recalled one such challenge. "Just ask Hiei about the time the-" Shikiyoku suddenly stopped, looking forward at nothing as she remembered the moments after she retrieved him from the trees after he'd been literally thrown up by a fire worm.

"What was that?" Raion had leaned forward with mischievous interest. "'About the time the' what?"

Let's never speak of this to anyone.

They'd agreed on that count, if not much else in their early days together.

"Nothing." Shikiyoku grumbled, lowering her face to meet her coffee cup as she drank from it again. 3

"Oooooooh, I smell a story," Tarou all but sang as he shimmied his chair closer to the table, glass of water in hand. "Is this a story about the Boss gettin' his ass handed to 'him? Because I've only seen that once, and it was glorious."

Chisai frowned. "I wouldn't consider that 'glorious'. He had a very real chance of dying, Tarou."

"Ah, we all die someday," he waved it away.

Gai frowned. "I dunno. If they can catch Hiei, I'd rather stay away."

Raion's stare remained unwavering on Shikiyoku. "We're waiting, darling."

Tsundora, ever the diplomat, turned to Shikiyoku and spoke over the others, "You mean the whole Level is red? Trees, dirt, buildings… everything?" *

"My lips are sealed by oath, Raion." She returned his stare briefly and seriously.

Raitoningu practically howled as Tarou had, "You know it has to be good!"

Shikiyoku closed her eyes and sighed. Hiei, I'm so sorry.

She opened her eyes when Tsundora asked her another question and she nodded.

"Various shades of it, anyway. Deep crimsons that are nearly black all the way to the light pink of the sky that's almost white." She shrugged, "Everything's touched by it. Even the rare chance of another color always has a red-tinged look about it." 3

Tarou and Raitoningu ducked their heads together.

"She's sealed by oath. Do you think he is?"

"Maybe not."

"Think he'd talk?"

The pair snuck a glance at Shikiyoku before they ducked together again, their voices even lower.

Tsundora turned an icy stare at his brother's back, who immediately seemed to have a shiver run up his spin and he rounded. "Stop that! You know I hate it when you do that."

"You're all embarrassing Mommy," Chisai announced.

Ikigai set his little project onto the table as the waitress dropped their lunch orders off, and he plucked one of the meat skewers from his plate and smiled at Shikiyoku. "It sounds pretty. Why'd you leave?" *

Chisai could tell by the look on her face it was a loaded question.

He couldn't actually remember the last time she'd sat among them like this though. Even with Akihiko there. Most of the time she was working, sure, but it'd never been quite like this. Not where she wasn't deftly steering all conversation with a mastery he noted and appreciated as a well-earned skill from her.

Not where they were asking questions about her.

He stayed quiet, waiting to see if she'd answer Gai even as she lowered her coffee cup down and gave the waitress a nod of thanks when it was promptly filled back up again.

Shikiyoku's thoughts turned back to the hawk demon whom she was sad to say had faded somewhat in her mind and instead of answering completely, she decided to give them another expression heavy with implications as to her circumstances at the time, her eyes glittering over the top of her coffee cup as she raised it again, but only gave a little shrug.

"I'd managed to get myself into a teeny bit of trouble, is all." 3

"You? Get into trouble?" Tarou, who wanted no part of the stare that Tsundora still aimed at Raitoningu, turned to grin at Shikiyoku. "I'd never dream of it."

"I bet the trouble you get into is quite delicious," Raion purred as he leaned across Gai.

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask," Tsundora finally turned to Shikiyoku again, the glint in his eyes that he'd turned onto his brother gone. "You're not always at the bar, and you worked with Shuichi Minamino on a coffee shop." He leaned forward a little. "What else do you keep yourself busy with when the Boss is gone?" *

"I don't suppose you could, Tarou." Shikiyoku quipped.

Chisai thought maybe it was because of her "little" display the month prior. You know, where she quite literally had knocked everyone to the floor, human and demon alike, even with the Boss' warning to drop.

He himself hadn't been able to manage to so much as move his head to look up, but some of the others around the table had-Raion and Tarou for two-and told him her demonic form was unlike any they'd ever seen before.

Up until that moment, he hadn't exactly found himself wondering about her or who she was or what she did. She was just Mom. You didn't mess with Mom, but he'd just accepted that along with everyone else who had been contracted to work on the bar in the early days or walked into it once it was finished.

Shikiyoku's only reply to Raion was to give him a rather wicked bit of smile, eyes still glittering a touch.

Her expression grew more questioning at the name Tsundora spoke more so than his inquiry. After all, what little work she had done with Kurama for Akari's place was hardly done with a word between them that day.

"If you can name it," Another smile, "I've probably done it." 3

Raion opened his mouth to make a comment, and just as quickly shut it when the air around him dropped a few degrees. He turned to stare at Tsundora, who shook his head.

"I know what you're thinking. We don't make that kind of remark."

Raion's tail flicked in agitation, but he did not argue the matter.

Ikigai shouldered Raion, who still leaned into him. "You're heavy, Rai."

Raitoningu noticed Shikiyoku had no plate in front of her, and he tapped Tarou on the arm, passed him a couple of skewers with mixed meat and vegetables, and Tarou in turn passed them onto Shikiyoku. "Gift for the lady," he gave her a kind smile. *

Shikiyoku's eyebrows rose at Tsundora's commentary, as if to say 'we don't,' which Raion caught her doing.

She was perfectly aware of what Raion had meant to say, as the desire had shot across himself in the moment and her face was unreadable when she replied with nonchalance, "Not here, anyway." as if she was referring to what Tsundora had said and not what Raion hadn't.

When she looked over at the plate, she opened her mouth as if to protest, but instead just replied with a 'thank you, Tarou' and patted him on the arm. 3

Tsundora's energy relaxed and retracted from the lion and he returned to his own lunch, saying nothing more on the subject.

Tarou set the plate in front of Shikiyoku and pat her gently on the head. "Just lookin' out for Mom." *

~!**!~

Shikiyoku had actually stayed around the bar for the rest of the day, content to banter back and forth with them, though their conversation had devolved from there with Raion continuing to jab at her, Tsundora trying to stop him, and Chisai curiously wanting to know what it all was about anyway.

She stayed there with them all night even as the guild cleaned up and officially moved to their nightly drinking habits, and for once she was witness to their table antics as they placed bets on happenings around her bar which did not fail to amuse, especially when one or more of them involved Tarou or Raitoningu or Raion getting up to engage with people who were unknowingly part of a bigger scheme.

Aside from the staff and the guild, most others who came in and out over the next day or so didn't seem to recognize her, though she stayed sitting out in the middle of the guild and not behind the bar as was her usual tendency.

The next morning, she was still there, though the rest of her staff had been rather insistent in keeping her in a seat instead of moving around much.

Sunday rolled around and had the guild popping in eventually until Shikiyoku's head lifted as if she looked out beyond the bar and they realized Hiei had returned to the Level. 3

As morning turned to midday, the guild began to file into the bar one by one. Chisai was the first to arrive, wearing a three-piece suit and his hair styled a little more differently than his usual. He didn't seem to notice the few customers in the building staring, or even the woman who passed by the front of his path purposefully as he made his way to the table Shikiyoku was sitting at.

He sat silently so he wouldn't interrupt the reading she was doing, though his curiosity about the papers in her hands gave him pause before he pulled out his own folded sheets and spread them out in front of him. He pointedly ignored the outlines of the dark circles under her eyes in favor of his own work.

The next to arrive, unsurprising to anyone who knew them, was the brothers. They carried cups of coffee in their hands and communicated only in glaces as they took their seats quietly next to Chisai. When he looked up and saw their curious gazes, he lifted a sheet of paper with the heading indicating a large jewel company, and after a quick glance over of the appraisal paperwork, they gave a thumbs up and let him go back to what he was doing.

From there the others entered, each one just as quiet as the other as they took their seats, the group unbothered by the silence and quite enjoying the companionable atmosphere.

Tarou was the last to show, and he too held a coffee cup in one of his hands as he slid into his seat. He looked each quiet guildie over until his eyes came to rest on Shikiyoku, whose spell had begun to slip and he was able to almost see through.

He hadn't been seated long when Shikiyoku looked up and at the door. He followed her gaze, turned to look at her again, and then turned to the others. "I'm going to go meet Akihiko and the Boss." He stood and pushed his chair back under the table. "Aki didn't get to see the cafe."

The others exchanged glances, coming to a silent agreement as everyone but Ikigai stood and pushed their chairs in.

"I'll see you guys tonight; I'm going to meet my girlfriend in a bit for lunch," Ikigai grinned up to the group. "So I'll stay here until then."

"Suit yourself, loverboy," Tarou winked, and just like that, the rest of the guild was gone, leaving just as quietly as they had come. *

Almost immediately, Shikiyoku felt her muscles unwind, a tension somewhere between her neck and shoulders releasing that she hadn't known was there and she let out a little breath.

As she looked over at Tarou, she smiled a little, amused he had picked up on her awareness of Hiei's proximity, though she had not been trying to hide it.

She nodded at them as they moved to go, finding Chisai's new look somewhat out of character for him, but not having a chance to speak up about it before he was gone.

Shikiyoku gathered up the papers she had in her hands and signaled a bartender to come take them from her, and he filled her nearly empty coffee cup when he came to do so.

She nodded thanks and lifted it to her mouth, resting her elbows on the table as she held it, but after a moment seemed to have forgotten it was there and was staring out over the bar looking weary. 3

As the guild moved from the bar, their eyes all pointed in the same direction, there seemed to be a hesitation to speak between them, the companionable silence now turning to a worried one.

Chisai took two steps away from the group, going a different direction. "You guys get a head start. I refuse to run in this…" he gestured mildly to the suit he wore, "...outfit. I'll meet up with you guys when I'm changed."

"Why are you wearing that?" Raion asked just before the other got too far away.

"A major jeweler in the area hired me to appraise some gems from a potential seller. Very high end."

"Natives?"

Chisai nodded. "I'll see you later."

As Chisai moved back towards the city, the guild made for the opposite direction, no one willing to speak on their worries about Shikiyoku's state.

~!**!~

Ikigai tapped on his phone for a few seconds before he hit 'send' and snapped it shut. He leaned to one side of his chair and stored his phone in his pocket, ignoring the vibrations of a new text and instead settling into the chair again.

He watched Shikiyoku for a minute, seeing for the first time just how exhausted she must feel and wondering if she'd gone to bed at all after he'd left the night before.

"Shikiyoku?" He spoke her name in a quiet voice, as if he thought he might scare her by breaking the silence too suddenly. He intended to ask if she was okay, if he could help at all, or if she needed anything, but instead when he opened his mouth, something completely different came out. "I haven't told anyone else yet, but I asked Hiei to make a ring for me." His smile softened. "..for Airi." *

"Mm?" She blinked for the first time in a while at her name and shifted her cup down and her attention over to Ikigai.

Her expression softened. Of course you have. You've desired to be her husband for a while.

"Being married to a human will be hard, Gai." She replied quietly after a moment. "But I think if anyone can do it, it's you." 3

Ikigai gave a sort of nod and a sheepish smile. He'd figured she'd already known, but he'd wanted to say it before Hiei mentioned it to her. It wouldn't have felt right with him.

"It'll be really hard," he agreed. "Her life will be so short, and I'll blink and she'll be gone." His smile was a bittersweet one. "But I think… that I couldn't have it any other way."

His eyes glazed over and a faraway look overcame his features.

He stared for a good while at nothing, his smile not wavering, and when he blinked he turned to Shikiyoku again.

"I wanted to ask if you have any recommendations about places to get Invitations done. Y'know, if she says yes…" *

Shikiyoku nodded as if she absolutely understood exactly what Gai meant.

"...cherish every moment you have with her. Humans are..." Her eyes shifted to the side. "They burn so brightly, so fiercely in what little time they have. I've never met a demon who can match their intensity." She sighed, "No wonder their lights fade so fast from this world."

She gave him a smile when he asked, "I have several." She gave a nod, "Anything she asks that you know she can't get...you come find me, hear?" 3

Ikigai nodded, knowing exactly what Shikiyoku meant. "She's absolutely radiant," he murmured, his eyes gaining that faraway gleam again as he thought back to their meeting.

The smile she'd given him then had been the hook, and he'd not forgotten it since.

Shikiyoku's smile pulled him from his thoughts and he nodded once. "I will." A waitress stopped by and dropped off a coffee he'd ordered for himself. When she was gone, he lifted his cup to his nose and spoke over the beverage before taking a sip, "You'll come, won't you?" *

Shikiyoku's nose lifted just a touch higher as she replied loftily with, "If I'm invited." 3

A mock frown pulled the edges of Ikigai's lips down, and he covered his core with his hand. "Of course! I'd never forget to give you an invite, Momma."

His smile came back with full force. "It wouldn't be the same without you and the guild." *

Shikiyoku smiled at his answer and reached across the table to pat his other hand, having reservations at the thought of a human wedding being attended by demons such as his guild partners.

"I'd be more than happy to come, Ikigai. And-" She knew of a few of the other traditions that could come with a ceremony such as he was thinking, "And if you need a mom to sit on your side of the bench...just let me know."

~!**!~

They hadn't quite reached him yet, but none of them said anything until Tarou suddenly grumbled:

"If I hadn't seen it myself, I woulda been super upset with ya'll for making me be the one to catch her."

Tsundora made a noise of protest, "I thought there was something up with her face, I just-"

"It was her magic slipping." Tarou remarked before he could finish.

"Yeah, I saw it today." Raion said quietly. "The dark circles."

...

"How often do you think she walks around like that?"

No one had an answer for the lightning wolf, who did not particularly think any of them would. 3

Hiei and Akihiko ran side by side, keeping pace with one another with strides that had their feet hitting the ground at the same millisecond. Hiei passed over a leather bag, and Aki pocketed it for later.

The silence was companionable, comfortable. Neither felt the need to fill it with useless surface conversation, and that's how it'd been for a few hours.

Hiei broke the silence. "If I'd known I could have done this alone, you wouldn't have missed working with Shiki."

Aki raised a brow, curious if the other had been mulling it over the entire time. "Tired of working with me already, Hiei?"

To his surprise, the fire demon gave a tired smile. "Of course not."

The pair fell back into that same comfortable silence.

Some time later, Hiei's pace began to slow as the Jagan warned him of his approaching guild. When the group did catch up, they all paused in an almost-uniformed circle.

"I take it the work with Shiki went well?"

"Yeah, boss, it was fun." Tarou shifted. "Listen, we're going to the coffee shop," he turned gave a look to Aki. "We wanna show you what it looks like, since you missed the fun."

Akihiko only nodded, "Alright."

"You, boss," Tarou turned his eyes back to Hiei, "have someone waiting at the bar for you."

Suspicion flit across his expression.

"No, no. Nothing like that. Shikiyoku finished work, like, yesterday. Just figured you'd want to see her first."

Hiei stretched and took three steps forward. "Well then, why'd you stop my run?"

Before any of them could say anything more, he took off again, leaving Akihiko behind with the rest.

Aki immediately turned to Tarou. "That bad, huh?"

"Yeah… she's lookin' real rough."

"Well, her Consort's on his way. Let's leave him to it."

~!**!~

No longer worried about leaving someone behind, Hiei let himself run just as fast as he was able to, the anticipation of seeing Shikiyoku driving him forward. At his top speed, it took him less than an hour to come to a walk just outside the bar's front door.

He took a breath to slow himself and get used to the lack of movement around him again, and when he pushed the door open, he nodded his greeting at a passing waitress and scanned the bar.

His feet began moving before he'd even seen her, the Bond pulling him in her direction seconds before his eyes fell on her frame.

He came up to stand behind her chair, looking over her shoulder at the letter she read, saying nothing at first and instead letting his hands come to rest on her shoulders as he bent over her to kiss the top of her head. *

As the door opened and Hiei walked in, Ikigai looked up and smiled at the Boss, giving Shikiyoku one last glance that spoke of his relief to see Hiei.

He'd realized as they sat there she still wore the same clothes she put on the day before, still barefoot, still had her long hair hanging down past her shoulders, beyond her waist.

She looked...well in a weird way she looked pretty human, especially with those bags under her eyes.

Gai just gave Hiei a nod and got up to go.

Shikiyoku wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry or hug him when she'd felt him coming closer, so it left her sitting there, scanning at first over the words of the letter in her hand even down to the little bit in English Kasai included, standing out starkly against the top to bottom kanji of the rest of the contents.

When Hiei's hands were suddenly at her shoulders, her eyes glazed over a bit and she lost sight of the letter in front of her, only feeling his fingers shifting against her as she felt him kiss the top of her head. 3

Hiei's lips lingered in the center of her head for a long moment, giving him the opportunity to take in her scent and energy, which he hadn't had nearly enough of since they'd gotten back from their 'saving the world' party.

When he finally did lift his head, he paused to note that her hair was down before he turned to Gai. He nodded at the other and gave a sort of thank you smile for keeping her company, and then when the other was out of his sight, the fire demon's eyes turned to the paper in Shikiyoku's hands again, staring at the letters and shapes.

His hands absently moved from her shoulders to her hair, and he began to slowly comb his fingers through it, pulling free a tangle here or there, but otherwise simply playing with it in lieu of commenting on its state of being left down.

"What are you reading?" he asked with genuine curiosity. *

What she really wanted to do was stand up and hug him, she decided, but she hadn't quite managed to get her feet off her chair; she had one arm wrapped around her legs and her bare heels on the seat beneath her.

Beginning to melt further into her chair when he began moving his fingers through her hair, she blinked a couple of times before focusing in on the letter he was asking about.

"It's a letter from Kasai." She shifted her thumb a little at the bottom of the page to reveal his signature at the end. 3

"Hmm," was his only response as she moved her thumb away from more words and symbols. It took him a minute to remember that Kasai was the demon who had helped Shikiyoku run the levels to get to him on the Ninth, and his fingers stilled in her hair for a moment. "How are his travels?"

His fingers separated her hair into parts and he began to twist them together, treating them as if he was layering a fragile chain for a necklace to create a loose braid. *

"Going well." She smiled at the letter, scanning over it again, "He's been on this level for a while now. Managed to get himself lost over in the Americas, traveling from South to North. He-" She stopped herself and skimmed over the next little bit of the letter, a tiny blush across her features.

Some parts of the letter were rather private, she realized, and he'd been standing over her for a while now.

She snuck a glance at him and saw the way he frowned down at the page a little, but quickly arrived at a different conclusion than his displeasure at its contents.

"Hiei...do you...know how to read?" 3

When Shikiyoku paused, Hiei's hands paused in her hair, leaving the braid half finished down her back. He turned down to what he could see of her face, which wasn't much since he'd taken to standing behind her, and he wondered if she preferred not to share.

He wouldn't mind it, really. It was her letter, her business.

But when she spoke up again, asking of his ability to read, a small smile found his face in some form of relief. He'd thought he'd asked about something she preferred to keep to herself.

"I don't," he replied in a murmur, just loud enough that only she could hear. He knew most, if not all of his guild knew how to do such a thing, along with writing, but he'd… never had to learn it. His contracts were all verbally sealed, bound by the laws of the land that tied such agreements together.

This was not a fact that he was ashamed of, or proud of, or felt in any sort of way about. It was simply, as most things were with him, a fact. *

Somehow, in this moment, it only served to make her feel a little bit better, and she gave him a small smile as she turned back to the letter.

"He's been in North America for several months." She began again. "Just reached the middle portion of it about the time we...about the time we started for the Eighth." She chuckled a little at her next thought: "He's been sending me poems when he goes to new places. This one is in English." She pointed at the strange looking bit underneath all the other kanji. "You might like it."

"Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice."

She smiled a little at the letter once she'd finished reciting it for him, feeling ever so glad her Hiei was finally home. 3

Lithe fingers resumed their braiding of her hair as she continued, his eyes staying on the strange symbols for a moment before turning down to his work. So he listened as he worked, the ends of her hair coming together just as the end of the poem did.

He didn't know what specifically a 'poem' was, but, just as she'd said, he'd liked it. It reminded him of a rhyme he'd heard early in his years, and had been perhaps the inspiration for the first nickname he'd ever called her by.

He couldn't remember it word for word, but he remembered that it had definitely been about wind and fire.

The thought passed and his lips tilted into a smile. "I'm home."

One of his hands circled her to find the skin just under her chin, and he tilted her head back enough that he could lean down and press a kiss to her lips, his usual greeting having been delayed by his curiosity of the letter. *

Her relief at his presence washed over the bond between them as he kissed her, and even when his kiss sent a few weak flutters of sparkles across her nose and face she still reached up a hand to rest it against his cheek, finding comfort in his touch and being able to touch him.

(I missed you.) 3

His hands moved until both rested against her cheeks, his eyes closing as her relief flooded the bond and washed over him. A tension he hadn't known he'd been carrying melted away from his shoulders and seemed to disappear altogether.

(I missed you, too. A lot.)

His own content seemed to meet her relief, and he held her in the kiss for a long, long moment to savor their reunion.

When he pulled away, it was just far enough away to take a good, long look at her face.

He frowned at the bags under her eyes, only just seeing them.

(...have they come back? Your nightmares.) *

She turned her forehead so it leaned gently into his own, closing her eyes.

They were still there, flitting on the edges of her vision, sometimes cruel and calculating, other times overwhelming in number and hunger.

Frankly, she hadn't even tried sleeping since he'd left. Since before he left, really, since she left first this time.

(They were okay when we were running back up, but-)

They both knew she'd not taken the sort of chase she'd been all but forced to do very well. Spending at least half the journey back twitchy, and never sleeping well when they took time to rest. She'd mostly encouraged him to keep going because they both wanted to be home, but she was certain they both thought they'd have time to recover when they got there.

She'd been too drunk the night of the party to really remember the dreams, but it wasn't a solution she was willing to employ all the time given how little control she had of her energy when she got like that.

(How're you? Were things okay?) She nudged her nose against his just a little. 3

He let out a long, slow breath that washed over her. He'd worried about it almost as soon as she'd left for her work, but had endeavored to put it out of his mind when he couldn't do anything to help her with it.

He'd hoped to be wrong, but he was also very much aware of how little sleep she'd gotten before she left, and since she hadn't come back to the bar while he'd been holding the fort, he'd started to guess that she wasn't sleeping.

Or if she had been, it had been somewhere uncomfortable.

Judging by the bags under her eyes, though, he'd decided that it was definitely the first of those two options.

(I'll be here to help you recover.)

When she asked him how he was, he realized he hadn't stopped to consider himself in any capacity. He'd simply done as he always did and stayed busy, doing this or doing that. Working at the bar was likely the easiest for him, and much less draining than leaving for merc work every day.

But when he actually took a moment to think about it, his eyes blinked open. (Things were fine. They went about as expected.) He realized he hadn't slept since the day she'd left.

And, really, he couldn't remember if he'd stayed in bed with the hangover or if he'd guzzled water, pills, and shoveled food in his mouth before going to work.

I think I slept, and then did those things.

He pulled away from where his forehead had rested and he moved to stand next to her chair, his hand extended in an offer to take hers, fully intending to walk with her up the stairs and fall into bed next to her. (Let's continue where we left off, shall we?) *

She could have just kissed him as he helped her stand. She would have just kissed him, if she thought she could get away with it.

(Please.)

(How was the trip? Akihiko didn't say what it was for.) 3

Hiei closed his hand around hers and channeled just a touch of his energy into it so his grasp was about as warm as her cup of coffee had been when he'd arrived. His other hand passed her the envelope from Kasai's letter that had been laying on the table and he turned to lead her towards the door.

(Well,) he began as he pulled her along through the door and up the stairs, (The letter that had been sent was an urgent request to be in a particular city when someone sick turned Infected..) He glanced at her briefly as if to apologize for the topic.

(It's one of those cities made up of 'survivors'. People who lost their homes and families. Anyway,) He turned at the top of the stairs to the door on the left, (when we got there, fully expecting to run a sick individual to the Eighth, we instead waited around because the kid was still ill.)

He closed the door behind her.

(Turned out to be an unrelated illness. So, we came back.)

He frowned a little as he pulled his shoes off. He'd tried to deny payment from the person who'd sent for him, but they'd insisted to pay since Hiei and Aki had come the whole way. In the end, neither of them could convince the other otherwise, and Hiei had given every coin to Akihiko. *

She squeezed his hand when he looked at her, the envelope and letter in her other fingers. She was always saddened by stories of the Infected, but those were just about the only stories to be had anymore. Besides, it was never nearly as displeasing to hear about when he was so nearby.

Shikiyoku would glance at him every so often, quite frankly wishing to kiss him again, but keeping her distance.

When they got into her room and he started to remove his shoes, she let go of his hand and moved over to her vanity, pulling out a tin from a drawer and after folding up the letter, slipping it into the envelope, into the tin, into the drawer, turning around to watch Hiei as he finished, her hands coming together in front of her, but her fingers just curling around the ends of the sleeves of her sweater and her toes working themselves around into the carpet a little.

She absently reached up to shift the sweater to cover her shoulder only to have it fall off the other side, but this time glanced at it if only to distract her from looking at him.

She wasn't sure where his cloak was-he had been wearing the uniform he insisting on dressing in when he was at the bar the last she saw him-and she wasn't sure she could complain about it missing, exactly. 3

He didn't have to look up to know that Shikiyoku kept stealing glances at him when she thought he wasn't paying attention. He could feel her gaze every time it landed on him, though he wasn't sure exactly what the feeling specifically was. It was familiar, though, that much he knew.

He struggled with one of his cloth shoes for a moment, his fingers working at the tie that didn't want to come undone and a frown on his face. He'd had to get new ones halfway down the second Level this time, and it was a point of frustration that he'd had to tie them.

He paused and gave a small sigh. His arm hung lifelessly in front of himself, and he stared at the carpet. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a strange movement, and he discreetly glanced over to see Shikiyoku's toes digging into the carpet as they curled, uncurled, then curled again.

He'd never seen her so impatient before, so he turned down and worked at his shoe a little quicker, a smile on his face as the tie came undone and he was able to step out of it. As he stood upright again, his hands unfastened the strap from around his waist and he leaned his katana against the wall.

Understanding hit him when he turned to look at Shikiyoku and noticed she was looking anywhere but at him, and he took the two steps it took to reach her before he leaned down over her and kissed her.

(I would never deny affection from you, Shiki.) *

Trying to do anything to distract herself from the fact that she was enjoying seeing her markings on him so obviously out in the open, the shifting of the muscles in his arms as he fiddled with his shoes and-

Her toes moved in the carpet again and she glanced over at the top of her vanity, the outfit draped over her chair, and definitely not at Hiei as he moved to place his blade elsewhere once removing it from his waist.

When he moved for her, she did turn her head suddenly and almost frowned at him, he had such a particular look in his eye, but then he was kissing her and murmuring things in the bond that she somehow felt were true and her energy scattered across her face and she felt her scalp tingle as her hair practically whispered in response to him as it too stirred with her energy.

And it was all she could do to just stand there and kiss him back. 3

Hiei's hands gently came to rest at the back of her jawline, his fingers brushing just along her hairline and his thumbs stroking the skin in front of her ears. He stood as close as he could in that moment, leaving only an inch or so between his chest and hers, and he let her energy fill every one of his senses.

He deepened the kiss as he remembered the one they'd shared outside the bar a few nights prior, and he found that he wanted that intensity, that breathlessness again.

Because damn he missed her. *

Everywhere he touched her, he left trails of glittering bits of energy that she felt scattering over her face, and her hands twitched for a moment like she wanted to wrap them around him and close the last bit of distance between them, but she couldn't quite bring herself to do it.

It had been a while since her hair had been quite this free. Even during their trip back from the Eighth, she'd found ways to keep it back out of her face.

The energy she felt buzzing at her scalp practically sang down her tresses and began filtering into the room, particularly when Hiei began to kiss her in a way that distinctly reminded her of how she'd left him a few nights ago and all at once her hands found his sides and rested against him, shifting slightly against the fabric of his shirt. 3

Hiei's lips stayed melded with hers for just as long as he could stand it, and when he was forced to pull away, he did so only long enough to take a breath and kiss her cheek.

He lowered his forehead to hers, the cloth he normally wore to hide the Jagan gone and causing him to be a little extra careful with how he pressed his forehead against hers for a long moment.

His hands slid across her skin from her jawline and around her neck until he was hugging her, his arms resting on her shoulders. He gave a long sigh of content, relief, and general relaxation, the thought that he was actually home again finally sinking in. *

Wow.

She was still trying to catch her breath as his forehead came in contact with her, energy swirling something fierce in her eyes, though she had kept them closed and continued to do so when he came closer.

She responded to his hug then, the arms at his sides shifting to wrap around him as she felt as much as heard him sigh against her.

Still reeling a little from their kiss, she couldn't manage to form any words and only swallowed, unsure how she felt about him using the tactic against her and quite sure exactly how she felt about him using the tactic against her. 3

Hiei didn't know how long he stood there wrapped so wholly in Shikiyoku, but it took him a long while before he even so much as opened his eyes. He stared at the wall behind her blankly, its image a bit more blurry in his eyesight then it had ever been before.

It was that blurriness that reminded him of why they were in her room. Why he'd taken off his shoes and why he'd put his katana away for the next long while.

Slowly, he began to take carefully measured steps backwards, pulling Shikiyoku with him until the back of his knees hit the bed. Once he gave a pause to look behind him and make sure he'd land where he wanted to, he let himself fall backwards onto the comforter, his arms still hugging Shiki around the neck.

He let out another great big sigh as he sank into the mattress.

"I don't plan on leaving this room unless someone drags me out," he grumbled as his eyes closed again. *

Shikiyoku actually chuckled a little at him, shifting her head a bit so he wasn't pulling her hair any.

"I'm oh-so-tempted to test that statement, flameboy." She teased and poked him in the side. 3

"It's true. I have a month's worth of sleep to catch up on, and you have even more than that. So, here is where I'll stay." He nodded as if he'd stated the world's least-known fact.

(You don't have to keep your spell up anymore. Let it go, get some rest.) *

(I...don't know what you're talking about.)

Without him in her face distracting her, she asked something she wondered about earlier.

"...Hiei...did you lose your cloak?" Her question was accompanied by a frown and no small amount of concern. 3

When he'd noticed the bags under her eyes, he'd begun to look for more signs of fatigue while they were conversing in the bar. He'd probed the bond discreetly, quietly, while they'd shared a moment of simply being in one another's presence again.

He hadn't been able to see under it completely, but he'd noticed that what he saw had not been true to the real deal. He didn't know how she'd done it, but he'd hoped she would let her guard down now that they were alone.

When she skirted the subject, Hiei opened his eyes to look down at her, a slight frown settling on his features.

"Did I lose…?" He blinked; he'd gone long enough without his cloak that he'd forgotten he'd hung it up for good. "No, it's not lost. It's hanging on my wardrobe." A glint found his eyes as he remembered deciding to let the world see his markings, and how very few people looked at him with disdain and disgust as they used to do.

And it just so happened to come with the added bonus that anyone looking for Shikiyoku went straight to Hiei if she wasn't around, which was something he'd discovered over the last week. *

"..."

She frowned.

"Did you get a tear in it? Does it need mending? Is it too short again?" 3

The worry in Shikiyoku's voice almost made him chuckle, but he stifled it so she wouldn't think he was laughing at her. Instead he leaned his head down to hers and kissed her forehead, though his smile gave away his amusement.

"It's not torn, or too short. It's as it should be." He closed his eyes again. "...I just wanted more people to see your mark on my life." *

She blinked a couple of times, not really understanding what he meant at first, though a hand shifted up against his side as if she could touch the tattoo she knew swirled along his body there.

"...really?" She still seemed confused by the prospect.

Sure, the mark was somewhat visible on his face, but he'd always hidden the tattoos away, ever since he found out he'd been in the running for Consort and kept them hidden from the others. The only time anyone ever saw them was within more recent months when he'd rolled up his sleeves to work at the bar, but that was work. So his sleeves didn't get messy.

...right? 3

Hiei's smile against Shiki's head grew just a tick. He hadn't thought she'd believe him right away, and if she had he would have been the one surprised. After all, old habits die hard, and he still reached for his cloak every once in a while.

Though it was definitely a weird feeling to be running in the pants meant to go with that cloak, and not wearing it as a completed outfit.

"Yes, really."

He opened his eyes and glanced down at his plain white tank top, still pristine since he'd gotten into no trouble while out, but definitely not fireproof like his cloak.

"Do you still have that same material?" *

Her frown deepened a little at his answer, still unsure what would have caused him to take such a drastic step as not wearing his cloak.

And if it was about her marking, she'd always thought he kept them hidden away because he was...ashamed of them or something. So what made him have a change of heart?

"Mm. I think so." She eventually replied. 3

Her frown was definitely not the reaction he wanted, but he understood in any case. He'd always covered them up out of habit, wearing his cloak as he always did because that's what he'd always done. And it hid his sword until he was ready to use it.

He'd never thought of the markings themselves and what they meant, or how they would affect how people saw him or how Shikiyoku felt. He hadn't had to, since it'd never come up before.

And she'd definitely never complained. Not that she complained about anything with him.

Part of him wondered what else bothered her that she never let on about.

"Do you have enough to make a shirt?" he asked her. "Not right now, obviously. Or even tomorrow or the next day. Just sometime after we rest." He dropped an arm from around Shiki's shoulders to tug at the cotton fabric of his shirt. "This isn't exactly flame resistant, and it's harder to keep clean." He thought about going around without a shirt at all, but he wasn't sure that would go over well anywhere outside of their shared living spaces.*

She was fairly certain she had enough of the cloth to do as he was asking, though she wasn't certain of his measurements.

"I mean, you could just go around without a shirt entirely." She said dryly. 3

"If you want me to, I will do just that." He nodded once, then fell into a thoughtful silence.

He looked down at himself and raised his left leg slightly in the air, considering it.

"...If it'd make you happy, I could ditch the pants too. Then all of my markings would be seen." He lowered his leg to the bed again and turned to look at her. "By everyone." *

She was certain he was kidding about not wearing a shirt if she wanted him to.

She, for one, would get little work done when he was around if he did so.

At the thought, a bit of gleam was settling over her eyes, and it only got worse when he spoke of wearing even less.

"Not quite all of them, flameboy." One of her eyebrows quirked, though she had her face against him. "Unless you're planning on walking around without any clothing on." 3

Hiei blinked once, opened his mouth to say that that was precisely what he meant, then decided against it. "The problem then would be," he gave a thoughtful turn of his head, "I'd be very obvious in a fight, and very vulnerable."

He thought some more on it. "On second thought, I do move faster than anything or anyone I'd be up against, normally." *

As he kept speaking, she started shaking against him as she tried to hold in her laughter, core contracting fiercely as she did so.

"Hiei-" She stopped before she snickered, shaking again. "Hiei, we've...we've been apart for less...for less than a week and we can't...we can't even have a normal conversation together..." She meant to say more, but she was having enough trouble already. 3

Shikiyoku's body shaking against him momentarily had him alarmed, and he snapped his eyes down to look her over several times as she spoke.

When he realized the bond was giving him no indication of any sort of negativity, he relaxed again and raised a brow at her.

A smile slowly grew on his lips as she struggled to talk, realizing after she finished that she was trying not to laugh.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd heard her laugh. Had it been recently? Did she laugh at the party? Or was it their date? ...Had it been even before then?

He turned his eyes up to the ceiling for a brief moment, and all at once a memory of another creature 'giggling' at him had him turning down to look at her again, mischief gleaming in his eyes.

"I'm not so sure I know what this 'normal' is," he responded as his smile was wiped from his face all at once, replaced with a careful neutrality. "But… isn't clothing just a normal thing to talk about? ...though I suppose the lack of such things isn't a typical topic of discussion…" *

Shikiyoku buried her face against him, biting at her lip lest the laughter bubbling up at the back of her throat overtake her and she tried to take a deep calming breath in with limited success.

"Well...I suppose..." She squeezed her eyes tight as she nearly grinned. "...we aren't exactly typical either." 3

Hiei watched her with that neutral expression, and it was hard for his grin not to sneak its way back onto his expression. He fought against it with a purse of his lips and a slight crease between his brows.

"I would say that 'typical' is no fun, but as we've covered in the past…" He shifted around until she wasn't lying directly on him, though he kept an arm around her shoulders so she wouldn't stray far from his side as he reached his now free hand up to poke at her sides. "...that I know absolutely nothing about fun."

He poked her three more times along the rib cage, his expression giving way to the mischief that had been gleaming in his eyes the whole time. *

When Hiei shifted her around, she tried to stay as close to him as possible to bury her expression in his chest where he couldn't see, her arms coming up to either side of her head as if to hide it from him.

Which meant when he went for her side, she'd left it completely undefended.

His first poke had her elbow jerking back down to try and cover it as she hissed a breath in between her teeth in a grimace that she tried to use to keep back her laughter.

"...Hi-...-ie..." Her body spasmed a little as a 'pfft' of air made it past her lips and she curled up a little as if it would deter him. 3

He slipped his hand away from her jerking motion, but the spasm and her curled position was all he needed.

He lowered his hand again to poke at any spots he could get to, and when he found any length of exposed side he ran a few of his fingers there, then retreated to poke elsewhere.

"I'm sorry…"

Poke.

"I didn't catch that…"

Poke.

"Would you like…"

Poke. Poke.

"To try again?"

PokePokePoke. *

Her original attempts had been admirable, but as Hiei began his more unrelenting assault, her twitching became more and her silence became less silent.

As if it would do her any good, as she started laughing, she reached out as best she was able to try and catch hold of his arm or deflect it away, but unless he was feeling particularly merciful, she knew he could move much too quickly for her to react.

His tickling had her relaxing in other ways though, her energy at her exertions starting to weave into the air around her as tiny little shimmers of light all about her head and face.

"I-" Laughter. "It-" More laughter. "You-"

Of course, he wasn't giving her a chance to get more than a word in edgewise. 3

The bond finally spilled over with his amusement just as chuckles began to rumble from his chest to mingle in the air with her energy.

He poked and prodded some more, letting her hand brush his so she would be close to catching him, but never letting her get a good grip on his wrist.

"Admirable attempts." He chuckled some more. "Such bravery in the face of such a battle." Chuckles.

PokePokePokePokePoke.

"And yet no surrender…" His chuckles grew louder, and whatever he'd been about to say died underneath them. *

Inbetween her fits of giggles alternating between her trying to hold them back with no success whatsoever and just flat-out uncontrollable laughter, Shikiyoku started heaving in larger breaths and trying to speak, more so when he mentioned surrender, which she had no mental faculties available to consider for herself.

Her eyes were at least half-open, most of the time, anyway, nearly overtaken by the swirling yellow glow in their depths that mirrored the shimmers bursting briefly into view around her and occasionally scattering across her skin.

"Hiei-"

"Please-"

Her lack of success with actually catching his arm was replaced with attempts to simply deflect, but she could never quite get out any of the sentences she meant.

"Hiei-"

"Iloveyou-"

"Please-" 3

Hiei's pokes and prods began to slow as she began to take in deeper breaths, his grin widening and his chuckles turning into small fits of his own laughter.

When he caught her eyes, half-lidded and almost completely yellow, he realized that he'd never seen her energy quite so active before this moment, and his wicked grin almost widened as he considered picking up the onslaught again.

He almost didn't catch what she said between fits of laughter, but when it did register with his brain, his movements slowed considerably until she was able to bat his hand away.

He blinked down at her, his entire body having stopped, including his core.

Did I hear that right?

He was afraid he'd misheard her.

When he thought about it for a second and realized that she'd most definitely said 'i love you', his smile turned from mischievous to a lopsided one. And when he spoke, it was in a low murmur.

"...you love me?" *

She most certainly did not trust his retreat, her breath still coming hard and fast through her nose. Her arm dropped abruptly to her side though, exhausted from having tried to defend her.

When she'd come to rest, it was with his earlier braid in a dire mess, places where it stuck to her neck from where she'd started to sweat and otherwise haphazardly covering her features in wanton disarray.

She blinked when she heard him speaking, feeling the low rumble of his chest at this proximity, and her eyes stayed open, if half-mast.

And as if she wasn't already red in the face from her laughter, a deep blush settled over what felt like her entire body, down her neck and making her exposed shoulder feel hot against the air of the room. If toes could blush, she was certain hers were, the wave of her awareness at her admission having been out loud suddenly crashing against her.

She bit her lip, eyes staring at the twisted up comforter below them...

...and nodded. 3

Hiei waited and watched as Shikiyoku's face seemed to grow deeper in color, and he watched her with bated breath. She turned her eyes down to the comforter, and for one sickening moment he thought she might say no, that she hadn't meant it.

Her nod, however, had the air in his lungs - as little as there was - whooshing from him. He could hear the blood pumping in his ears and the beating of his core was rapid.

He didn't notice the sudden snow flurries mingling with the sparks that began to fly all around him. He didn't pay any mind to the snowflakes that stuck to his lashes or the little embers that temporarily lit up the air. He didn't notice anything that wasn't Shikiyoku.

All he could do in that moment was to gather her up as close as he could and kiss her with as much strength as he dared, letting the bond tell her all about the happiness, the adoration, and the relief that filled him from the very tips of the fibers in his hair to the very ends of his toes.

And in the middle of those emotions came only one thought that slipped past without his even knowing it.

(She loves me too…!) *

Of all the things that he could have been feeling in those moments, Shikiyoku was the most surprised about his...relief...?

Sure, she hadn't...she hadn't exactly told him she loved him in so many words until now. In the moments just before she nodded, she wasn't really even sure he understood it anyway.

She didn't expect him to kiss her.

She hadn't seen his expression in those moments before, only hearing his words as she kept her eyes well away from him, suddenly having flung herself into a position that left her uncomfortably vulnerable and feeling, of all things, fear about his reaction: whether he'd pull away, or completely close off, or-

Well, it didn't really matter now, did it?

His lips crushed against hers could at the very least be interpreted as not completely dissatisfied with her admission or overly upset about it to the point of retreat.

Quite the contrary, really.

As the waves of his own reaction crashed against the bond between them, for once she let herself pursue the kiss between them, and one of the hands now trapped against him shifted a little so her palm could rest against his chest as she lit his marking and set her energy-already hazily filling the air about them-blazing along it.

And she responded the only way she could think to.

(Of course I love you, Hiei. I've loved you for a very long time.) 3

In his joy, relief, adoration, and everything else, Hiei's eyes were squeezed so tightly shut that he began to see little dots in his vision. He kissed Shikiyoku as if his life depended on it - as if her life depended on it - and all of his fear from moments ago became completely inconsequential.

Her reiteration and reassurance left him no room to think of anything except for what he'd been hoping for for…. Well, what felt like eons. It left him no room for doubt, for fear, for any sort of insecurity.

It left him light, warm, and free to be completely open. It left him to truly and wholly accept that this person was going nowhere that would take her away from him, and that even if something happened down the line, he'd work his hardest to be there when she needed him - even more so than he did now.

He kissed her until it hurt. His lungs ached and his lips felt heavy. And he kissed her some more.

It was with a reluctance that he did finally pull back, and when he opened his eyes to spy the warm golden glow of his markings mingling with flurries and embers and golden sparks, a sort of awe overcame him. But he closed his eyes again to savor the feeling, the moment, and he ignored the old and almost forgotten feeling of a tear falling from each eye and landing, solid, on his chest before they rolled towards Shikiyoku.

(With all of my being… I love you, too, my Beloved.) *

Shikiyoku nudged what she could reach of his face with her nose, hoping he'd open his eyes and look at her again, smiling at him behind the yellow swirls of her energy that still hadn't quite died down.

(Well...I suppose that settles it, then.) Her eyes narrowed playfully. (You really know absolutely nothing about fun, do you?) 3

Hiei obliged and let his eyes come open so that he could stare, unblinking, down at Shikiyoku. His smile, like the rest of his expression, was filled with adoration and general content as he met the swirling golden gaze smiling up at him too.

(I am, at the very least, in the presence of someone who might clue me in on this 'fun'. Maybe I'll learn of it, just as I've learned many other things from her.) *

(I dunno...) She seemed skeptical. (Some people are just predisposed to having no capacity for fun whatsoever. You might just be a lost cause.) She shook her head. (Shame.)3

Had she said such things earlier, he would have taken it as a challenge.

But in this moment, his smile held none of the mischief.

He pulled one of his arms from around her and fished for the little gems that had fallen somewhere between his side and her torso, and when he came away with the two gems, he poked once at her rib cage.

(Then you'll just have to have all the fun for me.) *

His poke resulted in a startled shift of her against him, eyes wide having not expected it.

Her lips tightened together around the sound that had almost escaped her.

(Gosh, I dunno, that's such a huge burden to place on me, Hiei. Having enough fun for the both of us? Do you even know how much fun that is?)

She took her hand off his mark and the brightness of it faded as she poked him once in the chest, softly, but in retaliation. 3

He stiffened out of reflex when she poked him, but otherwise gave no indication that her prod had any effect whatsoever. He instead reached to the night stand on the opposite side of the bed and gently set the two tear gems on its surface, already a plan in his mind of what to do with them.

(I'll try my best to pick up on it, then, so you won't be so burdened down.) He leaned back towards her and shifted until he lay on his side and wrapped both arms around her middle. *

Shikiyoku let out something of a dramatic sigh as he faced her and pulled her close.

(That's what you always say. And yet...here we are.) She flattened her palms against his chest and looked up at him through energy-gleaming eyes that were swirling in a teasing sort of fashion at him.

Her eyes wandered over his face, his cheeks, his lips, then back up to his eyes. 3

(Such little faith in your Consort.)

Mock disappointment crossed his features just long enough to be seen before it disappeared and he turned to kiss her cheek. His lips lingered there as her admission rang in his head for the hundredth time since she'd said it.

His eyelids slid closed.

(I missed you.) *

(Oh, so very little, my dear Hiei.) She replied archly, her teasing giving away to blatant, if exceptionally dry sarcasm, though between them in the bond it was all too clear just how little she thought such things.

Her core swelled again at the events that had just transpired between them. Some part of her knew he couldn't have been her Consort if these things were not true, but the intensity of his feelings toward her settled something previously hanging between them she hadn't acknowledged properly, and hadn't even been sure how to approach.

As the energy in her system began to calm down, filtering away from her eyes and her skin and the air around them, it also brought away with it the last bits of the spell that had been hanging around her person, and she let herself rest just a little heavier in his arms and a little shorter of breath as his lips met her cheek.

All of the warmth from the moment before had not lessened, however, and filtered lazily, freely in the space of their bond between them, the emotions forming as best it could the words that passed between them:

(I missed you, too.) 3

Just as he was beginning to drift off into sleep, Hiei peeled his eyes open to glance at Shikiyoku again, watching as her energy settled and the sparks quieted, and her spell began to fall away. A part of him had suspected the extreme lack of color in her skin and the darkness under her eyes, and as his energy too seemed to calm and the last of the snowflakes and fiery embers died, he kissed her again.

(Get some rest. I'm not going anywhere.)

His eyelids slid closed again, and as he settled into the mattress with his arms still around her and his nose just touching her cheek, he drifted off into a much needed, very heavy slumber.

He dreamt of nonsensical, worthless things that mattered none. He dreamt of the bar and his guild, busy and noisy and just as it always was. He dreamt of Toriko's home and its kitchen, and the sweet snow he'd had there many years ago. He dreamt of the places he'd been during his jobs and work, and the people he'd met.

And lastly, just before he opened his eyes, he dreamt of his homecoming. He dreamt of his walk into the bar and the woman so casually dressed, bare feet and hair down, sitting at a table reading a letter. Tired. Drained. But waiting.

When his eyes blinked open, the room was bleary and out of focus. He didn't know what time it was, and at first, he almost wasn't sure which room he was in. But as he blinked again, all of the afternoon's events that lead to him lying on Shikiyoku's bed, wrapped so wonderfully around and with her, his lips curled up into a satisfied, almost giddy smile.

She loves me.

That thought seemed to be on echo in his mind, repeating itself even before it was done. And with that thought replayed that moment, that kiss, that feeling. The relief, the adoration, the absolute joy and happiness welled up in him again, perhaps accompanied by pride at having been brave enough to tell her too, and his hand at her back began to gently play with the ends of her hair.

He gave a soft yawn, as quiet as the rest of the room, and glanced down at Shikiyoku's sleeping face. A gentle smile seemed to have left its mark there, peaceful and content.

No nightmares.

I should be sleeping too.

He should be tired. He was tired. He hadn't slept so hard, so well since… before his and Shikiyoku's date well over a month ago. And with what he'd just gotten - he took a minute to sense where the sun might be in the sky and realized it was late evening - he felt heavy and somehow light at the same time. His body was tired, that much was true.

But his mind was awake, replaying the events of the day over and over and over and-

It seemed never ending. He might have been upset about it at any other time, but this particular feeling was one he'd never felt so strongly before. It left him warm and happy and borderline inspired.

He knew what he wanted to do with the two jewels he'd let fall earlier already. It would be simple, and take likely less than a few minutes. Maybe I should learn to write and leave a note with it…

He'd ask her later.

His hands continued to play with the ends of her hair, fidgeting, unable to really be still for too long.

I could finish Gai's rings…

He looked down at her again.

But I don't want to leave her.

So he stared and he fidgeted and he thought in circles around the same moment. Gentle and filled with a true happiness so unlike any he'd felt before. Warm. Delicate - it could have gone so wrong so fast.

He blinked. Delicate.

He was suddenly seeing the half-finished engagement ring on his desk, simple and elegant in its own ways, but perhaps not so delicate as it could be. Not so graceful in looks as it should.

In his mind's eye, he reworked the piece shaving by shaving, metal piece by metal piece, until it was similar in concept, but.. Better.

He couldn't sit still. He couldn't lay there and not get the design out and into true form. So, gently, carefully, quietly, he shifted Shikiyoku in his arms until he could sit up with her, and he stood.

He paused when she moved, waited for her to fall back into sleep, and then he slowly and leisurely made his way from her room and to the door at the very end of the hallway. When he managed to push it open to reveal the familiar room, he smiled to himself and nudged the door shut.

He crossed the room and carefully lowered himself to sit in his chair, crossed his leg so that his left ankle sat on his right knee, and he set Shikiyoku in his lap where she wouldn't fall or slide, and where she wouldn't wake up with sore muscles or a crick in her neck.

He circled his arms carefully around her and lifted the incomplete project from his desk, and he quietly set to work on the ring, adjusting it as necessary and adding to it the small details he'd imagined.

And even with Shikiyoku between his arms, he found it just as easy to do his crafting as it was when she wasn't there. *

Dreamless.

Or, if her visions of the Crusnik or the horde flitted at all along the edges of her slumber, her other senses were so full of him-of the warmth of him, of the scent of him, of the feel of him within their bond and without-that she took no notice, her exhaustion finally consuming her body and overtaking her mind until she did not realize she slipped away from the waking world.

She felt so very...safe.

When he shifted her into his arms, she only shifted closer without making so much as a sound, eyes not even moving beneath their lids.

It even took a while for her to realize their location had changed, what with him still all but skin-to-skin with her, so it was a very long time before she so much as stirred in her makeshift seat in his lap, his chest pressed gently up against her head where it was curled near where his arm met with his shoulder.

Eyes closed, nose still filling with every breath with his spicy and sweet smell of cinnamon and cloves, the tiniest noise hummed at her lips where her words died, feeling now how he would shift about and the muscles underneath her would shift a trifle to accommodate him. 3

The first ring took no time at all to be completed, assessed, cleaned, and polished. It being the simpler of the two made it a quick project, the hardest part about it being the setting of the small stones along its dainty band.

The second, slightly larger ring took quite a bit more work, especially since he was starting from the ground up. He molded the metal and stretched it, measured the heated metal until it was the same size as the one before, then he sealed it as one continuous loop.

From there he shaved away at the band, designing it with Gai in mind and adding a few tiny flairs in the detailing before he began to set small stones into it as well, leaving space for a larger one in the center of the line.

He reached a little further for the last of the tiny stones, and when he settled back into his chair, he was surprised briefly by the little hum that broke the silence of the room.

He paused with his hands resting on his desk to look down at her face, seeing that her eyes were still closed and she still rested up against him as she had been. He watched her for a moment, a smile on his face, before he filled the bond with his presence in the hopes that she'd go back to sleep instead of coming closer to the waking world.

She definitely looked better. The circles under her eyes had lessened and the color had started to come back to her cheeks. But he wanted her to sleep.

So instead of kissing her like he wanted to, half afraid that would wake her, he carefully went back to what he was doing, and he set the last small stone in the band at the end of the line.

When it set and appeared to have no issue staying where it was, he held it at eye level, using the Jagan instead of a lamp to survey it for any kind of inconsistencies. *

She let out a soft breath from her lips and tucked in closer to him as if it were possible, feeling her hair spilling from down her back and across the leg supporting her shift with her.

Part of her was awake with him, part of her still asleep, and as her awareness of him left her pleasantly drowning in his presence within the bond, her wordless curiosity at what he was doing started to entwine with his consciousness about her. 3

Hiei smiled at the ring, satisfied that he found nothing to fix, nothing to change, and that it would look quite lovely against the skin of the human he'd met over a month ago.

He lowered the ring and slowly, carefully, reached with the tool in his hand to grab for a larger stone he'd had set out for another project. It reflected the very little light in the room from a nearby display case, and he surveyed its clarity for a whole minute before be just as carefully began to set it in its place on the ring.

The curiosity that bloomed quietly across the bond had his smile twitching just a hair, and he opened himself up to the bond and let his view of the ring carefully, gently make its way to her across it, hoping its progression to her would be easy and almost dreamlike. *

Shikiyoku's eyes twitched once as suddenly beneath them she was able to somehow have a full sense of the answer to her unspoken question, and a spike of wonder at how it nearly seemed like she was looking out through his eyes shot across their bond.

She smiled, knowing now they were at his desk in his workroom and he had settled her in his lap in a way where he could still work.

(I am glad I am able to keep you company even when asleep.)

She let out a tiny yawn, making a small noise as she shifted against him and her eyes came open a little.

(...I don't think we've ever quite done that before, though.) She meant him showing her what he was seeing.3

He pressed the stone into its setting with the same tool he'd used to pluck it from the desk. He held it there for a few seconds, and when he pulled away from it and it moved, he applied the pressure again to make sure it went back into its original place.

Her wonder almost felt like his own, and it took him a half second to realize that it wasn't his. He blinked at his hands once even as he pulled away from the stone again.

When it didn't move, he set his tool down and reached for a polishing cloth, a slight frown pulling at the corner of his lips when she gave a more vocal-like answer. You were supposed to go back to sleep.

He glanced down at her as she yawned and pulled away from the bond just enough that what he saw faded from her end, and despite the fact that he'd hoped she would go into a deeper realm of sleep, he smiled at her when she looked up at him.

He didn't deny himself the kiss to her forehead this time.

(You should be sleeping.)

He turned back to the ring in his hands and eyed the spots of color as they began to shine against the band, looking even better than he'd imagined it would. He found he was quite proud of his rings. *

Pleased with his kiss and smiling as he did it, her eyes closing again briefly at it, Shikiyoku shifted around in Hiei's lap until she was facing forward with her back to his chest and her head leaning against his shoulder so he could still look out over his worktable, watching with sleepy eyes as he continued to work.

Her legs kicked a little in the air absently on either side of his lap and her hair rustled a little as she turned to give his arm a kiss when he mentioned sleep, resting her cheek back against it after a moment.

(For Airi, right?) 3

The spot on his arm where she kissed had a lingering warmth that only seemed to grow when she rested her cheek in that same place. It brought his smile back and he almost kissed her again, if not for the smudge he caught on the largest jewel when his cloth passed over it.

He didn't miss her disregarding his suggestion, though he knew that so long as she stayed where she was, she was resting enough that her body could continue to recover.

(Yes. One to….) He took a moment to think about the human custom of marriage and wracked his brain for the proper terms, as few of them as he knew. (...engaging with. The second for the ceremony.) *

(Proposal.) Shikiyoku's mind provided. (The engagement ring for the proposal and then the wedding band to join it at the wedding proper.)

(He's very excited.) The statement was whirling with all of the weight that went with the idea of being wed to a human.

Spawn of human and demon relationships were, while somewhat rare to begin with as compatibility was an issue, not usually accompanied by any actual companionship between the two sires. Most demons either thought it beneath them to actually engage in anything lasting aside from immediate satisfactions as they desired them from their weaker counterparts, or were aware on some level how the humans were more fragile, didn't live as long, and avoided the idea altogether.

...Ikigai would be faced with a lifetime of haunting memories for a short season of joy. 3

(Thank you.) He dropped the cloth that was obviously too dirty to polish with now and reached for his backup, a satisfaction filling the bond when it cleared the diamond of its smudges.

He stayed silent as the bond told him of her heavier thoughts on the matter, aware that Ikigai had known all of those things and decided for himself that it was most definitely what he wanted to do.

The demon in question was so cheerful, so optimistic, that he wondered what he'd be like after his human passed.

He fully expected Gai to step away from the guild when the wedding was all over with, if not before then. He fully expected Gai to approach him at any point and, with an apologetic smile and a thanks for the memories, say he was leaving.

He held the finished ring up at eye level and took a good, long look at it. He polished a little extra here and there, and when he was satisfied with his work, he brought it closer to himself and Shikiyoku and offered it to her to look at.

(I'll probably give these to him tomorrow, after I find a box to put them in.) *

If she hadn't been so sleepy, Shikiyoku probably would have continued pressing kisses amongst the tattoos of the arm against which she was leaning.

She lifted her head a bit to examine Hiei's handiwork and she let out a satisfied little sigh with the finished product.

(It's beautiful, fire prince. Gai will be so happy.)

Scooting around a bit on his lap, Shikiyoku turned and started to situate herself so that she was straddling him a bit closer now, her legs hanging out over the sides of his thighs and her arms wrapped around his middle.

Her head tucked itself up at the crook of his neck and she made a noise as she'd meant to kiss him before she settled, but it came out as a huff of air and only a brief meandering emotion of consternation at herself for not having done it in their bond. 3

Hiei gave Shikiyoku time to look at the ring before he reached forward and set it on his table again, careful to rest it on the polishing cloth and moving its complementary piece to rest next to it.

As he sat back, he felt his entire body almost sag into his chair, his determination to get it done and his inspiration now taken care of. He'd been so focused on his work that his brain had had nothing else to occupy it, to keep him awake once it was over.

And now that he felt tired again and his brain was tired enough to warrant sleep, he found he could do nothing more than wrap his arms around Shikiyoku's middle and slide a little in his chair.

He gave a hum that had meant to be a chuckle at her consternation, and his head slowly, without his notice, tipped to the side until he was resting it atop hers.

(...I hope he does like it. And that she does too.) *

~!**!~

For once in his damn life, Yusuke had hit the sack before midnight. So, naturally, it was the only time he'd been woken up by a runner not an hour later telling him one of the guys sent out on a job had returned and desperately needed to speak with him.

And now here he was, middle of the night and half of his mind buzzing with the circumstances and the other half definitely still asleep on his nice bed.

Or Keiko's nice bed. That one would work too.

Akihiko stood at the bar as the rest of the room kept up its rowdy shenanigans around him, waiting on the bartender to reconcile his tab for the night and trying to decide if he'd go sit and keep Tarou company for the big guy's last drink or go ahead and leave.

When Yusuke Urameshi walked in the door a bit dreary-eyed, there were more than a few shouts and a couple of cheers at his presence and he good-naturedly sent them all an inappropriate hand gesture accompanied with a grin before shuffling over to the station where the head bartender of the evening stood at the place where he'd normally expect Shikiyoku or Hiei.

Akihiko nodded to the one at his station to let them know where he'd be as he made his way through the boisterous crowd to the end of the room where Yusuke stood leaning in one of the only open places on that side.

"Hey! My man, Aki!" He stood up and gave Akihiko a kind-hearted smack on the arm. "Can I get ya somethin'?"

Akihiko raised his eyebrows, "I was just headed home. What brings you here? The stand overrun all evening?" His lips almost twitched up into a smile.

"Nah-" Yusuke shook his head. "I'm actually here for the big man himself." He grinned and Akihiko knew the joke of calling the demon he just as often referred to as 'shortstack' the 'big man.' "He around?"

Akihiko's lips parted and his expression was enough to tell Yusuke what he needed to know.

For just a second a frown flickered over Yusuke's face and he got a little quieter, "How's he doin'?"3

Akihiko's gaze turned thoughtfully to the door behind which Hiei and Shikiyoku undoubtedly were getting their rest. He considered his answer for a moment before turning back to Yusuke.

"Glad to be back."

Over the few days where he and Hiei had run for that one job, he'd noticed the fire demon growing quieter and quieter, until he didn't speak at all. Now, this wasn't an unusual thing for Hiei. Not really.

But it had been a bit unnerving to have his Boss not immediately answering questions.

And when they'd been standing in the medical wing, waiting for the demon to turn infected, he'd noticed Hiei hadn't been so guarded or ready for action. If anything, he'd been a bit vacant.

Of course, he knew the other hadn't slept since Shikiyoku's departure for her own work.

He blinked away his thoughts on that matter and returned to the present. "He'll be fine." *

Yusuke's grin was more toothy at the last answer, giving Akihiko a knowing tip of his head and raising the glass he'd just been handed in the demon's direction, which looked like some kind of whiskey maybe only half full, before taking a sip of it and reveling in the texture on his tongue.

"Since I'm fairly certain he'd fry my ass if I went up there to get him, I guess I'll just get his attention the usual way..." Yusuke leaned his back against the bar, propping himself up with his elbows and steadying his eyes on the door behind which he knew Hiei was somewhere.

"Hey Three-Eyes! I got somethin' for yah!" 3

Hiei shifted a little in his chair, his feet finding the very edge of his desk, away from the valuables, and his chair turning and leaning back just a touch. In his sleep, he gave a little sigh as he settled again, his arms tightening around Shikiyoku as something just at the edge of his awareness beckoned him to consciousness.

Stubborn and most definitely wanting to sleep, the fire demon turned and pressed his nose to Shikiyoku's head, his first instinct being that she was stirring, waking, and moving away.

But whatever it was, it kept pestering him. Like a poke in the head every few seconds.

Irritation filled the bond as he came to wake, his mind filled with meaningless babble and a voice that insisted on having his attention.

It quieted for a moment, and Hiei was almost asleep again when it piped up, louder, and he jolted a little in his chair.

"You're so damn short that when it rains, you're the last to know!"

Hiei's eyes came open and he glared up at the ceiling.

When he responded, his mental tone was just as irritated and gravelly as his actual voice would have been in that moment.

"Go away, detective." He closed his eyes again and tried to shut himself off from the telepathy.*

Downstairs, Yusuke was swirling the glass in his hand just to watch the liquid dance as he focused on being just as intrusive as possible so his old friend would have to notice.

"Hiei, please-" He almost immediately responded when he heard the demon's response. "Look, dude, I know it's late and I know it's been a long month for you, but-" His sigh resonated inside his mind. "I'm sorry. I don't want to be here anymore than you want me here, but you know I wouldn't show up unless it was important." He fell silent, waiting to see what the other's answer would be. 3

Much to his chagrin, Hiei wasn't able to ignore Yusuke's mental voice, calling to him from somewhere outside the door.

He opened his eyes and gave a glance down at Shikiyoku as Yusuke went on, and for the first time in many months, he didn't immediately make to move for whatever job it was that the detective was bound to have.

The world can be saved by someone else.

The thought ruminated as he remained silent, not responding at first to Yusuke. He didn't want to get up. He didn't want to move Shikiyoku, and he most certainly did not want to leave her on her bed without him.

The likelihood of her nightmares returning while he was gone wasn't something he wanted to bet on.

"...No."

He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to be dragged from his comfort, from his home, from his Shiki.

"Let someone else save the world for once." *

His answer didn't surprise Yusuke. Not really.

"Just hear me out, yeah?"

"...Shizuru came to me with a feeling a few days ago. Maybe a week. A vision, she called it. She was worried. She already had a lot on her plate, so I sent some guys to check it out. Only one of them made it back. Just a couple of hours ago. And he was pretty worse for the wear.

"I managed to get out of him what I could, and it seemed like Shizuru had reason to be concerned. Somebody's gathering up Infected. They don't have a lot of them yet, maybe a handful. But my guys got caught in the middle of a town as this dude shows up, trailing Infected behind 'em, and letting them loose. Took out the whole town in minutes. Sucked 'em dry. The group tried to get ahold of him, chase him down after he set the Infected free, but he was too fast. And took them all out in the meantime. The one recovering only got away because he was too cowardly to stick it out and turned tail when he saw how fast this guy was.

"We can take care of those Infected later, if we have to. The area's already lost, so that's not what has me worried.

"I think somebody saw what Shikiyoku did with those Crusnik. Got it in their head to do something similar. I know sometimes Hunters use those tactics, but this is different. This is catastrophic. Whoever this is has got to be taken out. Before they get up here and all hell breaks loose. I'd try and send someone else to assassinate him if I thought they could catch him, trust me. You're the only one I know fast enough to be able to take him out if he runs. My guy didn't even see him take out the first two. They just dropped dead.

"I'm not asking you to do this job because I can pay you enough to make it worth it. I can't, frankly. And this isn't a job someone is looking to hire somebody to do. This is me, coming to you, asking you to please do this. Because I think you're the only one who can."

~!**!~

She was most certainly not awake, but the stirring of negativity she was feeling from the other side of the bond had Shikiyoku stirring where she lay atop Hiei in his chair and in response a stir of her own emotions sought to comfort him as she always did.

Though, this time more so than any in the past, it was clear now those reassurances were steeped in her love for him.

Her head shifted just enough that her lips could find his skin and she nudged him with her nose, slowly planting several gentle kisses somewhere near his collar bone. 3

Reluctance joined his anger, frustration, and exhaustion - both mental and physical - in the bond. He didn't want to hear Yusuke out. He didn't want to hear anything except for the gentle breathing of Shikiyoku against him.

But he listened anyway, his eyes closing as Yusuke talked and Shikiyoku kissed him and-

When it became clear that the detective would not be leaving without Hiei's compliance in this matter, which so happened to be somewhere in the middle of the man's speech, he began to shift in his chair.

He set his feet on the floor and he gathered her in his arms, slowly pulling his emotions away from the bond when he realized they were spilling over, and he began his slow, swaying walk from his jewelry room to Shikiyoku's room.

By the time Yusuke had begun to reason and borderline plead with the fire demon, Hiei had laid Shikiyoku on her bed, kissed her forehead and let a gentle sense of an apology float across the bond, and was in his room changing shirts.

By the time Yusuke was done talking, Hiei had his shoes on his feet, his katana strapped to his waist, and a black tank top had replaced his white one.

"Damn it…"

He hadn't meant for the grumbled complaint to be thrown into the telepathy. He didn't even realize it had happened.

So when he shuffled down the stairs and stepped into the bar, his expression held all of his exhaustion, his frustration, his reluctance. He stifled a yawn, or maybe it was a sigh, and he moved behind the bar station where Yusuke sat.

He grabbed a pen and pad of paper and all but slapped it on the bartop in front of Yusuke.

"Write a note for me."

This was perhaps the only time he wished with every fiber in his being he knew how to read and write.

"And when that's done, I'll get your guy." When he turned up to look at Yusuke, a little flame sprouted to life over his head and in his eyes. "And I'll kill the Infected while I'm at it." *

Yusuke let out a whoosh of air from his lungs when he heard Hiei's expletive, aware of the acceptance to his argument and thankful.

Like he said, if he didn't think it was urgent...hell, if he thought he could take care of it himself, he would have left after he'd seen the guy to a healer. But not with the speed described to him. He may have been lucky in the past, but he wasn't stupid anymore. This was way out of his league.

It was hard to exactly pry behind the door, so when it opened and Hiei stepped out, Yusuke looked up at him and nearly spit out his drink.

He hadn't seen a hairdo that wild since earlier when he'd thrown some water on his face in Keiko's bathroom.

The thought had his grin slanting wide at the reason why his hair had been so out of place and he raised an eyebrow at Hiei.

"Yeah, I'll write your note." Yusuke said without thinking about it. "Remind me to apologize to Shikiyoku later for interrupting."

Across the room, Tarou suddenly started to choke and Akihiko calmly pounded on his back a few times without looking away from the pair over at the bar. 3

Hiei's eyes narrowed just a fraction.

"I most certainly will."

He flit away one moment, and in the next he was back in front of Yusuke, a cup of coffee in one hand and he gestured at the little pad of paper with the other. "Write this."

He took a sip from his coffee.

"Sorry to leave so soon. We'll pick up where we left off as soon as I'm back." He took a long drink from his mug, then lowered it to his navel. "I won't be long." *

It took great control of every fiber in his being not to snicker as he jotted down the quick note, but his grin hadn't left, widened, even. Partly from relief, which greatly focused his amusement in those moments. Allowed him to be so amused at the circumstances.

He sobered a fraction as he folded the piece of paper in half and held it out to the other.

Before he could express his thanks, he caught sight of the door opening again and watched as the petite woman shuffled her way out and looked around as the door closed just shy of her, bare-foot and bleary-eyed.

(Hiei?)

She reached up and rubbed her sweater-sleeve across her face, the garment all but covering up the shorts she still had on from a couple of days ago and Yusuke's gaze softened a touch when he saw the sleepiness plain on her face. 3

Hiei took a drink from his mug and the paper from Yusuke, his expression still dark. He would have thanked the former detective, but it was due to his presence that he wasn't exactly where he wanted to be in those moments.

So he wordlessly turned to go back up the stairs, only to hear the bond fill with her asking after him and his eyes settling on her sleepy face.

He deflated almost instantly as he took a brief moment to stare.

(I'm here.)

He finished his coffee, set the mug on the bar, and moved to meet Shikiyoku before she'd even taken a step away from the door. He extended the note he'd intended to leave on her pillow to her and his other hand found her cheek. He smoothed his thumb over her skin for a moment before he gave a sigh.

(...It's a world-ending emergency, apparently.)

He spied the tear gem hanging loose in front of her sweater and his hand fell from her face to tuck it underneath her shirt so that when he returned, he would be able to pull it into view and greet her with a kiss. When that was done, he leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss that enveloped all of his love and adoration for her.

He pulled away so that the temptation to tell the detective to 'fuck off' didn't outgrow his duty to keep the world alive.

(Don't work while I'm gone.) He frowned at the circles under her eyes: better, but not gone. (Please.) *

Shikiyoku blinked up at Hiei as her eyes cleared a little more, the note held almost forgotten in her hands as the last bits of tiny sparkles cleared away from her features, few in number from when he kissed her, but still there.

She nodded a little.

(Okay.) She gave him a sleepy smile and reached up to place a hand over where he'd tucked the gem. (I'll be here.) 3

Hiei nodded, satisfied with her answer, and turned to Yusuke once more. He asked for a few more details about the incident - its location, a description of the guy if he had one, and anything else he had to offer before he moved across the room and paused at Tarou and Akihiko's table.

He gave them quiet instruction to keep Shikiyoku company while he was gone, and to keep her occupied from working and overexerting herself.

The pair nodded discreetly and he was gone from the bar, taking off at a constant pace. As soon as he was far enough away that it sank in he would be missing at least a couple of day's worth of Shikiyoku and her kisses, his mood soured once more, and he let that anger, frustration, and impatience drive him forward.

He ran for what felt like an eternity. The sun came up too soon on the First Level, and when he crossed to the Second and his connection to Shikiyoku weakened, time only seemed to slow from there.

He ran with the Jagan fully open and sweeping the area as far and wide as he could, taking in the whole of the level. He found Infected here and there, but none that were following after a walking dead man, so he kept running.

He crossed over to the Third Level and swept the Jagan over what he could of the much larger level. When he didn't immediately find what he was looking for, he routed himself to the decimated city to investigate for himself in the hopes that he'd find an energy signature of some kind.

He walked the city for a few minutes, seeing the bodies strewn about the streets and imagining the chaos as if he'd seen it for himself.

When that proved to have no leads for him, he began to run the rest of the Level, searching and hoping he'd find something soon because damn was he tired. Tired of running and tired of being away from home. Tired of being away from Shikiyoku.

Get it done. Get back.

That was his mantra as he reached the very last edge of the Third and began to cross to the Fourth.

Just before he stepped through, the Jagan focused in on a group of infected on the very Eastern side of the Third, and he skid to a stop and rerouted himself.

His strides grew longer and his pace picked up to nearly his top speeds, and he dodged between trees and brush and cities on his way to the man who'd signed his own death certificate when he'd been caught by Yusuke's guys.

He didn't reach the guy before he found another city.

Absolute rage fueled him faster, farther, and by the time he caught up to the guy, the Infected had worked their way halfway through the city.

Hiei ran through the heart of it with his energy high, flames following close behind him and setting the very grass aflame with each step he took. He lead the Infected from the residential district, around the shopping district, and out through a gate that lead to the path to the next city.

He ignored the voices, eyes, and energy-sucking mouths behind him and instead lead the horde from the city and towards their 'master'', not wanting to chance letting the guy get away while he was busy killing the Infected.

His legs hurt as he slowed to a pace that would keep the Infected interested, and his hand twitched when he pulled his katana from its sheath at his hip. He cut through a clearing in the forestry and finally laid eyes on the demon responsible for his ire.

As he grew closer, the fire in his eyes growing, the other only laughed.

"I'm not the only one who saw her, you know."

Hiei snarled as the demon made a sharp turn, and Hiei cut him off with his blade through his midsection, flames sprouting to life over his body even before he'd been severed.

I'll kill them too if I have too.

He turned and skid to a stop in the dirt to face the six Infected, his blade poised and his energy licking the air around him.

One by one, Hiei worked his way through the group, his energy lessening as he used it to keep them near him and his blade slicing through at the very last second before they'd gotten too close.

One by one, they fell to the ground and burned.

When it was finally down to just one, Hiei had to get more creative. The demon's naturally thick skin was enough to make his blade bounce away, and its speed wasn't too far off of his own. He had to dance around it, entice it this way and move that way, and strike over and over again to find that one weak spot.

All the while growing more and more weary.

The creature lunged in a moment when it had been supposed to run elsewhere, and Hiei stumbled as he sidestepped. He caught himself in time to turn and, with every bit of strength in energy and his muscles, slammed the point of his blade through the skull of the other, right between its eyes.

Genuine shock hit him when it worked and the fire began to eat the creature from the inside out. He stood there for a whole minute, panting for breath and holding the dead Infected up by his blade.

He only moved when it snapped, the sound of the metal breaking grating on his ears and reverberating in his skull and along his arms.

He blinked down at his now useless weapon of choice and frowned at the addition to his list of reasons why he hated today.

Despite its broken state, he sheathed what was left of it and turned to make his way back to the city, to check on the injured and the living and maybe get a drink of water while he was there.

He was met with many thanks and many offers for a bed to sleep in - night had fallen at some point in his runs - and many more options for food. Several people reached out to bandage his wounds, none of which he felt, and he only shook his head. He declined all of these, saw that the injured were being tended to and that the fires he'd set were being dealt with, and he turned to run himself home.

His pace was much slower this time. He cruised at just under half his usual speed, and as he crossed onto the Second level, his pace slowed some more and he realized he was out of breath. And sweating. And hot.

He blinked as the world blurred and it dawned on him that he didn't feel so good.

He stopped in his run and immediately dropped into the bond, a wordless cry for help reverberating in the otherwise empty connection even as he felt his knees buckle, and the black dots that had been swimming at the edges of his vision closed in just before he hit the ground. *

~!**!~

True to their word, Akihiko and Tarou stayed at the Boss' behest, even in fact through the night.

Granted, Shikiyoku had wandered over to sit with them at their table, taking up Raintoningu's usual seat, and they weren't keen to leave her by herself.

For the most part, they were quiet, a strange state for Tarou when the rest of the bar was just as rowdy as always, but none of the three of them seemed to mind, and with the way Shikiyoku kept reaching up to rub at her eyes as if she hadn't fully woken up yet, they were more keen to not bother her with conversation, even as they kept a bit between themselves.

At one point during the next day, Raitoningu and Tsundora showed up to let the group know they'd been called for some business elsewhere with The Pack and didn't know when they'd be back, but to give everyone a heads up and Akihiko and Tarou assured them they would.

Eventually the others filtered in when they weren't occupied with other ventures, and at some point during their stay, Tarou felt a small nudge somewhere near his elbow that didn't immediately leave and his eyes widened as he saw the little dark head that had come to rest against the arm he had resting in his lap.

After he recovered and realized she had fallen asleep on him, he immediately began hushing the others and shooting them stern glances any time their voices rose above a whisper.

Just about the time the noise in the rest of the pub was nearly enough to make him figure out a way to shut them up too, Shikiyoku appeared to bolt upright in her chair and nearly startled the life out of Tarou enough to not make him angry at someone for being so loud as to wake her.

Just an echo of something resounding through her bond with Hiei had Shikiyoku blinking several times as she sat there and didn't seem to notice the immediate inquiries of the bodies around her who had seen the expression on her face and weren't sure what it meant.

And in the next moment, she wasn't there, the only hint of her formerly occupying the space being the sudden slam of her chair hitting the floor and in the next breath the door of the bar swinging open to slowly shut on the air.

Frowning and his eyes lifting to the door, after about a minute Tarou started to open his mouth as if to ask what that was all about when everyone else at the table seemed to reach the same conclusion and were out of their seats.

He looked over and saw Akihiko's fingers were white with the pressure he maintained on the bar table even after lifting himself up out of his chair, but none of them moved.

If Mom couldn't save him...what chance would they have.

~!**!~

(Hiei? Hiei, I'm here. Can you stand? Hiei? We have to leave.)

Shikiyoku was on her knees next to the body of her fallen Consort, swallowing and unsure exactly what was wrong, but knowing her trick of leading away the Infected demon who found him not long before she did would only work for so long. 3

He didn't dream this time.

His sleep was full of darkness and rest and a blissful nothingness that he forgot all about whatever had been important before. And when there was a moment of pain, it was just that: a moment. It didn't stir him from his sleep, and it definitely didn't register with him as anything wrong. It felt more like a muscle cramp than anything else.

It was the voice of someone calling out to him that made his dreamless sleep turn into a vision. Shikiyoku stood next to him, a hand held out to him, and she was frowning. "Can you stand?"

He blinked down at himself. "I am standing."

He looked about the field his mind had made up, seeing the flowers, the trees, and the bar in the distance as the smell of alcohol wafted over him, mixed with the smell of sweet strawberries and Shikiyoku.

"Hiei?"

He turned to her again, a soft smile on his face. "Hm?"

"We have to leave."

He blinked at her and the dream faded just a little, the panic in her voice there raising an alarm somewhere at his core.

Worry washed over him from their bond. Confusion. An attempt at calm.

The dream faded and he blinked his eyes open in the harsh light of the day. He lay on his back, looking up at the sunny, cloudless skies. He felt warm, and heavy, and tired.

He turned his head to look at Shikiyoku and he blinked again and squinted to see her for the sun behind her head. (...I thought you were at the bar.) *

She let out a breath the instant he opened his eyes, tucking part of her now wind-blown hair behind her ear as she leaned over him, trying to see if he was injured, if he'd be able to run.

She just shook her head and reached out her arms to take his and pull him to his feet.

He didn't look injured, or feel injured...

...in fact...she could hardly feel him at all. His presence. His energy.

His skin was clammy as her fingers wrapped around his wrists and she hauled him up.

(We need to go. Can you run?) 3

Hiei got his feet under himself as she pulled him up to stand, and he took a moment to dust himself off with shaky hands. As he leaned forward to do this, he rocked forward for just a moment before he regained his balance and stood upright.

He suddenly remembered why he'd 'taken a nap'.

He looked at Shikiyoku again, pleased to see that the darkness under her eyes had faded even more since he'd last seen her.

He nodded.

(I can.)

He wasn't sure for how long, and as he looked around himself, he realized he was just over halfway across the level from the portal where he'd cross to the First.

I can make it.

He nodded to himself and took the first few steps forward, setting a pace that Shikiyoku could keep up with. *

~!**!~

After a rather brief conversation, the guild at the bar took off after her, unsure of what help they might be able to provide, but unwilling to not help in whatever way they could.

Meanwhile, Shikiyoku kept glancing at Hiei, her hair streaming behind her, bare legs and feet dirty from the run she had already made so far, and one wary eye on their surroundings, keeping watch for any Infected who might be in their way, knowing by the time one was able to feel the energy being drawn out, it was already too late.

That's what made them so hard to track in the first place. They didn't feel like anything.

Her core skipped a beat in her chest as she looked back over at Hiei.

(Hiei...) She didn't exactly have words for how slow he'd gotten, how their running was frankly more of a jog for him, and how the slower he got, the more she worried the Infected she left behind would catch them. And heavens knew she didn't have a way to kill it. 3

He had to concentrate on each and every step he took as they ran, his eyes pointed forward at his path and his mind focused on the placement of his feet. One in front of the other. He pretended that he felt no pain, no aches, and that he most definitely didn't feel hot, of all things.

He'd never sweat before. Not from heat.

And he'd never had a shiver run down his spine from sudden chills either.

The reality that he was falling very ill very fast had set in, and he made it his mission to get back to the bar, into a bed, and to get better.

Because he wasn't going to let himself-

Shikiyoku's murmur of his name might have drawn his eyes from his path if he thought he wouldn't stumble. (Hm?)

He knew she was worried. He knew that she knew just as much as he did that he was not doing well, that he was nowhere near his usual speed. He wondered idly what he must look like, as affected by the temperatures as he was.

And as he continued to slow, he wondered if it'd be faster if she could carry him along on her back and run at her speed. *

The thought crossed her mind just as he slowed again.

They'd move faster if she carried him on her back.

"...Shit...keep moving. Don't stop."

Shikiyoku's eyes narrowed and all at once she was pulling away from him, dropping back to hit the Infected who'd caught their trail with another smack in the face of her energy and leading him off, too worried about Hiei to lead it very far before she was dashing back to him just as quickly as she was able. 3

Hiei nodded as she disappeared from his peripherals. He kept his pace just as steady as he was able to keep it, his eyes staring unblinkingly forward for so long that his vision blurred just a little and he had to blink to clear it.

When Shikiyoku appeared at his side again, he glanced at her out of the corners of his eyes and promptly stumbled. He caught himself and continued running.

But he could feel it. The beginnings of his legs numbing and the edges of his vision starting to turn black.

(Shikiyoku…) He swallowed a little. (I need you to change forms.)

He sucked in a deep breath of air. He'd thought he could do it.

(I'm going to faint. I need you to carry me in a way that won't put you at risk.) *

For a moment when she'd come back around to him, she was afraid she'd lost him and had to slip back down in the bond to figure out which direction he'd kept running.

She'd nearly stopped when he stumbled, afraid she was going to have to catch him before he dropped.

Her core felt like it dropped, right into her stomach, when he asked.

(Hiei- I-I can't, I-) She panicked. She'd never been able to flip to pain form on command. She'd never tried especially hard, but she wasn't willing to toy with it here. The feeling would only overtake her if she-

Her eyes darted back again and she cursed and skidded to a stop.

"Just...sit down, okay?"

And before she could see if he'd complied, she'd bolted back the other direction. 3

(...It was a thought.) He nonchalantly brushed it aside, as if he'd only asked her where he'd set his shirt and she hadn't been able to tell him.

When she told him to stop and sit, he worried about the Infected that she'd been obviously leading away for a while now and how it would only continue to come back for them if they stood in one place too long.

He slowed anyway, and was almost at a standstill when his world rocked around him.

A pair of hands landed on his shoulders to steady him, larger than Shikiyoku's, and he blinked up at Akihiko.

"Hey, Akihiko." Akihiko said nothing and guided Hiei to a rock, where he pushed Hiei down to sit, his expression unreadable.

Tarou was a blur past him, Chisai just behind him as the pair followed after Shikiyoku.

"Sorry we're late, Boss." Gai came to stand next to Aki, his expression one of worry.

Tarou and Chisai came up on either side of Shikiyoku, Tarou wielding a Zanbatō and Chisai holding rings made of gems between his fingers.

The pair didn't seem to notice the change in form of Shikiyoku as they flanked her, their eyes focused entirely on the Infected she tossed her energy at. As she kept it distracted, Chisai channeled his energy into two of the rings and, when he threw them, they grew and changed until they encased each arm in the heavy material and brought the creature to the ground.

Tarou made quick work of beheading the thing, and after a few seconds of its body flailing and twitching, the Infected went still. The crystals shrunk in size within seconds, and Chisai retrieved the rings from the ground and slid them into his pocket.

Tarou hefted his blade onto his shoulders and turned to look Shikiyoku in the face. "We're here for support." When he said what he needed to say, he turned his eyes from the tall, dark skinned demoness with white hair to look at Akihiko standing a ways behind her, holding up a now unconscious Hiei sitting upright on a rock. *

As Shikiyoku had dashed back for the Infected chasing her and Hiei, her normal form had dropped away, her thoughts swirling at how she could double back and pick Hiei up from where she asked him to stop.

Getting nearly caught in a moment and having to turn to blast it again, Shikiyoku was surprised by the pair who zipped past her and made quick work of the monster.

A little short of breath, even in this form her complexion was not quite recovered and she left them to deal with the issues as she regarded the sweater hanging mostly in pieces around her with slight disdain.

"Ah. A pity. And to think I kind of liked this outfit." She murmured as she peeled off the remains of the top, having already lost the shorts when they had shredded uncomfortably along her way.

Her pointed ears twitched with amusement when Tarou spoke up, and amber eyes steadied on him, "Your chivalry is noted, Tarou. Unnecessary. But noted."

Even just her deeper voice felt like so much velvet passing through the air.

For the most part, her energy that naturally radiated into the area around her in this form was more dense along her body, though in an instant it did not have to be, if she wished it, but now it was settling almost like a nearly-sheer yellow gown flecked with sparkles of stars that just brushed against the ground.

A large cat bounded up into the clearing with Tarou, Chisai, and Shikiyoku, and in two more steps the tawny fur and handsome mane gave way to the red-eyed Raion who for just a moment was all business, nodding to the others that he'd scouted the area as arranged.

"There's two more on the way. If we get them quick enough, we shouldn't attract any others." Just as they turned to leave, Raion gave Shikiyoku a wink, "Looking good, Mom."

She raised a white eyebrow delicately at him, but said nothing as the three of them disappeared from view and she turned back to return to where she felt Akihiko and Ikigai still remained.

Her finer features clouded with worry when she saw Akihiko holding up her Consort.

"I will take him." She easily made work of slipping her arms beneath his neck and behind his knees and lifting him in the air to hold.

She had just meant to dash off again for the First when she paused.

"...thank you. I did not think to ask for you to follow. But thank you." 3

Akihiko stood on standby with his hands on Hiei's shoulders and Ikigai watching their surroundings, his usual smile replaced with an expression only seen in battle. He fiddled with a little metal object in his hands, twisting it around and around his fingers as he watched the area behind Akihiko.

"Thankfully, the run won't be so hard with us here," he commented mildly.

Akihiko nodded in agreement and stole a glance down at the pale and clammy demon he supported.

When Shikiyoku approached and said she'd carry her Consort, Aki relinquished his grasp without hesitation, having figured as such.

"Of course." He turned to ready himself to keep pace with Shikiyoku. "If not us, then who?"

Ikigai moved to Shikiyoku's other side. "And it's easier to handle the Infected when there's more people."

~!**!~

Hiei had blacked out just after he'd greeted Akihiko, and his dreams this time were vivid and nonsensical.

One moment he dreamt that he was working in the bar, pouring drinks made from nothing, and the next those drinks were blood and he was passing glasses of crimson to the Infected.

Then he blinked and he was seeing a clearing, his guild running from a tall demon with dark skin and long white hair that was definitely familiar, but lacked the ashiness that he was used to seeing in that skin tone.

Then he dreamt he was laying on a hammock, the world rocking gently as the wind beat against the cloth of the thing. *

His skin was clammy wherever she could feel it against her, pale and sometimes covered in sweat, sometimes leaving him shivering in her arms even though the heat she felt from him was...unnatural in sensation against her.

She had no answers for any of the guild around her, if they spoke. If they were there. She spent most of her time ruminating within her own thoughts, or keeping her presence a steady constant in their bond, fraught with worry that perhaps it might be affected by his condition too.

And she could not feel him any longer. Had no sense of his energy, or his presence, aside from the way he felt in her arms.

That was probably the most troubling revelation of them all.

When they passed onto the First Level once more, she glanced at Akihiko, who had kept pace with her this whole time.

"I have a favor to ask of you, Hiko."

Neither one of them looked away from their path, but she knew he was listening.

"Do you know of Kurama the Youko?"

He nodded, carefully, unsure of her thoughts.

"He is masquerading among the humans as Shuichi Minamino. The owner of Minamino Corporation."

Another nod.

"The building where you found me."

He blinked, remembering wearing a suit and making his way up to get her at Hiei's request.

"I need you to track him down."

Finally he gave her a questioning glance.

"...he is the only one I know who has managed to survive the turn." Her features would have lightened a trifle if the subject was not so. Besides me. 3

Akihiko heard all he'd needed to hear.

Without looking back, he broke away from Shikiyoku, leaving Gai to escort her the rest of the way to the bar with the absolute trust in his comrade to handle any issue that might come up.

He skirted the city for the most part, mapping it out in his mind until he was able to make a straight cut through it and to the building he hadn't thought he'd be returning to so soon.

He didn't bother with the suit this time. He didn't think he had time.

He slowed to a brisk walk once he was in view of humans walking the streets, his eyes pointed forward and his strides purposeful.

Since it was still the early afternoon, he had no trouble walking into the building's lobby. He took a steadying breath and relaxed his expression so that he didn't look quite so severe in his worry, and he strolled right up to the first receptionist he could see.

He leaned casually against the counter. "Excuse me, but I'm looking for Minamino, Shuichi." He blinked, realizing that if this demon did not know who he associated with, the likelihood of Aki getting him to come down or getting any information at all about his whereabouts would be slim to none. He opened his mouth to say he was sent by Shikiyoku, but he remembered a name on the door to the office he'd seen her in, and went with that instead.

"I've been sent by Inyoku, Toriko, and it's quite urgent." *

The receptionist's expression flickered from her initial welcoming, open glance at the mention of the second name.

She appeared to glance over at her computer screen with a bit of a frown, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I-"

Voices from further into the lobby, near the elevators and moving forward towards the reception area, drifted their direction.

"Thank you again, Minamino-san, for agreeing to oversee the project."

"Of course, really, I am looking quite forward to the work." 3

Akihiko frowned when she'd began to speak, the indication that she was about to turn him away having him considering scaling the building Hiei-style and breaking in wherever he thought a master thief might hide.

Thankfully for the poor soul who would have had to replace said windows, the name Minamino caught his attention and he leaned away from the receptionist to spy the red haired man stepping from an elevator.

He pat the counter and moved away with a 'thank you, miss', acting as if he hadn't noticed her coming dismissal.

He approached the demon he needed with caution, reminding himself that he was surrounded by humans and that no matter the situation, he would need to choose his words wisely.

Thankfully for him, he learned from the humans quite a bit.

"Minamino-san," he gave a polite bow to the CEO of the building, then turned to the other human. "I apologize for interrupting." He bowed to this gentleman as well before turning back to Kurama the Youko. "But Inyoku has asked me to come fetch you, sir." *

Kurama noticed him the instant he came around the corner and a flicker of questioning passed over his features before the man next to him had said something else and he turned his attention away briefly.

"Ah, I will see myself out, Minamino-san." The man next to him said when it seemed this was a place to bow out.

Kurama nodded and thanked him again before turning back to Akihiko.

"Come to...fetch me?" He blinked, "...is there something wrong?" 3

Aki reached up to scratch at his nose to hide his hesitation from the curious eyes of the human.

Maybe I should've gotten the suit.

His hand dropped to his side. "For a doctor's appointment, sir." I dislike this. "She would greatly appreciate your support." *

"Ah-" Kurama gave Akihiko a strange look and he felt his heart skip a beat, suddenly worried. "Then, I suppose we should make haste."

And instead of moving for the main doors of the building, he walked back and took his hand out of the pocket of his slacks and pressed the button for the elevator, the one he'd just left sliding open to let him step inside. 3

The look he received gave Akihiko pause, but when the other began to move back to the elevator, he followed suit.

He hadn't missed the inclusive we in his remark about haste, and he only assumed he was going just where Shikiyoku had gone to get the yellow vehicle when he'd been here last.

He stepped into the elevator quietly, his hands finding the pockets of his coat to hide the clenching of his hands and the only sign of his stress. *

Once they'd both entered, Kurama drew a keycard from the inner pocket of his jacket and swiped it across a receiver, pressing certain numbers in sequence on the elevator wall.

The lights shifted into a blue-tint and the elevator began to lower.

He turned to the other.

"We may speak freely, Akihiko. What...exactly is going on?" 3

The doors slid shut in front of him and Aki let out a small breath. It hadn't gone horribly, but he was sure that it could have if his timing had been any worse.

If he was surprised that Kurama knew his name, he did not show it.

"Hiei, her Consort, has fallen ill." He kept his eyes on the reflection of the elevator doors, though he didn't truly see it. "Infected, actually." *

While Kurama's initial fear had been of Shikiyoku herself, this...this was almost worse.

His expression darkened significantly and he immediately reached out to press another button, the elevator coming to a stop.

Without saying anything, he swiped the card again, pressed different buttons this time, and the elevator continued its descent, Kurama suddenly appearing impatient with its progress.

"When did he fall ill? How long has it been?" 3

"I'm not certain," he admitted.

That was perhaps the most terrifying part.

He thought about the timeframe of an infected demon turning, and compared that to Hiei's current condition.

"From his current symptoms, he would have started feeling ill Monday." He frowned. "However, it's possible he started feeling them sooner. It's been a long month, and Sunday night, Yusuke Urameshi sent him on a job."

He frowned. Hiei hadn't been looking good then, and none of them had considered it to be anything more than lack of sleep.

"Best case scenario: It's been a day. Worst case… almost three." *

Kurama let out a sigh as Akihiko summed up.

"Sometimes the turn is instant." He said, looking up at the numbers above the elevator door as if they matter anymore. "We still haven't figured out what the parameters are."

When the elevator came to a halt, Kurama turned his back to the doors they entered and the not-actually-a-wall behind them slid apart and he stepped through.

As he walked forward, not particularly taking his time with his stride, giant lights hanging overhead began to almost clank on, revealing something of a long, warehouse appearance to this floor, and rows and rows of plantlife lining the walkway where he moved, some of it hanging form the ceiling, the walls completely covered and even what might have been long rows of tables at one point unrecognizable with the amount of flora covering them.

He quickly moved about to various plants, though it did not appear that he actually came away with anything when he ran his fingers over them, and after maybe five minutes, he turned to head back to the elevator, swiping his card for a third time as the doors closed behind him, he entered in another sequence and the elevator rose once more.

This time, Akihiko would recognize the floor where they got off, out through the usual doors of the elevator.

The sleek, yellow car that had been Shikiyoku's was there, as were all the others, but in this moment, Kurama moved for a black one closer to where the opening for the ramp outside came down.

Its lights blinked at his approach and he climbed in as the car hummed to life, adjusted a mirror, and waited for Akihiko to settle before zooming out onto the road above.

~!**!~

The entirety of the bar, along with anyone inside, paused when she came in, the air in the room suddenly feeling lighter as she made no pause and swept by to the door opposite her, quickly moving up the stairs and ducking to the right into Hiei's room, murmuring reassurances to him as she started to lay him down on the bed.

She made quick work of removing his sheath from around his waist and his shoes from his feet, trying to make him as comfortable as she could in his uncomfortable circumstances. 3

~!**!~

Kurama's comment on the demons who turn instantly almost had Akihiko mentioning the other extreme of the timeline: the long, agonizing weeks with hope that the Infected would recover and absolute fear that they wouldn't.

But he kept this to himself, knowing that the other likely knew that. Perhaps not from first hand, but…

He pushed that thought away before it even crossed his mind, and he stepped from the elevator when Kurama did, though he idled near the doors when he realized this room was not the garage.

He kept his mind carefully blank, carefully devoid of any thoughts outside of getting this person to the bar.

And as he followed Kurama from the room of greenery back into the elevator, and then from the elevator to the garage, he didn't dare let himself have any hope on the matter.

He strapped himself into the car and buckled himself up for the ride to come.

~!**!~

Hiei's dreams were ever changing.

From the swaying hammock in the warm breeze he fell, and he landed on the frigid cold ground of the Ice Maiden's land. He wandered there for a bit, his arms crossed to fight off the cold, before he found himself overlooking the very ledge he'd been thrown from in his youth.

Without hesitation, he stepped from its edge and fell into the river below.

The water was hot when it came up over his head, and he floated in its stillness. It moved his hair in gentle little waves as a voice whispered to him from somewhere above the water.

He pushed himself to the surface to spy Shikiyoku sitting on the edge of the springs, a green goop clinging to her pale skin and her dark hair, but running from her feet and ankles that were dipped in the water.

He smiled at her. "You should get in. The water's warm, and it'll clean you off in a matter of seconds."

She frowned and reassured him that everything would be okay.

He dipped back below the water with his eyes closed, and he found the heat had become quite a bit uncomfortable. The temperature had risen a couple of degrees, and when he opened his eyes, the water he'd expected to be looking through instead was the inside of his room and Shikiyoku, in what he knew to be her original form, standing next to the bed in a glittering golden gown.

He smiled up at her. (How beautiful.)

And just like that he blinked and found himself dancing in the ballroom on the Ninth. *

Shikiyoku had leaned over to press a kiss in the midst of Hiei's feverish forehead, pushing back the bangs that were sticking to his skin as part of her own hair fell over her shoulder near him.

Worry already setting deep lines into her face, she pulled back and stepped away from the bedside, unwilling to leave him in the room alone, but hoping there would be others arriving soon.

Her form shifted as she stepped across the carpet and she thought little of grabbing for herself a pair of the pants he sometimes wore to sleep and one of the tanktops he had hidden away and pulling both on before dragging a chair in the room over to the bedside and sitting down to watch over him. 3

Hiei could have slept for seconds, minutes, hours, or even days, his dreams ever changing in the realm where time didn't matter at all.

But when he woke, he knew he wasn't dreaming this time. He stared up at the ceiling of his room and knew that Shikiyoku had made it to the bar. Unable to sense her, though, he thought maybe she'd gone to get Kurama.

So he stared at the ceiling, wondering at the burning of his eyes.

He didn't like feeling 'hot' and 'cold'. It was exhausting in its own way to be so vulnerable.

And he hurt too. All over. He felt exactly as he did when he'd sprinted the entire way from here to the Last Stand on the Seventh. Miserable, painful, awful feeling it was.

He wondered idly, perhaps morbidly, if he'd turn into one of the Crusnik. I hope not.

He pushed those thoughts away and began to roll over, hoping that if he laid on the side that hurt, the pressure would help with the pain. He spied Shikiyoku in the chair next to the bed and he nearly jumped.

He hadn't sensed her at all.

Then again, he hadn't used the bond to find her either. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind, frankly.

He blinked slowly at her, tiredly.

"Well, hello there." *

Shikiyoku might have nodded off if she hadn't been so full of worry. As it was, she sat staring forward with her chin on her knees and her arms wrapped about them in the chair mostly watching over Hiei, but also waiting for the slightest indication Kurama was on his way.

She had no doubt Akihiko would do as she asked, but the demon had a longer way to go than she did with Hiei, and while briefly the thought occurred of carrying Hiei into the middle of downtown...

Well, here they were and she wasn't moving him.

As soon as Hiei began to move around, her head lifted and she watched him, knowing that at times he'd been trying to get more comfortable on the bed and also knowing he was only going to have so much success if Kurama's circumstances were as his.

Her expression softened when he spoke to her, if only a little, the lines of worry still etched deeply across her brow, and she rose to go sit next to him, taking the damp cloth from the end table nearby with her.

She tenderly pressed the cool wet cloth around on his cheeks and forehead to wipe away the sweat for the umpteenth time.

"Hello yourself." She replied quietly with a hint of a smile. 3

Hiei saw the worry that permeated the bond etched into her features even when she tried to smile. When she came closer, he stilled, resting on his side and facing her.

His eyelids slid closed as the cool cloth made contact with his skin, giving him some relief from the heat he wished he couldn't feel.

He almost forgot he'd said anything at all, and he almost didn't realize Shikiyoku had replied.

He blinked his eyes open to stare up at her, ignoring the burn that still lingered there. "I missed you."

I wish I hadn't gone out at all.

~!**!~

Akihiko sat in silence in the car, his eyes looking out the passenger window but not seeing the world pass by.

He'd started planning.

He thought it over and over and over again, knowing that if Hiei turned, they would have a very slim chance of killing him at all, much less before he left the bar. They would have to plan for every little step he would make, for every little mistake that would be made, for every single step that Hiei would normally make in battle. And then he had to plan for the steps that Hiei normally wouldn't make.

On the flip side, he knew that their chances if he turned Crusnik were non-existent. With his speed and his awareness of a room, coupled with the Jagan…

They'd all be dead before they'd even known he'd turned.

So he didn't plan for that. He couldn't plan for that, because there simply was no way they would be able to react.

He'd have to tell Yusuke. Let him prepare for the absolute worst in the hopes that the mozoku could put together even a hairbrained plan based on pure luck and chance.

Even then, maybe it would be better for everyone if he got out of town, on to the next level, and found Hunters with more energy to spare and more speed at their disposal.

Yeah.

That would be their only chance in that scenario.

As the car continued to hum down the road, Akihiko thought of how he would bring this to the guild without creating instant panic.

As of this moment, he was acting leader of the guild. *

At first, Kurama's mind could not stop reeling with the implications that the possible turn and/or death of Hiei presented.

Besides losing someone he considered a long-time ally, even friend, which in and of itself was deeply upsetting, he realized the sort of power vacuum Hiei's removal from the board could produce was borderline catastrophic, apocalyptic, even. Because if Hiei were to go...there's no telling what would happen to Shikiyoku.

He certainly did not see any way things would remain as they were, as delicately balanced as they'd become.

Quite frankly, as much as he was sure it might pain someone else to admit, like Hiei she was also as major a player in the game as someone like himself. Or Yusuke, or Shizuru.

Maybe more.

He knew for a fact the only reason thus far the integration of human and demonkind, the transition from a vastly human population to their current mix in this territory, had been a relatively smooth one was because of her presence.

Things had not been so kind to the new arrivals, or "interlopers," elsewhere. Despite the fact that while much of the First Level of New Human World reflected its original Human World land composition, there were pockets where pieces of the First Level remained, the worldwide opinion of demons remained just that: they were completely demonic and evil.

Maybe it wasn't too far off for many of their kind. After all, there were greater numbers of those on the First Level who still insisted on eating the souls of humans when they could than those who had made strides beyond such barbarity.

But take their tenuous balance away, take Hiei away from her, and who knew what sort of chaos would immediately come falling down around their heads.

And this was besides the fact that he remembered the rumors, of how tens of thousands of demons would drop dead overnight due to "Patient Zero." The first of the Infected, the original Crusnik.

Due to Shikiyoku.

As far as he was able to tell, it would be ages before demonkind could truly recover from her decimation. All the more reason to maintain congenial human relations, even if subversively, for those who were left.

And she...despite her manipulation of the Layers...she had not Hiei's speed.

...suffice it to say, Kurama had not only brought with him the means with which he might heal Hiei...but the defenses needed in case he turned.

~!**!~

"I missed you too, flameboy." She replied, still dabbing about on his face and neck and shoulder where she could reach. "You were too far away for much too long."

She was just as much trying to distract herself as keep him distracted.

"...you were talking in your sleep. Do you remember your dreams?" 3

Hiei gave a slow, tired smile and reached out to brush his fingers against her cheek where he wanted so much to just kiss her. His fingers lingered for maybe five seconds before his arm dropped to the bed, heavy and tired from the exertion.

She was right, he had been too far for too long. He wondered idly if that was one of the factors to his falling ill, one of the reasons he'd had such trouble fighting. He'd wanted nothing more than to be with her that he'd stumbled and gotten lucky in his last kill. Or maybe he'd already been sick by then. He wasn't sure.

He blinked slowly, owlishly at her question of his dreams.

"...I remember a few." But not any of which where I talked. "Did I say anything of importance? Life changing?" His smile this time was almost teasing. *

"You did." Shikiyoku purred, seeing an opportunity for further distraction for them from his current circumstance and leaning her face farther over him.

Her cloth wiped slowly across the underside of his neck, above the collar of his tank top as she stopped inches from his face, eyes glittering, but wishing she'd thought to tie her hair back as it was still ropey from the wind of the run she'd taken and it started to fall over her shoulder to pool a bit on the bed next to her.

"Don't you wish you could remember?" She teased him a little. 3

Hiei watched her with glassy, half-lidded eyes as she leaned closer. He watched the glittery sparks that lit up her gaze. From there, his eyes wandered to her hair as it rustled against the sheets of the bed. He didn't notice the tangles or the windswept look, and even if he had, he wouldn't have cared. His eyes wandered back to her gaze again.

He didn't catch what she'd said, only the tone with which she said it.

"...my katana broke today." Or was it yesterday? "I'll have to ask Gai to get metal to repair it." *

"It broke!" Shikiyoku softly exclaimed with perhaps a bit more feeling than she might have used on any other day. She took his hand and placed it in her lap, softly wiping down the arm he did not lay on and watching herself do so.

"And what sort of beast could my mighty hunter have been felling that would cause such a travesty?" 3

Had Hiei held even half of his normal thinking capacity, he might have squinted his eyes in suspicion at Shikiyoku's response. As it was, he only frowned at her, and at the thought that his blade would be useless for a while.

"Not sure, honestly. An Infected with skin that bounced it off." It wasn't often his blade wouldn't slice through someone.

"Wasn't rock." His brows creased as he remembered the rough skin. "More like hide, but tougher and thicker. ….more annoying."

He focused on her again. "You rested while I was away, right?" *

"More annoying like Tarou, or more annoying like Raion?" She teased again with another little smile, reaching up to move some of the bangs sticking to his skin from his face.

She didn't say anything for a moment, then said quietly almost to herself, "...it's hard to rest when you're away, love." 3

"Tarou. Definitely." He responded instantly, though the smile on his face spoke of his fondness for the mentioned pair.

He'd closed his eyes sometime during his talk of the Infected, and he might have fallen asleep if Shikiyoku had stayed quiet any longer than she did.

Instead his eyes came open halfway to stare up into her face, and his expression shifted at the nickname she called him.

The reminder of why he'd been so reluctant to leave had his lips tilting up into what would have been a grin in any other circumstances. Here, it was clumsy and lopsided and only half formed as he stared wordlessly up at her in awe.

She loves me. *

Shikiyoku finished wiping at his arm and reluctantly moved it back so it rested on the bed beside her, her worry clear in her eyes as she reached over, dabbed at one last place on his neck and then let her hands rest in her lap, staring down and fiddling with the cloth in her hands and finding she had nothing else to say.

...maybe if I'm quiet, he'll get some rest. 3

Glassy crimson eyes watched Shikiyoku for a long while as she sat in silence, still ruminating over the giddiness and adoration that had filled him at the remembrance of their few hours of bliss.

He slowly reached out to grab her hand and he tugged weakly in the hopes she would come closer.

"Can we pick up where we left off?" *

Where we...?

Shikiyoku almost frowned, but thought better of it and leaned over to replace the cloth on the end table, letting her fingers wrap around his own when he grabbed hers.

She had a particular look on her face as she let her eyes sweep over him, but had turned her position as if to move closer, "And what if I can't remember where we left off, Hiei?" She teased at him again. 3

"Come close enough and I'll show you," he immediately remarked, and for a moment he looked healthier and more like the Hiei who had tickled her the last time they'd been together. He tugged her closer, or tried to anyway.

"So you can rest while I do." *

Well, it was certainly true he needed rest. Whether or not she'd get any herself was a different matter.

Still, they'd been together for so long now that requests such as this did not breed any caution within her at being careful or unsure of what he truly wished, and so in the hopes he would get some rest, she humored his persistent tugs and slipped her legs up on top of the bed so she was seated criss-cross on it fully and scooting about to face him.

Maintaining her teasing expression, she inquired, "Close enough, yet?" though she would follow after his tugging next and be as he liked. 3

He wasn't sure whether to frown or smile at her antics. So he settled for tugging her closer and ignoring the cramp of the muscles in his arm as he did so.

A pleased half-smile crept across his lips as she shifted to lay next to him, and he shifted around until the arm he'd been laying on was no longer trapped beneath him and he could wrap his arms around her.

He gave a little sigh and he relaxed into the mattress finally. After a brief moment, he poked at her side a few times before his hand fell to rest against her, too tired to tickle her the way he thought he wanted to.

His eyelids slid closed.

"...that's better."

Just as soon as the last syllable fell off his lips, he drifted off into more fever dreams. *

~!**!~

Kurama still said nothing, even as they pulled up to the bar and he parked as close as he could get, concentrating his thoughts on the effort of making sure Hiei did not turn and refusing to entertain any others.

They would be an exercise in futility, wheel spinning as some called it. They would serve him no real purpose. 3

Akihiko didn't even wait for the car to be shut off before he was unbuckled and stepping from the passenger side, his expression one of business and perhaps the most serious anyone would ever see him wear.

He was in the bar in an instant and standing at the usual table in the next, looking around at the guild that was quickly on their feet at his return.

He held a hand up to stop them from wherever they were going. "Take a seat, gentlemen."

Seeing the no-nonsense expression he wore, the guys around the table each silently did as told, knowing that this Akihiko was currently Boss Akihiko.

Tarou reached for his drink, and when Aki gave him a look, he decided to leave it where it was.

Akihiko sat in his usual chair and opened his mouth to speak.

"Wait."

He turned his eyes to Chisai.

"Before you start, this came for Hiei. None of us opened it, and we're not sure if it's a job." He passed an envelope across the table and sat back down. "I wanted you to open it."

Akihiko tore at the edge and pulled the heavy paper from the envelope, ignoring the little chain trinket that fell to the table. He scanned the letter, deduced that it was not a job and got the information he needed to contact Yusuke about, and he replaced it with it's trinket into the envelope and set it to the side.

He took a breath and looked at each guild members in turn. "This is not going to be easy. Not for you to hear, and not for me to tell you. But we will be prepared for anything."

"Aki, I don't-"

"Ikigai." He leveled a stare onto the demon. "We have no choice." When Gai nodded and turned his eyes to the table, Akihiko addressed the table as a whole. "Our chances of success should things go sour are not good. But we will do as we must."

The silence around the table was deafening in the roar of the rowdy bar, and Akihiko wished not for the first time that this was nothing more than a nightmare. *

Kurama looked at nothing, saw no one, only let his feet carry him through the main entrance of the bar, not a single soul stopping the yukata-wearing, silver-tailed kitsune suddenly in their midst.

In fact...they parted freely for him and the aura of power building around him, which sent whispers of his name darting through the room like wildfire.

Not a single pair of eyes in the building missed him, his tall, triangle-shaped ears perched at full attention on the top of his hair, narrowed yellow gaze stalking his path for the door in the far wall of the single-roomed building with a grim determination as he disappeared behind it.

The instant it closed, a vine seemed to curl its way out from somewhere on the other side of the frame to circle around the doorknob twice before the end of it settled pointing up, something like a single, perfect white lily the size of an average human's palm opening at the end of the plant before the rustle of growth stopped and it stilled.

Each step up the stairs sprouted rapidly growing flora that expanded almost in reflex to his presence, crawling all along the walls and extended further down the hallway even as he turned almost immediately to his right to put his hand on the doorknob, turn it, and open the door to enter the first room.

By the time he'd walked inside, the door was a mass of vines and innumerable other plants and barely recognizable from the outside, the growth beginning to overtake the inside of it as well while it closed behind him and more grass started to sprout outwards from his feet, leaving blooming flowers in his wake.

The sensation of life, of growth, was just as much what alerted Shikiyoku to his presence as anything, and she breathed a sigh that ruffled the closest bit of Hiei's hair near her mouth, feeling something akin to relief just coloring her emotions.

Looking over her shoulder at the kitsune who in only a few easy strides came up to the bedside, he saw in her expression a desire to hope, but a steely trap waiting just beneath it, perhaps just as much to protect herself from the possibilities...

She turned her head back to Hiei and pulled him closer to her as if she could, as if she wasn't already just as close as she'd been able to get, uncaring if the sweat of his body rubbed off onto her skin.

Kurama pulled the chair she had gathered earlier just as close to the bedside as he could manage while the overgrowth continued to cover the room, the furniture, the walls, the canopy of the bed, releasing sweet, relaxing scents into the air and made the tension at the back of Shikiyoku's neck release as well, in spite of herself.

And with his best attempts as leaving the fire demon in her embrace undisturbed, Kurama the Youko began to tend to him. 3

~!**!~

The sudden silence in the bar didn't phase Akihiko. He didn't care to look behind himself at the rest of the room, didn't care that a legend was walking through the room and towards the door that would lead to Hiei and Shikiyoku. He didn't care about anything except for the conversation at hand.

So when several pairs of eyes turned from Akihiko to stare after the silver haired fox, his eyes narrowed and he lowered his voice.

"Yes, that's the kitsune. That's how serious this is."

If he hadn't known any better, Raion might have thought Tsundora was the one glaring at him, not Aki.

A chorus of whispers briefly aired around the table, and Akihiko waited patiently for them to get it out of their system.

"...that lily is our warning system," Chisai murmured, his eyes darting to the door and back to Akihiko. "To warn us if…."

"If Hiei turns." The group turned to stare at Akihiko with wide eyes. He'd dared to say the thing none of them even wanted to think about. And, sadly, it was not the worst they would hear fall from Akihiko's lips. "Listen up, from this moment on, we are taking no jobs. We sit right here, and we wait. We are this level's first line of defence after Kurama the Youko."

Fear visibly skittered through the group. If Kurama the Youko died, what chance would they have?

Akihiko tried not to think about that.

"If that flower wilts, we empty this room. Send word to anyone we can that Hiei has turned, and Kurama the Youko has fallen." He leaned forward in his chair. "Then, we buy time. We fight."

"What about Mom?" Tarou whispered.

Akihiko kept his expression carefully blank. "If that flower wilts, we won't have time to think about it."

"I'll barr the door." Chisai piped, his face lacking color. "It won't last long, but it'll give us time to group."

Akihiko nodded. "Keep your heaviest gems on you. When it breaks, you will need to pin him. Tarou will help; he has enough weapons to spare that he can make it harder for him to get around."

"...I'll distract."

All eyes turned to Raion.

"I'm big enough, and if Tarou does it this time, he won't get to attack. So, I'll do it."

Akihiko nodded and turned to Gai. "Ikigai. How much metal do you have on your right now?"

"Not much."

"Go home. Get more. Get as much as you can carry without it burdening you down." Akihiko paused to give him a nod. "You know what you need to do. Go, now."

Gai nodded and stood, pushed his chair in, and was gone from the table.

"Should we send for-"

"No. By the time they get here, whatever's going to happen will already have happened. They'll learn of it."

"Akihiko."

He turned to face Tarou, who looked much smaller than he'd ever seen him. "I know. I don't want to leave her up there either." For the first time, sadness crossed Akihiko's expression. "But… We couldn't tear her away even if she wanted to go."

He stood and the members still sitting around the table frowned up at him.

"Stay here. No alcohol." He grabbed what drinks he could reach and gave them to a passing waitress. "I have a phone call to make."

He stepped just outside the bar and pulled his phone from his pocket, seeing its low charge and giving a sigh. Just enough to get word to Yusuke.

He dialed the number he'd memorized many months ago and stuck the phone to his ear, listening to the ring of the phone and his ears. *

Yusuke felt the phone in his back pocket start to buzz more so than he heard it ring, laughing and talking with more than a few regulars who had dropped by during the lunch hour and stuck around.

Pulling it out and seeing the name, he answered it, retorting to a joke about it being his girlfriend made by one of the customers, and tucked the phone between his shoulder and ear as he continued tending to the various pots and pans in front of him with practiced ease as the noise continued around him.

"Hey, my man! What's up?" He finally said, cheerily. 3

Akihiko was half surprised Yusuke answered, but mostly relieved that he wouldn't have to run back into town.

"Yusuke," he began, but he paused as he heard the background noises. "You want to step away from any humans for a moment."

He looked around himself as if looking for humans around him too, his frown that he'd been fighting all day finally clouding his features with worry and fear. *

"We're all good, right now, man. Those guys are all back at work at the moment."

...

"What's wrong? You sound worried." 3

Akihiko dropped his chin and took a deep breath.

"You'll be happy to know Hiei killed your guy and the infected in the area."

The hand that didn't hold his phone clenched until he nearly drew blood from the palm of his hand.

"But he dropped today. He's sick with the Infection. Hasn't turned yet." But be ready. "Kurama the Youko is here, but Hiei's been ill at least a day, if not two or three." *

Yusuke couldn't help the whoosh of breath that left his lungs after a moment where his cheeks puffed full of it.

It contained most of the emotions he felt, not all of which he could rightly explain.

Hiei turning would be...an absolute nightmare. He'd gotten lucky facing the guy once, but he'd be lying if he said he hadn't always been thankful he'd never had to do it again.

"You said Kurama's with him?" He didn't need it repeated. Neither did he say anything for a moment.

"Look, Aki, if it would make you feel better, I can see if I can get ahold of...somebody who's...whose instincts I trust on stuff like this. You know I've always got my ear on the ground, yeah? If something as terrifying as ole three eyes goin' AWOL was going to happen, I'm pretty sure I'd be the first to know. And before it even happened. But things have gone quiet. As quiet as they ever do, anyway." His grin was obvious in his tone and he quickly switched his phone over to his other ear.

"If foxy's there, I wouldn't worry too much. Guy's the only demon I've heard of who didn't succumb to it in the end. Word is he outlasted it somehow. Well, him and Shikiyoku, but that's a very different story from what I hear.

"Anyway, I doubt he's about to stand by and just let his oldest friend do anything but the same." 3

Aki let out a slow breath and leaned back against the wall, his back pressing against the warm surface and his head leaning back to rest against it. He stared up at the sky and let himself breathe for only a moment.

Yusuke hadn't been wrong before.

But he forced his relief to be short lived, and he pushed away any hope he might have had in those moments. He turned businesslike again, and he settled into a mindset that was easier to handle, easier to live with if the other was wrong for once.

"Well, we'll be here, at the bar, waiting for any progress one way or another." He paused as Ikigai passed by him, wearing all sorts of metal jewelry that looked very out of place on his usually smiling face and stepped into the bar, nodding that he'd gotten what he needed. "Keep that ear to the ground, my friend. I'll be in touch."

He didn't wait for Yusuke to say anything else. He snapped his phone shut and moved for the door, stepped through it, and moved to rejoin the Guild. *

~!**!~

The fever broke.

Frankly, Kurama had lost track of time, lost track of the number of applications of his various plantlike solutions, sometimes applied while Shikiyoku held Hiei in her arms, other times when she lightly dozed in the only chair in the room, taking the rest when she could and keeping watch for him when his energy was spent and he needed sleep.

But at the last...it broke. A signifier the worst was past and Hiei only needed more time to recover his energy to its fullest, the disease having left his body ravaged and weak.

Kurama had sent Shikiyoku off to wash when it happened, trying himself to keep not only Hiei's disease at bay, but also tend to Shikiyoku as needed so she could be strong for the Consort laying on the bed.

For his part at this moment, he sat in constant vigilance nearby, but he sensed almost immediately when the heat that heralded the infection, the complete loss of control of his energy and the activation of the Crusnik within it, began to drain away until it was nothing, no longer.

Heaving a sigh that seemed to lift the weight of the entire world off of his shoulders, the jungle which had grown around them receded into nothingness, until at the very last the lily around the doorknob on the other side of the bar very slowly started to close, and retreat into the vine, which unwound itself and retracted back into the frame from where it grew, leaving Shuichi Minamino slumped forward in his chair, in the same suit he'd left his car in all that time ago, arms propping him up by his knees as he lifted a hand to his head in relief and murmured,

"Welcome back...old friend..." 3