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.

158. Episode 242

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.

---

For a long while, Hiei's dreams were nothing but blurs of color and sound and things that he wouldn't remember at all when he would wake. There had been fields of flowers and grasses and ferns, and sometime in the middle of him laying in the grass under the fiery heat of a summer sun, Shikiyoku had come to lay next to him, quiet but present.

They'd laid amongst the field for hours or maybe even days, and eventually the sun began to set and the air cooled little by little.

Shikiyoku left him then, walking to the far edge of the field and then disappearing altogether. It didn't bother him though, since he knew somehow that she was near enough to return if he so desired.

The wind breezed over his clammy skin, drying it and the sweat that had rolled over his cheeks and neck during the heat of the day, and with it a whisper he didn't quite catch drifted across his consciousness.

The field disappeared in a dizzying blur of color then, leaving him standing in his room and staring at its emptiness, wondering what he'd been about to do. He turned in place and decided to sit on the edge of his bed, confusion furrowing his brows as he stared at the katana leaning up against his wardrobe just under the cloak he'd hung there some time ago.

Oh, right. Yusuke had a job for me.

He stood and crossed his room, dressed, and was down in the bar, talking in grumpy short sentences before he turned and left for the job he'd been woken up to do.

In his sleep, Hiei shifted around a little and settled on his back, and he let out a long breath as he sank into the mattress again.

~!**!~

Akihiko, Tarou, Chisai, Ikigai, and Raion hadn't moved from their seats at their table for many hours, quiet enough that the usual customers that came through gave curious glances their way before going about their business.

Ikigai sat and fidgeted with his jewelry.. He played with his earrings, from the metal balls in his earlobes to the industrial bars at the cartilage that he turned when he felt particularly worried. The bracelets layered around his wrists clinked every time he adjusted his lensless metal frames up his nose, musical and almost calming. When he got up and walked around, the anklets he wore jingled with bells and clinked against one another, his feet bare. When he would sit and slide his hands into his pockets, there could be heard an occasional jingle of metal meeting metal floating into the quiet when he played with them.

Chisai leaned onto the table, different colored gems held between his hands that he stared at, his expression one of concentration as he listened to their surroundings and occasionally morphed the gems into other shapes.

Raion leaned back in his chair and had one arm dangling over the back of it, his red eyes glued to the door with the lily and his tail occasionally twitching in suspense.

Tarou seemed to look after the people around him, making sure to order food and water when the appropriate amount of time had passed, and he made sure that everyone ate and drank before he would lean forward and rest his head on his arms on the table.

Akihiko turned away any runners that came for them with any indication of work, telling each one that the guild was already on a job and would not be leaving for the time being. He managed what there was of the guild to manage, and sent letters out to anyone who inquired of him their circumstances; not many of their usual customers had found out about Hiei's condition, but enough had to keep him busy with updates.

He was about to sign the letter he was to send to Yusuke - the first update he'd been able to send to the owner of the ramen stand - when Raion reached over and smacked him on the arm several times with the back of his hand.

"Aki! The lily!"

The guild stood in tandem, their chairs scraping against the floor and a few even clattering when they toppelled. Akihiko, tense and ready to fight, turned to watch the lily slowly, deliberately recede.

Not wilt.

The guild behind him gave out a long breath of relief. Ikigai dropped back into his chair, exhausted, and Raion turned to look at Akihiko, the only one who hadn't immediately relaxed.

"Sit. Relax," he finally said to the others. "I'll go check on Shikiyoku."

Half of him feared Hiei had turned and been immediately killed by the kitsune upstairs. So, he made his way to the bar and asked for a pitcher of water, three glasses, and for two orders each of vegetable skewers, meat skewers, and a mix of the two.

Those were ready in a minute flat, and Akihiko took those all on a tray towards the door.

He pulled it open, stepped inside, shut it behind himself, and only felt relief when he sensed the very beginnings of Hiei's energy somewhere in the apartment.

He leaned back against the door for a moment to gather himself, to let himself soak in the fact that Hiei was not dead, and that Shikiyoku was not to be living without her Consort.

He took a steadying breath and pushed away from the door, took the stairs two at a time, and turned to enter the first door on the right.

He held the tray on his shoulder and glanced about the room, seeing Shuichi Minamino sitting in a chair by the bed and Hiei just settling back into said bed, but not waking.

He didn't ask where Shikiyoku was. He could sense her beyond the door he'd just come through and somewhere down the hallway.

Wordlessly, he moved to the nightstand and cleared its top of its contents, and he set the tray there. He poured a glass of water and extended it to the demon who'd done what Akihiko had, frankly, thought to be the impossible. *

Kurama did not say anything as the other demon entered the room, the exhaustion of all the worries he had been keeping at bay leaving him bent over for another moment.

He did sit back up and slouch back when he saw the offer, nodding thanks and taking the glass.

While he had kept the three of them fed during their exile, he genuinely had not considered the fact that Hiei might awaken hungry, too eager to retract his defenses and give the all-clear to the rest of them.

"...how long?" He asked after a long moment. 3

Akihiko nodded at Shuichi as he took the glass, and he turned to pluck one of the orders of skewers from the tray and offer it to the obviously exhausted kitsune. He thought about how long he'd been sitting at the table, how many times he'd gotten up and taken a stroll outside to pace where others wouldn't notice his anxiety, and how many letters he'd sent.

He hadn't been counting the sunrises or sunsets, so he had to quantify the days by the paperwork he'd done. And the meals he'd eaten.

"Twelve days," he finally replied, and after a moment he gave a nod of confidence that his guesstimation was right. Twelve very long days.

Especially for the two who'd sat in this room for the entirety of that time.

He might have had more to say if he didn't hear the door at the end of the hall slam open and then shut, followed by several pairs of thunderous feet running up the stairs.

He turned to stare at the door as it flung open, the knob only not hitting the wall due to Chisai's sidestep around Tarou to catch it.

His guildmates looked wildly about the room until their eyes found the still-sleeping Hiei on his bed, his face already gaining some color.

"He's fine?" Tarou rumbled in his stage whisper.

Akihiko nodded and turned to glance at the redhead next to him.

The others seemed to understand his unspoken reply and they said no more, only staring at the person who'd saved their boss. *

Kurama took the skewer in his free hand, but could only hold it and try to catch his breath, wiping the back of one hand at the fine line of sweat beading at his hairline once he had let everything go.

After a moment of staring at Hiei, relief still flooding him from head to toe, he felt their looks and blinked before turning to the others around the room, giving a small smile.

"I don't think we've actually had a chance to be properly introduced, gentlemen. Forgive me if I do not stand at present. Among the humans, I am known as Shuichi Minamino, but my friends call me Kurama." Obviously a bit tired, his smile still had much of the same charm as it always did and he gave a bit of a nod. "Kurama the Youko. At your service." 3

The silence in the room was just as deafening as the silence that had lingered around them over the past twelve days. The guild stood crowded in the doorway, staring with wide eyes and, some, with open mouths as they looked from Kurama, to Aki, and back to Kurama again.

All at once, the relief that Akihiko hadn't let himself feel downstairs hit him, and he pursed his lips and closed his eyes. He could hear their brains trying to make sense of the redhead, of how he could have cured Hiei of his illness while at the same time attempt to fathom that they were staring at a genuine legend among their kind.

He took a breath and opened his eyes again, only to let out a snicker at their faces, filled with shock, admiration, confusion, and so many other things.

That snicker quickly turned to an actual laugh, and he sank to a crouch and planted his elbows on his knees so he could drop his face into his hands to stifle the laughs he couldn't control.

They're all ridiculous.

And as his laughs grew louder, he realized he was just as 'ridiculous' as the rest of 'em.

~!**!~

Hiei's eyes blinked open to stare at the ceiling over his head, aware that something had stirred him and curious as to what it was in the silence of the room. He breathed in a careful breath, and his ribcage protested, still heavy and painful.

If his body had the energy to do so, he would have jumped out of his skin at the sudden sounds of laughter in the room. It was so foreign, coming from someone he'd never heard laugh before, and he wondered if he was still dreaming.

He pushed himself to sit up, wincing with every movement he made and gritting his teeth against the muscle cramps and the general wave of exhaustion. As the laughter grew louder, he took a moment to assess himself, and the lack of heat he had been feeling before. Or the cold.

He no longer sweat, and he no longer shivered.

And he was very glad for that.

It let him blink and turn to the source of the laughter.

He blinked again at the hunched form of who he realized was Akihiko, confused but unable to get his voice to work enough to ask.

He didn't even notice the others in the room, and the guild at the door most certainly didn't notice his sitting up, their focus all on their crouched friend. *

Not finding the lack of response he received from Hiei's guild members particularly surprising, the amusement at their stunned expressions reflected in his forest-green eyes even as the demon next to him expressed his relief in a much more verbal way.

So much more verbal, that it appeared to be only Kurama who noticed Hiei starting to rise, looking weary, exhausted, weak, but conscious and lucid.

He shifted in his chair a little, sitting up and giving Hiei a smile full of his own relief as he repeated his earlier greeting, perhaps a little louder than the last one, and held out the skewer in his hand for the fire demon to take.

"Welcome back, old friend." 3

Hiei's eyes landed on Kurama when the other moved, having not noticed him for Akihiko's out of character outburst. He blinked at the redhead and reached out to take the skewer out of instinct, his stomach telling him very loudly that it was exactly what he needed right then.

After he settled with his hand in his lap, the skewer raised so it wouldn't touch the blankets, a tired smile made its way across his face. "It's good to see you, Kurama."

He raised the skewer and pulled a vegetable from one end, his eyes falling to Akihiko, who'd begun to quietly chuckle to himself. He watched as his Second in Command rocked backwards until he plopped onto the floor, and he raised his red face up to look at Hiei, all other signs of laughter gone.

"Don't ever do that again." He frowned up at Hiei from the floor. "I'm not cut out for your job."

Hiei's smile widened, and he opened his mouth to attempt to respond, but the other held his hand up to stop him.

"I like having a scapegoat to blame everything on, and you're my favorite scapegoat. No one questions me when I shake my head and say 'Hiei', but no one knows who the hell I'm talking about when I shake my head and say 'Akihiko'."

Hiei swallowed, but said nothing to the stern look he was being given.

"Aki, you're-"

Tarou elbowed Gai to silence him. "Let them have their moment."

Aki pointed a finger sternly up at Hiei, who blinked once at the gesture and raised a brow. "Don't you do that again, or I'll have your hide."

Hiei nodded, swallowed the lump in his throat, and croaked out, "Yes, dad."

"That's better." He dropped his hand to the carpet and his shoulders sagged, the last of his relief running its course and leaving him feeling light and free. He turned to look at the other guildies and gestured between them and Kurama, knowing Hiei wouldn't be able to introduce everyone. "Now, Guild, meet Kurama the Youko, who so kindly introduced himself to you jerks and got no answer."

Tarou raised his brows at the sass coming from Aki, wondering just how much of his mind he'd lost.

"Kurama, this is Tarou," he pointed to the guy taking up most of the doorframe, "Raion," the lion with the red eyes, "Chisai," the demon with the blue hair and eyes to match, "and Ikigai," the demon with the sandy hair and amber eyes and a wide smile on his face.

Hiei listened in silence, eating the last of his food and idly wondering when Shikiyoku would make her entrance. He dropped into the bond a little to make his presence known, if only to greet her wordlessly and send a warmth equating a smile her direction *

"...Hiei...?"

"Well, yes, but I think he already knows that one."

~!**!~

Shikiyoku stepped back out into the hallway, feeling better, as Kurama had told her she would, and actually dressed in her own clothes for once. Comfortable ones. Ones she would have never worn except right now all she wanted was to be comfortable.

Loose black pants with a white stripe down the sides that came to her ankles-still barefoot-and a casual white blouse, her hair flowing down her back, nearly dry but just a touch damp.

Hiei's tank top and pants that she had borrowed at the time she brought him to his room were clean, folded neatly in her hands and still a little warm. She stared down at them as she kept moving towards the door to his room, only blinking at them when she realized she heard voices and became suddenly aware of the fact that the hall was completely devoid of plantlife.

She turned the corner with wide eyes, peering through the elbows of the other guild members and only just able to see-

"...Hiei...?" -as the bond between them warmed with a lucidity she had not felt in countless days, her core suddenly feeling as if it came to a stop inside her chest and she froze, clothing dropping right out of her hands to plop on the floor.

"Well, yes, but I think he already knows that one." Akihiko replied dryly, though Shikiyoku didn't hear him, her face a series of tumultuous emotions. The demon had busied himself with propping up pillows behind Hiei's back so the invalid could at least have some support. He still seemed pretty weak.

The guildies suddenly all had their eyes on her, shifting the step out of the way necessary for her to get a clear view of the demon as he sat up in bed.

In the next moment, Shikiyoku had tears falling from her eyes as she dashed across the room and threw herself in Hiei's direction, a very clear, very emotionally charged, "You JERK!" flying out of her mouth as she wrapped her left arm around his neck and buried her face against him. "You don't get to just smileat me!"

For just a second she pulled back to look at him through her tears and all but smacked her hand against his chest above his core with no small amount of force as she said with all of the frustration she could muster, "How DARE you get infected! You had me WORRIED!" before collapsing on top of him again, the hand at his core shifting against the fabric of his shirt and after a shaky breath amidst the tears she cried against him, setting his marking aglow. 3

Hiei gave a thankful glance up at Akihiko as he was able to sit back and get comfortable against the pillows the other had set behind him, earning a little nod from the other as he also relieved him of his empty skewer.

He turned to look at the others in time to see them part for Shikiyoku, and his eyes widened at the emotions that crashed across her features and the tears that welled up.

Before he could attempt to even open his mouth to reassure her that he was fine, that he would be fine, she slammed into him and all of the air in his lungs left him in a great big oof.

He didn't mind her yelling at him, her venting her emotions as she did. He didn't mind the pain that came from her smack against his chest either, or the pain from being unable to breathe for a few seconds due to their collision. He welcomed all of those things, because it meant he'd lived.

His arms wrapped around her and he lowered his forehead until he rested against the top of her head, his nose taking in her aroma amongst her damp hair. He listened to her crying and rubbed at her back with his hand.

He cleared his throat again, finding it easier this time to speak. "I'm sorry I made you worry." He kissed the top of her head, glad that he had people who did worry when he could so very clearly remember a time when he didn't. *

Kurama collapsed back in his chair again, watching the two of them with the widest smile he'd worn in days, finally taking a drink of the water Aki had handed him, and then a second upon realizing just how thirsty he was.

When the glow of Hiei's mark started to light up the room, his eyes closed to bask in the warmth of it, so very grateful, thankful, relieved, that Hiei had come out the other end.

He would have considered leaving if he'd thought he could have risen from his seat. He needed rest himself, and Shikiyoku needed to tend to her Consort, though she was already beginning to do so now.

Despite her outburst. He deserved it, really. It was the least they could do for him making them worry, and it didn't seem to Kurama he minded so much anyway.

Shikiyoku's tears were reduced to sniffles as she finally started to quiet against him and her hand on his core shifted and its light began to slowly fade away. 3

Akihiko stood back and watched the moment with a relief-filled smile, glad to see that Hiei was accepting of his punishment for making the people in the room worry.

After another beat, he discreetly set the envelope that had come for Hiei twelve days ago on the tray and moved to plant a hand on Kurama's shoulder to get his attention. He nodded his quiet thank you to the kitsune, then turned and began to just as quietly shoo the rest of the guild from the room.

Tarou opened his mouth to protest and Aki gave him a patient look. "We'll have time later," he whispered. "He still needs rest. Come on."

Gai slipped under his arm and into the room, jingling the whole way, and earned a look from Akihiko as the younger male approached Kurama with a kind smile. "Before we go, is there anything we can do to help you recover too?"

Akihiko shook his head to himself and continued to wave the others down the stairs, knowing Gai would follow as soon as his question was answered.

~!**!~

Even when Hiei's arm grew tired and began to cramp up, he continued to rub at Shikiyoku's back comfortingly. He revelled in the feeling of her energy warming the places where she'd marked him as her Consort, and he found that with it came the beginnings of relief.

His eyelids slowly closed so he could enjoy everything that was Shikiyoku, and he quietly repeated his apology against her skull. *

"Yeah, you should be."

Both Shikiyoku and Kurama piped up dryly at his apology, Shikiyoku in the next moment letting out a little breath against him and Kurama giving him a pointed look.

"Anything I'd have to say on the matter has been said before." Kurama continued. "But, I...am so very glad to have you back." His smile this time was sincere, weary himself, but happy to see the fruits of his labor were not in vain. "For what it's worth, I think we all are."

"Uh-" Kurama appeared to have to think for a second, "No, thank you, Ikigai. I...everything I need's right here at the moment. I just need to gather my strength about me for a bit." 3

Hiei lifted his head from Shikiyoku's to look from her to Kurama, his smile a little wider with his appreciation for his old friend. He realized that he hadn't seen Kurama in a long while, hadn't even considered it after Kurama himself had been tended to by Shikiyoku, and for a moment he rather regretted that.

"Thank you." His smile shrunk just a little, turning from the appreciation filled one to a calmer, more serene one. He didn't know what else to say about it, so he only watched as Kurama turned to Ikigai.

Gai nodded at Kurama and gave him a wide grin. "We'll be around if you need anything." He tilted his head in Hiei's direction. "He will tell us, I'm sure."

With that, he ducked out of the room, closing the door behind him and joining the others downstairs. As he stepped up to join the table, Tarou passed him a drink with a wide grin on his face.

He didn't notice Akihiko adding contents to a letter, or that he passed it to a runner and sent him off. He instead joined the others in a celebratory drink, glad he hadn't had to fight on this day. *

~!**!~

"You're welcome." Kurama murmured back to Hiei and starting to get his feet underneath himself. "I'm sure you need your rest. I-"

His eyes widened a bit when he couldn't come to a stand and he slumped back in his chair with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. It seems as if I might need more time than I thought." He lifted the glass in his hand to take another drink and rested it on his lap, both hands curled around it as he lowered his gaze to stare absently at it.

Shikiyoku turned her head to rest her cheek on Hiei's chest, one hand wrapped around him as best she could manage and the other still gripping the fabric of his tank top just above his core.

She only reached up for a moment to wipe at her nose, still letting out a sniffle here and there, before circling Hiei with that arm again.

Tears welled up in her eyes again as the emotions passed over their bond:

(...I almost lost you...)3

Hiei turned his eyes back onto Kurama once Gai was gone, and he watched as his friend made an attempt to stand, and promptly began to apologize when he was unable to do so.

"Don't rush out of here on my account. Stay as long as you need to." He gave a small sound somewhere at the back of his throat, something between a hum and the beginnings of a chuckle. "It's the very least I could do: let you rest long enough to get your own strength back."

Shikiyoku's moving around brought Hiei's gaze down to her tear-stained face, and the hand he'd been rubbing her back with slid up over her shoulder and to her face, where he wiped at the wetness there.

He filled the bond with a quiet calmness, a serene warmth meant to help soothe her. (I wouldn't dare turn Infected.) He remembered his time sitting with her in Kurama's work building, where she'd told him of her inability to live if he turned. (I promised I wouldn't leave you alone, and I meant it.) *

This time her tears fell much more silently, though encouraged in those moment by the fact that she squeezed her eyes shut, and she gave him a similar, brief, gentle but solid squeeze around his middle as if even the emotions ruminating between them were not enough to express all of her feelings in that moment.

Kurama gave Hiei another smile. "Thank you." He did chuckle a bit himself, watching with fondness the two of them entangled with one another on the bed and aside from his wish to make it up on his own two feet, feeling quite content.

"When you have the strength, your second left a letter for you." He nodded at the bedside table where Akihiko had left the envelope before leaving. "He also brought you other food and water. We kept you as fed and hydrated as we were able while you were sick, but I do not doubt more will continue to assist in your recovery. Whenever you can manage it." He smiled again and glanced at Shikiyoku, who did not seem as if she were quite ready to move in the slightest. 3

Hiei continued to wipe her tears away, his lips turning up into a small smile down at her. Yes, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. He leaned over her and kissed at the places where her tears fell, as if that would make them stop, and he pulled away to look up at Kurama again.

His eyes flickered to the envelope on the tray, seeing that it had been opened, but at the moment not too concerned with its contents - not that he could read it anyway. So he made a mental note to ask Shikiyoku to read it to him later, and dismissed it to turn back to Kurama again.

"Help yourself to any of it as well," Hiei responded in regards to the food and water. "I'm sure it won't be the only meal brought up to us. Tarou and Akihiko tend to…" he paused to think of the term that the humans used, "mother the rest of the guild, especially in times where the support is most definitely needed."

He felt his core swell with pride at his guild and how they actually cared about and for one another, even treating Hiei as if he was just another one of them and not just their 'Boss'.

"I hear you've been busy." His eyes flashed with amusement, shining through even his exhaustion. "Setting up your territory." He may not have been visiting Kurama, but he'd kept up with what the others were up to, if only out of curiosity. *

Hiei's kisses reduced Shikiyoku's tears back to sniffles, but she stayed right where she was against him, in contact with him just as much as she was able to do.

She huffed a little at Hiei's reference to 'mothering.'

Kurama let out a little laugh, "Yes, well. Times are very different. It practically happened by accident." Practically. He nodded towards Shikiyoku, "There'd be no way to maintain its size without your Queen." He looked at Hiei. "And there'd be no way we would have as much control of it as we do without you."

His expression was full of gratefulness for the hybrid. For the kisses he was planting on Shikiyoku's face-which while somewhat surprising did in fact reassure Kurama as well to the status of the pair's relationship-and for so many other things besides.

"I am not the only one who has been busy, however. Your guild has maintained a reputation for being the ones you go to when you want to get a job done on the upper levels, even with the rise of other groups within the last few months." He shook his head. "Most of them fall apart before they can manage to get started. You're tough to compete with." 3

Hiei looked down to Shikiyoku, watching her for a moment as Kurama spoke of her help in creating a balanced territory among the humans. He wasn't sure he'd known that she'd had her hands in it, but he didn't find himself particularly surprised, in any case. She was good at things such as those, and he had noticed that the area of the city where she'd most certainly had a hand in had been more peaceful than others.

He looked to Kurama again, his lips forming a nostalgic smile as the other mentioned his guild. He couldn't help but think back to the beginnings of it, and the beginnings of the bar. Back when there had only been the first four: Akihiko, Tarou, Ikigai, and Chisai.

"I've been fortunate to have the group I do." He didn't have to do much to keep the guild going with Akihiko doing the paperwork for him and the others upkeeping the flow of job requests and completion. It was easy, even on the most trying of jobs. *

Kurama nodded in agreement, "I've heard of their exploits; Hunters hiring them out to help with Infected and the like." He closed his eyes and huffed out another bit of a laugh.

"...you certainly gave them quite a scare. I think they were worried I wouldn't be able to kill you if you turned. ...I'm glad we didn't have to find out either way."

Shikiyoku's eyes had closed, exhausted from the overhaul of emotions upon Hiei's recovery, and her breathing was just starting to deepen against him. 3

Hiei shifted a little in place, pulling Shikiyoku closer and crossing his legs so that she rested in his lap and her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sure Akihiko had plans for the worst," he replied in a murmur. He knew of his second's past with the infection, and he knew the other would have rather plan for the worst than to hope for the best.

...he too was glad that they hadn't had to find out.

"I'm sure they'll be busy telling stories about meeting the infamous fox thief in a few days. Tarou will make up something dramatic in no time." He gave a little chuckle. "Though I'm sure you're used to that by now." *

Kurama actually laughed.

"Yes, well, I did make quite an entrance. Luckily for them, I didn't decide to claim the whole bar as my lair for the time being and only this..." He looked around a bit "...other space. Otherwise, I'm sure the stories would be even grander than your weapon's master could conjure on his own."

He appeared thoughtful, "I've been meaning to ask Shikiyoku how she did it ever since I ended up here a few months back." When Hiei had been injured. "These apartments aren't...quite...here, for lack of a better term. It's almost like some sort of pocket dimension, but I haven't the faintest idea how she did it."

When he noticed her sleeping, he gave another smile.

"Have you ever asked her about it?" 3

"I'm sure demons are already flocking here in the hopes to get even a glimpse of you." His eyes sparked at him again. "Famous among both humans and demons. You'll never have a moment of peace."

Hiei shook his head.

"I wasn't here when this space was built," he admitted. "I was out on a job, and when I came back…" He smiled to himself at the memory of him dropping to the mattress and Shikiyoku's massage. "I'd meant to at the time, but it slipped my mind."

He looked around the room, just as it was that first day. "...It's the first thing I've been gifted, the first thing to truly be mine without any chance of it being taken from me." *

"If you suspect more of them to be the case, I'll have to ensure my exit from your apartments is just as grand as my entrance." He said loftily, his kitsune showing in his acceptance of the presence of possible adoring fans.

Kurama nodded when Hiei said as much. He didn't figure the hybrid had particularly thought about it, to be honest. But the space these rooms would normally occupy were not visible from the outside of the building, and he had checked it to see if they were simply unseen, but there. The wall didn't even have a door in it on the other side.

The fox let his eyes follow Hiei's around the room.

Whether or not the guild master suspected as much, Kurama knew the value of the things in the room, and Shikiyoku had not come by them cheap. Just about everything in here was fireproof, and those sorts of enchantments alone were costly.

"A fine gift indeed." He merely said. 3

Hiei remained silent for a few minutes, assessing each nook and cranny of the room, every mark in the floors and walls, and every little piece of decor that had been hung on the walls.

He'd made use of most everything in his room since the bar's opening. He'd crashed on the couch a time or two with random work-related things strewn across the coffee table. He'd stored his earnings from said work in various places, from the box springs of his bed to the drawer in his nightstand, and even a couple of drawers in the wardrobe was full of mixed currency from all over the Levels.

Perhaps the only thing he hadn't used was the bookshelf, where books sat just as they were supposed to, untouched.

He hadn't ever even looked at them, truth be told. He had forgotten they were there, unless he needed to store pouches of money behind the books. And he had money in so many different places that he hardly saw the need to unbury those pouches from their hiding spot.

His eyes came to rest on Kurama again, the earlier spark and smile replaced with a calmness, a serenity that almost tipped towards his tiredness, which he ignored for the time being.

"She never talks about you either, by the way," he stated matter-of-factly.

He wasn't sure what had made him think of it, but he suddenly found himself recalling the chair he'd sat in in Kurama's room, and how the other had said as much of Shikiyoku about Hiei. He couldn't remember the conversation that had followed, only that it had kept him from feeling too upset that Shikiyoku hadn't mentioned even visiting the fox before then. *

Kurama knew exactly what Hiei was talking about, despite the non sequitur to their current conversation.

It was one of the few things he distinctly remembered about being ill himself: the somewhat one-sided conversation with Hiei where he'd dropped off back to sleep at the end of it.

He let out a sigh. He'd suspected as much, even if he'd hoped otherwise, given what he could remember-most of it bleary with fever-of Hiei's reaction to walking in on them at the time.

He had been a little handsy with her and probably wouldn't have gone quite so far with another in the room, but he had never been able to help it when he got sick, she was just so-

He blinked and then chuckled again, a wry smile pulling at his lips.

"I'm not quite sure how I feel about that." He admitted. 3

Hiei's eyes drifted down to stare at Shikiyoku, his mind mulling over the fact that she never talked about anything including others when around Hiei unless he prompted it, and even then, she generally steered the conversation onto other topics. Topics about Hiei's day, his general state of being, and Hiei's… well, anything he'd talk about.

He'd realized at some point that it wasn't in an attempt to keep secrets - she couldn't do so with their bond and his telepathy anyway, if he so desired to pry - but that instead she was just so…

Selfless.

Which is such a rare thing where demons are concerned.

A part of him still wondered, still feared, that Shikiyoku wanted to be mates with the person who'd just saved his life. While he understood now that even if that was the case, he would never truly lose her, it still…

He didn't like it.

And perhaps it was for different reasons than it had been in the past. Perhaps it wasn't quite so fuelled by his fear, his insecurities, his…

He didn't even know what.

But now, it seemed it was fueled with nothing more than the knowledge that the person he held loved him, and that when he'd kissed her and told her he loved her too, she hadn't turned him away.

She had accepted it, welcomed it, and even seemed more open because of it.

Now. it was fueled by the knowledge that she didn't push aside his requests to be her mate out of distaste for the idea.

He wondered if she brushed them away because she was waiting for someone else to ask her. Someone more capable of being what she needed in moments where Hiei could not be, even if he didn't know about such moments.

Then again, what did it truly mean to be Mates?

He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again when he realized he wasn't sure what he'd been about to say. Maybe he'd been about to ask that very question. Maybe he was about to ask if he'd asked to be her Mate yet, or if she'd even asked him about it.

He lowered his nose to her hair, giving himself a moment to think.

What was it he wanted? If he didn't truly know what it meant to be someone's Mate, then why did he want it?

He lifted his head after a moment. "I wasn't sure how to feel about it either," he finally said. "At first, I was afraid it was because she didn't want to tell me anything outside of what goes on around here." He stared at the top of her head, his expression slowly shifting to hold that adoration for her that he'd felt for a very long time. "Then, I thought it was because she was looking for a Mate, and that I'd be left behind.

"I realized pretty quickly that that was not the case. That she simply didn't think about anything else when she's with me. It's so rare to see selflessness in a demon that I hadn't realized that that's what it was."

Finally, he turned to look up at Kurama, his expression carefully blank. "Have you asked her? To be your Mate." *

Kurama sat quietly, taking other drinks of his water as he continued to try and gather his strength and listening as Hiei spoke.

Though...if he were being honest, he had been surprised by Hiei's invitation to stay as long as he needed. Especially since the other had Shikiyoku in his arms. But he'd never gotten a single suggestion of intrusion from either of them in the entire time he'd been present. The sense of possessiveness he felt from the other when she cared for him during his illness was...gone.

He nodded when Hiei spoke of 'selflessness.' He'd seen it before in humans. Hell, Yusuke Urameshi was a prime example of it back in the day, though perhaps 'reckless' and 'stupid' were just as accurate. And his mother...well, Kurama's mother had been the first one to show him what such things were, and he knew now that her actions had come from a place of love.

Something else it was extraordinarily rare to come across in their kind.

Kurama raised an eyebrow when he sensed a question coming from Hiei, and didn't know what exactly the first iteration meant. The proverbial light bulb went on over his head when Hiei clarified.

"No." He replied almost immediately, giving a small shake of his head. "Though she's aware if I thought for an instant she'd say yes, I would." He admitted, his gaze dropping to watch her for a moment as she slept and thinking about how he had to trick her just to get her to accept an engagement proposal.

Those sort of antics would not work on something like a lifemate proposition.

A sudden overwhelming curiosity overtook Kurama as he realized something he thought Hiei might have been implying.

"Have you?" 3

Hiei had been too afraid to look over at Kurama, not wanting to see the expression he might wear when asked the question. After all, he found it'd be pretty impossible for someone to not love Shikiyoku enough to ask; if she could have him of all people asking her, then there wasn't a soul alive who likely wouldn't feel the same way.

So when Kurama's response was a quick negative, and he most definitely implied that Shikiyoku would turn him down if he did, a spot of relief bloomed across his chest.

His returning the question, however, had Hiei quickly looking away.

"Yes," he replied in a whisper.

He opened his mouth to mention his earlier thoughts about suddenly not being sure what it meant to ask to be her Mate, but he quickly closed it and the tips of his ears began to turn a shade of pink.

He didn't want to tell his friend, who he'd only just been able to catch up with after many years of having not seen him, that he was ignorant of the thing he'd asked Shikiyoku multiple times about.

He realized now that he'd been childish.

Selfish.

And, quite frankly, ridiculous.

He closed his eyes, suddenly feeling very tired, and very ashamed.

"Too many times to count." *

"Yes, well, I wouldn't feel too bad about it if I were you." Kurama quipped, as if the admission didn't surprise him. "I hear she's turning down anyone and everyone who asks. And if tales are half-true, she's been asked more times than she can probably rightly count."

He huffed. "I'd been meaning to see if there was something I could do about that. I can't even imagine the sort of hassle she must go through. And word is everyone is asking her, even those who haven't any stake to claim in the matter. Maybe if people thought the great Kurama the Youko was courting her, they'd be more likely to leave her alone than risk my implied wrath at their audacity."

He hadn't missed the pinkness to Hiei's features, but Kurama hoped his brusque dismissal of Hiei's admission would set the other more at ease.

Because he had every reason to suspect Hiei hadn't the faintest idea what a lifemate was. 3

Hiei nodded, deciding almost instantly that he liked Kurama's idea, if only to thin out all but the fox as a possible 'contender' to be Shikiyoku's Mate.

But he also wondered if that would make it more likely for Shikiyoku to want to say yes to his friend's question while Hiei was busy trying to figure it all out on his own.

He blinked.

"What day is it?" He looked to Kurama. "Rather, how long was I out?" *

Thoughts whirling with the notion that maybe he should see if his presence would help her with the ingrates, Kurama returned his attention to the room at Hiei's question, unsure of the first with immediacy, but knowing the answer to the second.

"Twelve days, I was told." 3

Hiei's expression cycled through several different emotions at once: sadness, frustration, relief, and something akin to thankfulness. He let out a breath, suddenly very glad that his day to ask her had gone and passed without his notice.

Knowing what he did now, he was relieved that he hadn't had the opportunity to ask her again, and he hoped that his lack of following through with his promise to do so would be attributed to his illness making him be forgetful. He would rather her think that than think less of him for asking without knowing what he was asking for.

….not that she likely hadn't known that already.

Ridiculous.

He turned to Kurama again. "Well, it's no surprise you can't stand, my friend. You've been standing for twelve straight days, tending to a demon who was likely very close to turning." His smile was almost a teasing one. "And you thought you'd be able to run out of here as soon as you were done." *

Kurama let out a sheepish laugh, dropping his gaze to the floor as he features colored a little with his embarrassment.

"Ah- Well- Yes, I suppose I did think that." He took another drink of water and didn't raise his eyes for a moment.

"Hiei..." He began, turning thoughtful. "If I did come up with some way to...relieve Shikiyoku of lesser demons pestering her, would that be alright with you?" He looked up at the other, seeking his council on the matter. "I...realize now in a funny way, we're rivals, but if I orchestrate it right, we'd just as much be doing her a favor as we would making clear my intentions. And she's already aware of the latter in any case. But...if you would prefer that I didn't, then I won't entertain the idea any further." 3

Hiei was immensely glad that Kurama hadn't been able to immediately run out. If he had, Hiei would have been left to his thoughts alone, and he would have been perhaps a bit sad that he hadn't got to catch up with an old friend.

A friend he hadn't held an actual conversation with since even before he'd been trapped on the Ninth for a decade.

He was about to voice as such when the other spoke up first, hesitant and thoughtful.

Hiei blinked at Kurama for a few seconds.

"...you're asking me?"

Hell, he'd half expected the other to simply do it when Hiei hadn't immediately given a 'no' on the matter. And he surely wasn't used to the other asking him permission to do anything. *

"Of course." Kurama frowned and it was several seconds before the furrow in his brow started to lift in understanding. "You're her Consort, Hiei. As I said before, I realize both of us having interest in her as a lifemate makes us rivals, but the fact remains that the two of you are inexorably bound to one another. Neither of you are going anywhere when it comes to the other, and anyone in pursuit of her should be acutely aware of it.

"Quite frankly-" He sighed, and then came to admit, a trifle begrudging: "If I'm completely honest with you, you undoubtedly have the upper hand. Do you really think she'd be able to take a lifemate you didn't approve of?" He gave Hiei a little grin, "That being the case, you have every right to disapprove of all others but yourself." 3

Hiei's brows shot up to disappear under his bangs as he stared at Kurama unblinkingly. He searched the other's face for a few moments, looking for anything that might give away that this was anything but the truth, and found instead that the other likely wouldn't have mentioned that fact if it weren't for the request he was making.

His brows slowly lowered back to their usual position on his face, and he thought about that fact.

I have a say?

Sure, Shikiyoku had asked about Kainegisu, but he'd thought it had been because of the relocation and uprooting of their lives, and not because he would have to approve of the person themselves.

He blinked again and realized that the sentiment he'd shared with Shikiyoku about that choice was… very close to what he'd say about Kurama, if the topic were to come up. As it was, if Kurama being her Mate would have their lives turning out similar to how it was in this moment, he almost… maybe… wouldn't mind.

Of course, he'd still prefer it to be himself.

Or at least he assumed he would.

However…

"If she would prefer another over me, I… would not want to deny her wishes and chance hurting her." Because that's what he was supposed to do: make sure she was happy and healthy. Right? Tend to her when she needed help tending to herself, and support her while she chased after whatever her heart desired.

And if that heart so desired another, and that person would truly make her happy…

...He wondered what other 'power' came with his position of Consort. He'd never asked before.

Kurama admitting Hiei had the upper hand had the fire demon just staring at the other.

Finally, after another long moment, he sighed.

"I'd still much rather work with you than fight you, my friend." His gaze hardened just a trifle, though not in any form of maliciousness and only in sudden confidence. "When able, of course." *

Kurama found Hiei's admission to be perhaps the most surprising thing he'd witnessed from the other even than the affection which he had so blanketly bestowed upon Shikiyoku's person earlier.

...because if Kurama was being completely honest, he was not sure he could admit he would do the same.

Kurama let out a bark of laughter at Hiei's sudden expression, a wide grin settling over his features as he lifted his glass in toast to his oldest friend and raised an eyebrow at the other.

"Of course." 3

Hiei didn't react to the laugh that sounded throughout the room, and he only turned to reach for one of the glasses on the tray near him. He plucked one from its surface and tried to reach for the water, and he nodded his thanks when Kurama lifted the pitcher and filled his glass.

Content, Hiei sat back and raised his now-full glass to Kurama, his irises sparking. "To our friendship… and our rivalry." He took a long drink.

When he finally lowered his glass, it only a quarter of the way full. He set it on the end table, just within his reach, and turned to Kurama again.

"As for your original question…" He mulled it over a moment. "The bar would be a great place to do it. Word gets out quickly from here." *

At the toast, Kurama also took a drink, feeling an overwhelming sense of satisfaction, happiness, even. If there was going to be one to rise up as a true challenger, Kurama could think of none better.

He nodded at Hiei's suggestion, "That would be my intent. There are other night clubs in the city, but they are much smaller and more secluded. Her unspoken protection of those within its walls makes the bar where the greatest gathering of demons usually occurs. Plus, what I am planning would truly be of little interruption to the other usual going-ons as I see them."

He smiled, "Am I understanding correctly that I have your approval, then, Consort?" 3

Hiei nodded at the points Kurama made, and almost chuckled at his last comment.

Despite his reservations about it maybe giving Kurama an upper hand, Hiei found that the idea was a satisfying one. One that would work only because it was Kurama executing it.

So, he nodded. "You have my permission, Kurama the Youko." *

Kurama gave him a sidelong smile, "I am pleased to hear it. You won't regret it.

"Now," Kurama slowly and carefully rose from his chair, "You need rest more so than I do." He placed his empty glass on the bedside table. "So, I suggest you get it."

"I-" He stretched his arms above his head, a couple of vertebrae popping as he returned to his demonic form, the change cascading from head to toe as he lowered his arms. "-am going to go do the same."

And with that, the kitsune turned tail and left, giving Hiei a final wave as he did so.

He made little ceremony of re-entering the bar, immediately aware of the eyes upon his person and casting his yellow gaze about the room only long enough to find where Hiei's guild members were sitting and making his way purposefully towards them. 3

Hiei nodded at Kurama as he pushed to stand, watching the redhead for any signs of the exhaustion that had kept him rooted to his chair before. When the fox demon's knees didn't immediately buckle, a bit of relief found Hiei, who watched as the other shifted forms so easily and he made a mental note to ask of it later.

On his way out, Hiei called his farewell and tacked on another thank you, a small smile on his lips.

As soon as the door was closed, he sank against the pillows, suddenly feeling completely drained and exhausted. He pulled Shikiyoku closer, sighed, and drifted off into sleep just as soon as his eyes were closed.

~!**!~

Once the guild had taken their seats at their usual table and had the first two drinks, they began to talk.

"So you mean to tell me that that guy is the guy who was flirting with Mom? At Akari's cafe?" Tarou leaned far back into his chair.

"RIGHT! Like... " Ikigai shook his head, his necklaces clanking together loudly. "I never would have guessed!"

"And we never knew they even knew each other." Chisai glanced at the door. "Quite frankly, I forgot that the Boss used to fight with him too."

"Well, shit. We're in a guild with a Cursed-"

Akihiko turned a look onto Raion.

"-Child who is Consort to a Kuraku, whatever that means, and who also happened to fight with Kurama the damn Youko."

"You better not let Mother catch you calling him that," Tarou grumbled. "She'll skin you alive."

"I've called him that once before. They know it's from a place of respect. Anyway-"

"Respect my ass. That's like calling Kurama the Youko 'some field fox that likes shiny things'. You just don't, man."

Akihiko rolled his eyes. "You're overreacting."

"Overreacting? Aki! Who the hell even are you?"

"A demon with at least half a head on his shoulders, unlike you."

"If I was Mom, I'd let him court me too," Raion said thoughtfully.

"Shit, I'd let him court me now," Tarou retorted.

"He'd never court a lion and an idiot."

"That's why I said if I was Mom."

"You're not wrong, but-"

The door opening on the other side of the bar instantly silenced the group and all eyes turned to the silver-haired kitsune. As he made his way to the table, all but Akihiko and Gai stared with wide eyes and an open mouth.

Aki turned to look at them all. "You're going to catch flies."

They all snapped their jaws shut immediately, earning a sigh from the second in command.

"Be cool," Tarou stage whispered across the table at Raion.

"You be cool!" *

"Hello, gentlemen." Kurama purred as if he knew exactly who the subject of their conversation had been since he entered the room. He raised a silver eyebrow as he looked them all over, "Mind if I join you for a drink?" 3

Akihiko sighed to himself as the excitement level around him peaked.

There was a distinct thud under the table, and Raion turned to snarl at Tarou. "That hurt you ass." Another thud as Raion kicked Tarou back, who didn't even seem to notice.

"Be cool!"

Chisai sat in complete silence, watching the fox demon with a look of fascination, unsure whether to ask about stories or simply wait to see if he'd tell any at all.

Ikigai was the one to wave to the chair to Chisai's left, devoid of Tsundora's presence. "I'm glad you're looking better."

Akihiko waved over a waitress, knowing he'd need another drink of his own to deal with this insanity. *

Kurama sank into the offered chair as only a kitsune can, still looking over all of the others with a particular half-smile settling on his features.

"Double shot of Ogre's Blood on the rocks, please." He told the waitress, giving her a wink which she giggled just a little at receiving.

"Your leader is resting." He told them, placing his elbows on the table and lacing his fingers together in the air above it to rest his chin upon as he watched them steadily. "But I do not expect either himself or his Queen to think about much besides rest for a while. It would behoove you to make sure they are fed at the very least." 3

Akihiko ordered the same drink as Kurama, and when none of the rest of the guild seemed able to function, he ordered their usual drinks as well.

When no one else seemed to even understand the words coming from the kitsune's mouth, everyone staring as if he'd spoken a new language yet to be discovered, Akihiko gave a nod across the table at the demon of the hour. "We'll see to it that they're taken care of."

Tarou leaned over to grumble at Kurama, "He's just pretending to be cool and level headed, but after that hysteria upstairs, we all know it's a lie."

Aki raised a brow at Tarou, but said nothing. *

"Good." Was Kurama's reply to Akihiko.

He turned gleaming eyes onto Tarou, "Hm. And here I thought the hysteria was rather endearing."

A drink appeared at Kurama's elbow and his eyebrows raised in surprise when he looked down and it was not the one he ordered.

His gaze lifted from those at the table, glinting as he sought the pair of eyes to whom the ordered drink belonged. 3

He's enjoying the theatrics, Akihiko thought as a smile slowly twisted its way across his lips.

"Oh boy," Tarou sighed down at the drink that was not meant for him.

"Here it starts," Gai finished for him, though his smile was wide, as if he'd been expecting it to happen sooner.

"How are you feeling?" Akihiko finally piped, ignoring the commentary from the peanut gallery, as the humans said. *

For the moment, it seemed whoever sent it would not catch his eye, despite the fact that the offer was very clearly one requesting his...'seducing' of the other.

His currently expressionless gaze lowered back to regard Tarou and then Ikigai, and he glanced down at Chisai at his elbow who had been remarkably silent.

"I've been better." He told Akihiko, suddenly giving a smirk, "But if anyone asks, I'm ravishing." 3

Akihiko's drink appeared at his elbow, and he swept the glass from the table and took a sip from its contents.

"Is it true," Chisai finally piped, his eyes sweeping over the fox demon in search of what he was about to ask after, but finding none, "that you still have some of Old Demon World's most prized gems in hiding somewhere?" *

Nodding his thanks to the waitress as she brought him his drink this time, Kurama gratefully took a large sip of it.

His lips twitched at Chisai's question.

"And if I did, Chisai, what makes you think I would answer you truthfully?" 3

Chisai let out a little sigh, disappointed but not surprised. "I just wanted to know what they were like…"

"Yeah, keep dreamin', kid. He ain't gonna give you his stash of shineys."

Akihiko rolled his eyes at Tarou.

"I bet he's got some awesome metals too," Gai piped, though he most definitely was not going to ask for details. "You know, some of my favorites come from that blacksmithing district on the Sixth, back before the Infection hit the level."

Tarou nodded. "They had the best weapons around."

Aki had a sneaking suspicion that Kurama the Youko was not sitting among them for simple social reasons, but he didn't want to crush the fun of the guild, so he sipped at his drink some more, watching it all unfold. *

"I might be willing to part with..." He glanced over at Tarou, "Something of my supposed stash. And it just so happens that I have a job for you." He looked at all of them, then shrugged and leaned back a little, crossing one leg over the other and reaching for his drink with a casual, "If you're interested." 3

Gai all but launched forward in his chair. "Are we ever!"

"The infamous fox thief has a job for us?" Raion almost seemed unable to believe it.

"Shit yeah, we're interested!" Tarou slammed his drink back, smacked his lips, and turned in his chair to face the demon. "Hit me with it!"

"Please hit him," Aki said dryly. *

Kurama leveled a piercing stare onto Tarou at Akihiko's words, growing very still and only lifting his glass up to his lips before saying in a much lower tone-"Tempting."-and taking a sip, winking at the other over the glass.

"It's something I simply have not had time to pursue myself." He said once he lowered his drink back down, throwing one arm over the back of his chair and settling further into the seat. "A rumor of a...shiny, as you put it, which I would very much like to have in my possession." He watched as he gently swirled the ice and liquid in his glass. 3

I'm in danger. For a brief moment, Tarou thought that he actually was about to get hit. And then the fox winked in a way that Tarou only read it to be flirtatious, and he had never been more confused in his entire life as the thought of the demon kissing him also brought about a sense of danger. He might ravish me or kill me and I'm not really sure which one right now. He blinked. And either would be fine, so long as its the fox.

Akihiko sat forward this time and he lowered his glass to the table, now empty save for the ice. "What Level would we be going to?" *

"The Seventh." Kurama was quick to reply, taking another sip. "Part of the reason why I have not been myself is the distance. 'Yoku and I may get around for many such ventures, but we are just as often needed higher than lower nowadays. And one or the other of us can only be gone for so long in either case."

"I can give you more information in the future, if you like. At present, I simply wished to gauge your interest. I think it would be best anyway if we waited until Hiei was at least back on his own two feet before any of you go gallivanting off at my behest." 3

Akihiko nodded in understanding, choosing to ignore the nickname Kurama the Youko called Shikiyoku by, though it did confirm what the others had told him of his relationship with the other.

He also ignored the disappointment that flowed through the guild at having to wait to go on this adventure.

"We'll be here. We likely won't take any jobs until he's up and around anyway." He passed a glance around the table. "He and Shikiyoku will need some support to keep the bar in order, I'm sure."

Tarou nodded. "It gets rowdier when they're not around. I gotta kick people out every few days."

"Which is a shame," Gai added. "You'd think they'd remember where they are."

"Alcohol does that to people," Raion and Chisai intoned.

Akihiko turned back to Kurama. "So, I'll send word when he's up and able to hold his own again." *

Kurama finished his drink and picked up the one still sitting at his elbow, holding it up from the bottom in his slender fingers and turning it this way and that as he examined it while the others spoke around him.

"I will be...around myself somewhat, I think." He mused, still regarding the drink thoughtfully. "To check up on Hiei, if nothing else." He lowered the glass back down, and wrapped his fingers around it, his expression darkening just a little, "I know intimately how debilitating the aftermath of the infection can be, and I intend to visit to lend aid as I can."

Though he left his empty drink with ice sitting on the table, when Kurama got up, he did so with the drink in his hand, walking up to the bar with his tail swaying behind him, and speaking rather congenially with the few patrons around him for a moment.

When he left, it was by himself and with no drink in his hand, sending a nod and a half smile over to the guild's table.

Once outside the walls of the bar, though few humans if any were likely notice the ears and tail, Kurama's red-haired form shimmered into place as he climbed into the car he had parked nearby what seemed like ages ago, and drove off. 3

The guild watched the fox demon leave, their expressions breaking into smiles that ranged from awe to inspiration to anticipation. They each gave their own farewell to their new ally as he passed by, and when he was out the door they each turned to look at each other in disbelief.

"Did that just happen?" Ikigai breathed, his earlier calm demeanor devolving into the very awe that Chisai had displayed next to him during the whole of the conversation.

"Don't pinch me to find out. If I'm dreaming, I don't wanna wake up," Tarou replied as he waved at the waitress, pointed at his empty drink with a grin of thanks, and he turned to the others again. "Shit, if we weren't busy before, we will be now."

"I'm sure we will manage," Akihiko took a glance about the room as the usual conversations resumed, though all buzzing about the exit of the fox demon.

The guild fell back into their usual conversations and drinking and general rowdy behaviour, this time in celebration of Hiei's coming to and giddiness that the impossible had been done.

Some time close to dinner time, Akihiko meandered his way up the stairs with fresh food and water, and he slipped into the room silently so as to not wake the resting fire demon and the woman in his arms.

He traded the tray on the end table for the one on his shoulder, making sure to replace the envelope onto the new tray before he discreetly and silently slipped from the room again.

~!**!~

The last couple of weeks had gone by in a blur to Akari, one day bleeding into another in a flurry of work, sleep, work some more. She revelled in being back in the business of service, and it was made even better when she was pleasantly surprised by the visiting of friends, old and new.

As promised, Kamiya came by during the week after her grand opening weekend, finding the perfect time between rushes so he could sit and chat with Akari. His presence had really told her how long Akari had been gone, since his hair had begun to turn gray at the roots and his age lines hinted at the couple of decades it'd been since she last saw him.

He talked of his exploits in the medical field and of the lives he'd gone on to save in the hopes of atoning for the ones he'd taken. He talked of his plastic surgery and his evading of the law, including a time or two where he'd almost been caught before he changed his face again and went into hiding.

He asked her where she'd gone after the fall of Sensui, and he didn't seem particularly surprised when she told him that she'd ended up tangled with the detective team.

He did seem surprised to hear that she'd been part of the War of the Four Armies, which he'd heard about somewhere along in his studies of demons, and here he admitted that he'd opened a clinic to help tend to demons and humans alike, a place inspired by the bar across town that acted as a safe haven for both parties to mingle without judgement and fear.

After he'd finished his beverage, he ordered one to take on the go and took his leave AKari took the opportunity to call her previous batch of employees about being rehired, and was relieved to find that two of the three agreed to come in for 'interviews' and getting their paperwork lined up.

Not a day later did she attend the funeral for Grams.

She dressed in all black and arrived early enough to commune with Gramps and Mimi, offering her condolences and support and giving them each a hug when she thought they needed it.

When other guests began to show, she moved on, leaving her white and black envelope in Gramps' hands at the last moment so he couldn't protest her offering.

The service itself didn't last long. Incense had been passed to each person attending, and she watched as a priest chanted his sutra. She didn't understand the human customs of the funeral even after having researched them, but she knew enough to guess when the family of the deceased would move to offer their incense.

When the sutra came to an end and the guests began to place their own flowers around Grams' head, she turned to look down at the white rose she'd picked up from a florist on her way in with the sting of a tear or two in her eyes.

When that was over and the guests began to file out of the temple, each given a gift for their monetary donation, she lingered to talk with Mimi, who told her they would be following the hearse to a crematorium.

Akari gave her friend another long hug, and when she pulled away, she told her that she'd be by in the evening to bring food over. Grateful, Mimi didn't hesitate to give her grandfather's address and send Akari on her way.

Over the week that followed, Akari realized that the guild who had been popping in and out of her shop at random after her opening were nowhere to be seen, and she began to wonder if they'd gone out on a job and if they were safe.

That thought came to pass as she took up working again, her week getting busier and busier as she took training from the lovely demons running the machines behind her.

The Sunday two weeks after her opening rolled around, and Akari was pleased to have her favorite barista, Hideo Funai, clocking in for his shift and very capable of taking Akari's place at the register.

"Hey," he greeted with a smile. "I like the new place, miss Hanase."

Akari gave him a look as he tapped on the screen. "You've forgotten in your time away."

He gave a laugh, "I see you've not changed your mind, Akari." He tapped a few more buttons and turned to face her. "You're leaving for the evening, right?"

She nodded. "I trust you to handle things while I'm gone."

He shucked his jacket and began to move for the little closet in the back room. "I'm glad you do."

Just before he got beyond the door, she called after him. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, Hideo."

"Yes ma'am. Have a good night."

With that, she turned and made her way to the door.

Akari let her hair down from her clip as she made her way across town, taking the long walk from the suburban area and into the heart of the city, and then beyond that and to the bar that she hadn't visited since before her shop's opening.

She stepped through the door quietly and took a sweeping glance around the room. Her eyes alighted on the guild taking up a table to the side, and when none of them seemed to look up and notice her entry, a small smile tipped the edges of her lips up and she crossed the room and took a seat at one of the bar stations.

She ordered a mixed drink for herself, something light to get her started, and then leaned over the counter to whisper a second order to the bartender, who nodded and started on that drink too.

She didn't watch the waitress as that second order was plucked from the bar, finished, and carried across the room to be set at Tarou's elbow. Instead, she leaned an elbow on the bartop, crossed one leg over the other, and took a sip from the straw of her blended beverage. *

"What do you think he's gonna have us do?" Tarou suddenly leaned in closer over the table, his almost-hushed whisper as if anyone else in the room would have been paying their conversation the slightest bit of mind in the midst of the swift appearance and just as swift disappearance of the fox.

Immediately Raion and Ikigai and Chisai all bent over, closer, too their eyes bright with the possibilities.

"Something on the Seventh...?" Akihiko even found himself murmuring, eyes going distant as he tried to quantify what there would be worth having there that the kitsune wished to possess.

"Gotta be something good!" Gai grinned.

"Something worth having." Chisai nodded.

"That he'd be willing to negotiate a reward of something of value he already owns." Raion pointed out, leaning back and the bangles on his wrist shifting together when he reached for his drink thoughtfully. "Which does bring up the issue of just how dangerous this job might be."

"Exciting!"

"Adventure."

Ikigai and Chisai in any case seemed to be in agreement.

"The Seventh certainly isn't the friendliest of locations." Akihiko added.

Tarou shrugged, also leaning back more fully in his seat, "Nowhere is."

"But you're all aware just as well as I how much more dangerous each level gets as you descend. Exponentially. If we're going to be spending any amount of time down there at all, we will need to make ample preparations for the journey."

"Which I'm sure you'll be more than happy to see to, there, Aki." Tarou dismissively waved his hand at the other's fear, his eyes flashing with his own bit of excitement, "I gotta say the idea itself has me...what do they say? Jazzed?"

"I don't think anybody says that." Chisai replied glibly.

"Jazzed." He said more emphatically. "A challenge. Something tells me he ain't just wantin' some fly-by-night escorting duty."

A drink appeared down at the table in front of him and Tarou only considered it for a moment before immediately snatching it up and taking a large gulp of acceptance, now sitting reclined with a drink in either hand.

"You didn't even bother seeing who that was from, did you?" Chisai scoffed, already knowing the answer.

"Nope!" Tarou grinned at him. "Any company's good company to me!"

Chisai sighed, "Unfortunately, most of the time I don't think I agree with your assessment."

Raion had a frown on his face and Akihiko took the moment to send him a questioning glance.

"Well-" He started, "I'm just wondering...if Kurama means to hire the whole guild or not." He glanced over at Raitoningu and Tsundora's empty chairs.

They hadn't seen the pair in nearly two weeks.

"Cuz frankly, a job like this might just take all of us." 3

Akari's ears trained in on the conversation happening across the room, a smile fighting its way as she heard their topic of conversation.

Word had spread among their kind that 'Kurama the Youko' had made a grand entrance at the bar, the gossip finding its way even into her cafe sometime during the last few days. She'd mostly ignored it and focused on her work, though now she wondered if he'd been the reason the guilld hadn't been back by.

When their talk turned to 'company', she almost laughed. Instead, she slid from her barstool and crossed the room almost lazily, and she slipped into the chair on Tarou's right.

"Well, if Kurama has hired you, I'm sure his faith in your ability to get the job done is not misplaced."

She took a sip from her drink, her eyes smiling at the group as she held the straw to her lips. That gaze slid to Tarou, still twinkling, and she gave a look of amusement up at him. *

They all saw her when she slipped into one of the open chairs, especially since Raion had just brought their attention over to it and Chisai at least seemed to relax just a tad.

"Akari!" Tarou exclaimed, a sort of hesitant slowness settling over his features as one could almost see the wheels turning in his head.

He quickly threw back the rest of the drink, slammed it empty down on the table and threw his arm around her shoulders to pull her to his side in hearty greeting.

"Well, you, at least, are always welcome at this table." Chisai told her.

"A much more welcome sight than his last drink had been." Ikigai nodded.

Tarou let her go after the side-hug, grin plastered across his features, "In fact, next time you don't even have to send a drink. Just shove one of these numbskulls out of their chairs."

"Sorry, we haven't been back by." Raion also nodded to her. "It's...uh..." He blinked. "It's been...um..." He wasn't even sure where to start in trying to explain what they'd been doing this whole time and blinked again.

"The infection caught up with our guild master." Akihiko said simply, for just a second the faces of the others passing a gloomy shadow over their features at all of the fears they'd wrestled with in the past two weeks. Especially with their lupine brethren having been absent.

Akihiko's eyes lifted to stare over at the door behind which he had left food and water earlier for Hiei and Shikiyoku and his expression lightened considerably. He almost smiled at the thought of the picture of the two of them together: Shikiyoku not having so much as shifted from where she lay on top of Hiei and the other, if anything, all the closer to her than he'd seen when he left. 3

Akari laughed at the hug she was immediately pulled into, and she slipped one of the hands around her glass behind Tarou's back and pat him a few times. "Glad to see you're in one piece."

She turned a curious look to Ikigai and Chisai, her smile still in place as she took another sip from her drink. She lowered it to the table after a moment and shifted to cross one leg over the other under the table. Before she could inquire about Tarou's last 'company', Raion had her attention with his apology, and her smile softened.

"Don't worry about it," she began, and she turned to Akihiko with a series of blinks when he summed up their last two weeks in the matter of a few words.

She looked at each individual at the table, seeing the shift in their expressions and moods and, after deciding that their guild master had not died, she gave an understanding smile.

"Well, I'm glad it seems he pulled through, so," she raised her glass, understanding of Kurama's presence in the bar washing over her as she followed Akihiko's gaze to the door across the room.

She'd never heard of a demon surviving the infection, but she also hadn't been looking for such a thing since her own pack had all fallen to its effects at around the same time.

She took a drink.

"You'll be going back out for work soon, then?" *

Akihiko huffed out what almost might have been a laugh as he lifted his newest drink he'd ordered to his face, "It's been suggested we don't until Hiei has his feet back under him."

"Which is fine by me." Tarou added, "I don't think we were gonna go much of any place until then anyway." He glanced at Akari, "Sorry. The threat of having a Crusnik-Boss unleashed to terrorize New Human World wasn't something we were going to risk."

"Even the thought of him as a normal Infected is fear-inducing." Chisai mumbled.

"Either we'd stop him, or we'd die trying." Ikigai shrugged, quite obviously decked out for such circumstances.

"Or the only demon who's rumored to have survived the infection manages to pull him through it." Raion pointed at Ikigai, other fingers still wrapped around his drink as he'd lifted it mid-swig.

"More like drag." Chisai grumbled, reaching for his drink. "You all saw his face when he went up there. He isn't going anywhere for awhile." 3

Akari had been halfway through taking a sip of her drink when Akihiko name dropped the fire demon. Her head snapped up and she took a breath to speak on her surprise, and instead found herself choking, coughing on the frozen slush drink.

All other conversation was lost to her as Tarou's hand slapped against her back in an attempt to help her not be choking, and it took her a few seconds before she took another long drink from her glass and attempted to clear her throat.

"You mean to tell me," she began, her voice strained, "That your boss is Hiei Jaganshi?" She coughed a couple times and tried to speak through them, "I," cough, "can't belie-" cough, "-ve it!" *

"Mm. Yeah. I always forget about that third eye-"

"-until he opens it." Raion agreed with Tarou, noticing the other was doing more rubbing of Akari's back than was completely necessary and finding it amusing.

"Used to hearing people call him 'Cursed Child' and 'Gouka' more so than 'Jaganshi' anymore." Tarou continued. "Everyone just knows he's the one with that thing, so I guess it's implied more often than not."

"Cursed Child is already falling out of favor." Chisai kept going as the group waited for Akari to gather herself. "Ever since he stopped wearing his cloak...how long ago was that?"

"When they got back from Shikiyoku's run down to the Eighth." Akihiko provided. 3

Akari took a moment to gather herself as the others talked around her, thankful that they didn't seem to mind her little moment.

She sat back up in her chair - having slumped forward a little in an attempt to control her little coughing fit - and she gave a 'thank you' smile up at Tarou for his assistance.

"Well," she took a breath, "I knew he'd changed a lot over the last…" Her eyes looked to the ceiling as she did some math, "...decade or so? Maybe longer, I'm not sure. But I definitely never thought the demon who hated working with other people would become the leader of a guild." She gave each of them a certain smile. "Yusuke did always think he was a softie." *

"Yeah...well..." Tarou's hand shifted away from Akari, but only so far as to lay across the back of her chair. "...that took some time too." He told her, expression set across in a grim sort of line.

Chisai knew which instance Tarou referred, thinking of how their Boss had decided to try and sacrifice himself for them by setting fire to an encroaching fire demon, "Thankfully, it doesn't seem like he thinks he has to do everything himself any longer."

"I wouldn't either if I got chewed out by Mum like he did." Raion raised an eyebrow. 3

Akari's head tilted to one side and she thought for a moment.

So Shikiyoku and Hiei are still running around together.

She finally gave a nod to Raion. "I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of her ire either, truth be told." She thought it funny that the other referred to Shikiyoku as 'Mum', but she most definitely thought it fit. "I got a mini lecture on hair care, and that's enough for me." She nodded again and took a sip from her drink. *

Raion got the most curiously confused look on his face at the mention of 'hair care' and 'Shikiyoku' in the same thought and sat blinking at Akari for several seconds at the images the ideas were bringing to mind.

Amusingly enough, the rest of them wore similar expressions, Tarou opening his mouth, but closing it after a second as his head actually tilted to the side.

"I mean..." Tarou was the first to speak. "I'm not...surprised?" He shook his head. "One of these days, I'm gonna stay behind on a job and see what all she gets up to." 3

Akari raised an amused brow at Raion, and then encompassed the entire table in that look when she realized they all had the same thoughtful expression. She shook her head a little and reached out to pat Tarou's knee almost comfortingly.

"I'm sure she's up to quite a bit." She thought of Shikiyoku putting together the designs of her shop, and then taking her interior decor shopping, and then the cafes she'd been to with said woman who was greeted much more formally than a normal customer might have.

And then there was this establishment and the safety that radiated from its walls and welcomed any who stepped in the door.

It very much made her think of the woman, and she didn't even feel the need to ask if she owned the establishment, or even worked in it.

She would be more surprised if she found out Shikiyoku was not tied to this place in some way, quite frankly.

"If I thought she'd answer you, I'd say you just needed to sit her down and ask," she continued with a shrug. "She's definitely got a lot of talents up her sleeves. I think I enjoyed the shopping for the interior decorations the most." *

Even Akihiko turned to stare at Akari in the next moment, the group struck all but dumb until Raion managed to ask what they were all thinking.

"What in the Nine Hells is 'interior decorations?'" 3

"Uh-" she sat back and away from the looks the others were giving her, unsure of how to proceed in a way that would be simple and to the point.

I mean… you just… it's stuff to decorate the inside of places?

She opened her mouth, closed it, and let out a little breath.

"It's the stuff inside my shop," she said slowly. "The chairs, the stools, the wall hangings, even the plants." She looked around the room. "Here, it's the tables and chairs, the stools at the bar stations, the shelves behind the bar." She turned to look at the group again. "Granted, I'm sure everything here is from some sort of demonic source.

"Most of the things in my shop are from manufacturers here on the First. None of it is made with demons in mind, really, because I hadn't thought about the mingling of Humans and Demons at the time. So, Shikiyoku helped me find things that matched the general theme of my shop, and made sure that they got into the building via you guys. Which, thank you for that. It helped a lot." *

Tarou absently scratched at the back of his neck in thought as he listened.

"People go shopping for that stuff?" He mumbled as if he still didn't quite catch on. "Mom goes shopping for that stuff?"

Ikigai at least seemed more quick, eyes lighting up with an understanding born of his association with his would-be betrothed and her family as he piped up, "You're welcome! We haven't done anything like that since...well, since we helped Momma do it here." He gave Akari a smile.

Raion nodded, "It was nice to be doing something that wasn't life-threatening for once." 3

Akari looked around the room again, this time actually noting the various pieces of furniture and decor around the space. It all seemed to tie into the calmer atmosphere, the welcoming vibe that let the demons in the room get together worry free and drink to their heart's content.

When she turned back to the group again, she smiled. "I can see why you decided to stay." She wondered why it'd taken her so long to visit the more popular bar on the First.

Her smile that she turned to Tarou with was a teasing one. "Someone has to do the shopping for it. This stuff doesn't come out of thin air, no matter how much we wish it did."

She thought of her apartment, and how bare it was of actual decorations and instead was only filled with things that were functional in nature only.

"Humans tend to do it the most when they move into a house or apartment. It's getting more and more popular to buy this stuff online now though, so most of the time the stuff comes to them and they have to put it together."

The waitress stopped by to get orders, having noticed their almost empty glasses, and Akari placed her order before she turned back to the big guy beside her.

"I prefer to see the things I buy in person before committing to it, honestly. So I know for sure what I'm getting." She tilted her head at him and her smile twitched just a little. "Do you not have a bed or anything in your space of living?" *

"Uh-" When Tarou didn't have an immediate answer for her, still behind on the conversation at hand, Raion answered for him.

"He lives in a cardboard box."

"It's in the alleyway behind the bar." Chisai added with a straight face, reaching for the last of his drink after placing his new order.

"Very little to furnish."

"And rather damp when it rains."

"That's where the smell comes from."

"HEY! That's enough of that, you punks!" Tarou suddenly rejoined, lifting up to take the very last sip of what he could get out of his glass, mumbling, "If Raiton were here, he'd have my back." 3

Despite the emptiness of her glass, she lowered her head to place her lips around her straw, the only indication of the smile she was trying to hide being the gleam in her eye as she watched Tarou flounder and grumble at the table.

It was hard not to snicker at the jabs from the others, though she managed to somehow hold them in by holding her breath when she thought one might slip past her lips.

"Ah yes, the lost puppy box." Akari sighed wistfully. "I'm sure someone will take you home soon." She clamped her lips around the straw again. *

Raion's eyes glittered dangerously at Akari's comment, but one look from Akihiko and his mouth snapped shut and he just shook his head.

"Yeah, well," Tarou grumbled, "That's why I mentioned the wolf. He understands what it's like at least."

"I hope they're okay." Ikigai frowned at the reminder of them. "We haven't heard anything at all, and I know Aki tried to send them a letter."

"If they're with The Pack like they mentioned, they'll be hard to pin down." Akihiko mentioned. "I wouldn't be surprised if a runner hasn't spotted them in all this time." 3

"Ah, it'll be fine, Tarou." She pat his knee sympathetically. "We all find a bed eventually."

Akari lifted her eyes to glance at Raion, a grin finally fighting to her lips for a brief moment before it disappeared again.

She returned to the conversation. "Pack duties, hm?" For a moment, she turned inward as if to look for the ties to her own pack, and was once again unsure how to feel about the silence where there had once been chaos. "Not easy business."

She gave a reassuring smile to Ikigai as she sat upright again and slid her empty glass to the edge of the table. "The good thing about packs is that they're pretty good at looking out for one another. No news is good news, my friend." *

"Some more than others." Raion told her, turning his attention to his drink to hide his glimmering eyes.

Akihiko tilted his head back and forth as he answered, "Kind of. Their circumstances are a little different than most assume when they hear the word."

"If by 'different' you mean they're a bunch of elitist assholes, then I would have to agree." Chisai nearly rolled his eyes. 3

"That wouldn't surprise me," she gave a nod to the waitress as her new drink was set in front of her and she plucked it from the table. "But my experiences are quite limited myself. I may have grown up in one, but I didn't quite care for the politics of it all."

She glanced at the empty chair next to the one she'd taken residence up in and thought for a moment about the brothers that were missing from their spots.

"I didn't stay with my pack for very long at all compared to most other canines." Most spend their whole lives there.

"So, out of curiosity, how often do you guys get out for jobs?" she asked suddenly. *

"Pretty often." Ikigai supplied.

"It's a living." Akihiko added.

"As often as we want." Raion chimed in, "There's always somebody too lazy to do the work themselves."

"And if we're bored, we go see if Yusuke's around." Chisai told her, "He's basically a living guild board for postings anymore. We're the most concentrated form of mercenary work in this area, but there are other groups too that are loosely associated with one another. We don't get a lot of Hunters this high in the levels since the demonic population gets denser the farther down you go, so there's more Infected about, but we get called on sometimes when something wanders too high or somebody turns and needs...taken care of."

"Which happens more often nowadays." Ikigai gave a sad sigh. 3

Akari nodded. "I don't miss running around that area myself. I have quite a bit of respect for your work."

A drink appeared at her elbow, one she didn't order, and she considered it for a moment before leaving it where it sat, amused that she'd gotten one at all.

"As it is, I quite prefer this Level myself." She glanced at Tarou out of the corner of her eye. "You meet quite the interesting bunch about here." She turned forward to sip at her drink. "And I like the weather," she shrugged nonchalantly. *

"The sun is nice, isn't it?" Ikigai had such cheer in his eyes. "I'd never even known what it was before everything merged together!"

Tarou had not said anything in a long while, but the way he had been deliberately avoiding Akari's gaze spoke more than any tidbits he might have added.

Now, though, a trifle of a smile was tugging at his lips.

"I'd never been up this far myself." Akihiko admitted. "Not until I was drafted for work on the bar. The thought piqued my curiosity just as much as anything, so here I am." He'd thought about how serendipitous the 'call' had been, coming to him at a time when he'd needed it the most. He'd heard just enough about the Kuraku who settled on the First, and Gouka besides, to pick himself up and make the journey. 3

"This time of year, it's really nice to just lay out in the sun," she smiled as she remembered the days she and Nabu had laid in a park when he was a puppy. "Though I will say that the snow is my favorite,. Sadly, it doesn't happen too often in this part of the First Level."

She glanced down at the drink again, unsure who'd sent the invite to one's bed, and she wondered briefly if it was why Tarou had gone so quiet beside her.

Though she likely wouldn't accept even if it was from the gentle giant next to her, for reasons she wouldn't be able to tell the other even if she had the moment to.

As the others continued to converse around her, she nudged Tarou's arm with her shoulder and tilted her head questioningly at the drink. From you? *

Chisai was saying something about how he'd ended up here in a similar fashion to Akihiko when Tarou felt the nudge from the female at his side.

His eyes flashed with not-so-hidden amusement and he gave her a sidelong grin, suddenly revealing that perhaps he hadn't been quite as behind on the previous subject matter as he'd led them to believe.

He leaned down closer to her ear to whisper into it, and for once it seemed the others either did not notice or let him be.

In case you'd like to find out just what sort of bed I have. But if not-

His eyes carefully lifted to spy someone who looked away the instant they thought he might catch them eyeing the drink at Akari's elbow.

He shrugged and gave Akari a wink.

Well, let's just say it's an open invitation for you, mm?

"-don't make friends." Ikigai was grinning in Akari and Tarou's direction.

Tarou suddenly was sitting up straight in his chair at Ikigai's mentions of 'secrets,' his nose lifting a little higher in the air.

"I was only explaining to the pretty lady here what sort of drink she'd just gotten." He explained with an air of debonair chivalry. "And how if she'd found it offensive that I'd take it off her hands without a moment's hesitation."

"How noble of you." Chisai said dryly.

"Whaddya say, Akari?" He turned to her and held out his hand towards the glass, waggling his eyebrows, "Want me to drink it for you and teach the bloke a lesson in civility?" His eyes glittered with good-humor. 3

She hadn't thought he'd sent it, but she also hadn't been too sure if his silence was one of anticipation or not. So, when Tarou grinned and leaned closer, she raised a brow and turned her head just so that no one else could read his lips as he spoke.

The beginnings of a blush warmed her cheeks for a brief moment, and she found she was glad that he pulled away to answer Ikigai. She took a sip of her drink to hide the smile that twitched at her lips, and she discreetly cast a glance about the room until she saw the demon turning eyes away from her. Casually, she let her gaze come back to the table.

"The thing about that, Gai," she lifted the untouched glass from where it sat next to her elbow and passed it to Tarou, the beginnings of a wicked grin on her lips, "is that while secrets don't make friends, friends most certainly have secrets." *

"Tarou- Please don't- Ugh." Raion rolled his eyes in disappointment as Tarou happily swiped the drink from Akari and quite contentedly guzzled the entire thing down. "Are you really prepared to sleep with whoever sent her that drink?"

"Absolutely." He said, swiping the back of his sleeve across his lips without a moment of hesitation in his answer and never so much as giving a hint he was in fact the one who sent it.

"Well, they're in for a surprise, aren't they." Akihiko remarked.

"I dunno. I can't say they'll regret it." He gave them all a grin. "I've probably already slept with whoever it was anyway."

Chisai just let out a little groan of a sigh and put his hand up to his head.

"The sad thing is, he's probably not kidding." Raion's eyes had scanned the room just as Tarou began taking the drink, and noticed the female just a table or so over from them who was watching Tarou with a steady gleam in her eye when the other wasn't looking.

Tarou just laughed. 3

Akari rested her elbow on the table and lifted that hand, her glass in that grasp, to her lips to take a sip. She watched the others around her react, and she almost snickered when Tarou mentioned that he'd likely slept with the sender before.

She did not doubt this to be true.

"I'm sure it'll turn out fine," she smiled against the rim of her glass. "The puppy won't be in his cardboard box for the night." *

"At least he won't be there alone, in any case." Raion's eyes glimmered a little.

"Akari, I'm so sorry! We never asked." Ikigai turned to her suddenly. "How have things been? How is the shop?" 3

"Things have been good! Busy." She gave Ikigai a gentle smile. "It slowed down enough that I was able to call for a couple of my previous employees to come back. One is still training but the other picked it all up relatively quick."

She thought about the last couple of weeks and her smile almost turned sad for a brief moment before the happiness won over, outweighing the negative. "I had some people I used to know come by, and got to catch up with them for the first time in many years. It was definitely a wonderful surprise to see so many humans and demons mingling so well."

She took another drink from her glass, then lowered it to the table. "Though it was a bit quieter yesterday and today."

She eyed Ikigai and his layers of jewelry, as if just seeing them. "I like the look," she teased, guessing that they were not there for simple decoration of his person and definitely influenced by the events of Hiei's illness. *

"Me too." He said, puffing his chest out just a smidge, but giving her a grin in the next moment. He looked himself over. "I should probably get going, though. It definitely takes a while to get all this stuff off and the reason for it weighed pretty heavily on me this time already."

"It's really nice to see you again, though!" He added as he started to grab for his glass, planning on taking it up with him to leave it when he paid out his tab. "I'm really happy to hear things are going well for you. I'll let Mom know the first chance I get." He was smiling all the way over to the bar and gave them another smile and wave on his way out. 3

"Of course. Go relax, I'll be around more often now that things are not so hectic at the cafe." She waved at him as Gai left, and turned back to find another drink, the same as the last one, sitting at her elbow.

Amusement filled her for a moment and she caught the eye of the sender, the same demon who'd sent the first, and she shook her head with an amused smile.

The drink was whisked away as the other shrugged with an obvious doesn't hurt to ask, and Akari returned to the table.

"Well," she finished her drink and stood, "I hate to leave so soon, but I've got an early shift." She set the empty glass onto the table and smiled at Akihiko, Raion, and Chisai. "It was great to see you again. As always, you're welcome to come sit in the shop anytime you want a quieter atmosphere."

She stepped around her chair and took two steps towards the bar, paused behind Tarou's chair, and leaned down with her hands on either of his shoulders so she could lean to whisper in his ear.

I'll keep your offer in mind, handsome.

And with that, she pat his shoulders once and continued on her way to the bar, paid her tab, said a last farewell, and made her way towards home. *

~!**!~

Twelve days.

Twelve days of anticipation. Twelve days strung tighter than a novice's bow string. Just waiting to see what the next breath might bring and not even thinking about what would happen if one of her greatest fears came to pass.

Even Kurama had difficulty getting Shikiyoku to take care of herself in the meantime, barely managing to encourage her rest, or her consumption of food or drink, having to gently remind her she'd do her Consort no good if she collapsed due to her inattentiveness to herself.

Now, she dreamed.

At first, her exhaustion had kept blank her overwhelmed mind, but now all of her worries and her unease and her former anxieties she'd kept bottled up with the desperate hope they'd never come to fruition were being turned over and over in her sleeping brain.

She held him in this dream. Like she had so many times while he tossed and turned. Sometimes laying next to him and pulling him close to her and tucking his head beneath her chin would bring him relief.

This was not one such time.

He shivered against her, his sweat pooling in places on her clothes, though she didn't care.

And when his eyes opened, they were dark and his shivering had suddenly stopped and-

Shikiyoku's eyes suddenly flew open, all too eager to rip herself from the dream that had started so innocently and she had felt in the pit of her stomach would so quickly not be.

Her core was beating wildly, her eyes unfocused at first and unable to make sense of the room before after a moment she started to be grounded by the feeling of the bed beneath her and the strong scent of cinnamon and cloves and the body next to her, the arms around her.

She let out a deep sigh that seemed so very large for such a tiny body and blinked several times, trying to clear her eyes of the vision of moments ago and suddenly remembering that he'd come back, that he was back, that he hadn't turned and left her alone and-

And how those little hairline fractures around her core, formerly shuddering with the suggestion of Hiei's demise by the very thing she was responsible for starting, were still very firmly held in place by more than just the arms of the demon who lay with her. 3

Unlike when he'd slept while the illness ravaged his body, Hiei did not dream this time.

His sleep was blissfully filled with a restful darkness that he hadn't felt since before his and Shikiyoku's run down to the Eighth. His sleep up until this very moment had been generally a light one, one that was tinged with an awareness of his surroundings and the goings-on during his slumber.

And then his rest had been interrupted by a job that had desperately needed taken care of, and he'd set out to do just that.

Now that the illness was no longer running its course, he was able to recover from the weeks of lack of sleep, the exhaustion, the burning of both ends of his candle.

He was able to rest.

Sometime in that rest, he became aware of the bond ringing with fear that was not his own, distress that might have woken him at any other time. But now, in this very moment, he only turned his head to press his nose to Shikiyoku's cheek, his lips reaching out as if to kiss her there, but not quite making it far enough to complete the gesture.

His arms tightened around her just a fraction, and the bond warmed with a sense of calming rest that was all he knew in that moment, all he could convey while in such a deep sleep.

And he settled again, his nose still against her cheek and a little sigh brushed across her skin. *

A tiny shimmer of her energy fluttered across her cheek as she felt Hiei's nose brush against her skin and Shikiyoku's expression softened as more of the room came into focus around her.

The low light of the lamp at the bedside, illuminating the items on top of it. The scent of the food wafting over to her nose and the following sensation of the sudden rumbling of her stomach against the demon with her had her eyes widening at the violence of the motion, her cheeks coloring just enough to distinguish the blush of her circumstances.

If she was not awake before, she was now, embarrassment at the thought of disturbing his slumber because of that spiking across her awareness.

She waited a moment, intending to try and carefully extricate herself from him if he did not move. 3

For a brief moment, something akin to the beginnings of a dream threatened to intrude on his restful sleep, making the fire demon's nose twitch as a phantom itch from within the dream almost disturbed him.

Otherwise, he did not move as the dream floated across his mind's eye, where he sat in the empty bar with a plate of something meaty and delicious sitting in front of him. His dream self stared at the skewers, positively salivating at their aroma, but for reasons unknown he didn't immediately reach for it.

He looked around at the empty bar, seeing none of his guild, none of the usual staff, and none of the drinks that should have been being made. He scanned the area until his eyes landed on the door leading to the stairs, and his consciousness awoke just enough to remind him that he'd been ill the last time he'd been up there, and that Shikiyoku was likely still waiting for him up there.

So he grabbed his plate and turned to move for the stairs in this dream world, partially amused when the stairs shifted and moved of their own accord, as if not wanting him to reach the landing. *

When Hiei had settled back into a steady breathing pattern, Shikiyoku started to slowly unwrap herself from around him, herself feeling better than she had in over a month, but still a bit wary of the way he looked even in his sleep.

Peaceful, certainly, but still unwell and in need of recovery.

She was not surprised by it. It had been a long battle.

She licked her lips and found herself glancing over at the food even as she continued to rise. 3

It wasn't the slow movements of Shikiyoku that disturbed his dream, but instead the slow progression of her general presence in his arms lessening. His arms didn't tighten around her to stop her moving, and he didn't seem to protest her attempt at an escape, but it did bring him to the waking world.

It took him a few minutes to realize that the darkness behind his lids was not the darkness of sleep. It wasn't until Shikiyoku was fully out of his embrace and out of the bed that he came to the conclusion that he was actually awake, if only just.

He might have been able to fall back into sleep in those moments if it weren't for the wafting of the aroma of food nearby, presumably stirred when Shikiyoku took some for herself.

His stomach protested loudly at his thought of rolling over and going back to sleep, and he lifted the hand that had fallen to the bed to scratch at his abdomen as if that might appease the organ still rumbling just below the surface.

When did I eat last?

He couldn't remember, and that was the thought that had him peeling his eyelids apart and turning his head to look for the food he could smell. He spied the pitcher of water first, and the awareness of the dryness in his throat skyrocketed.

But his eyes turned to Shikiyoku next, who sat quietly in the chair where Kurama had been sitting last he'd been awake. He blinked blearily at her and opened his mouth to say hello, only to instead close it and attempt to clear his throat.

(You look better.)

He gathered his strength as much as he could and began to shift around from where he'd slid down into the bed so that he might be propped up against the pillows again. *

(I feel better.) Shikiyoku replied, looking up from her meal to spy Hiei, awake and moving about.

She immediately set her food to the side and moved over to him, shifting the pillows around behind him and helping him get settled until he was comfortable, and then leaning back just enough to cup a hand to his cheek to get his attention and pressing a kiss to his lips. 3

He might have protested her setting her own meal to the side if he thought she'd listen. And he might have frowned at her for that fact were it not for the kiss she pressed to his lips.

His eyelids slid closed again and he let himself enjoy the contact, a warmth beginning at his core and making its way across the bond to her.

He hated that he wasn't able to keep his hand at her cheek for very long, where he'd wanted to return the skin contact but had felt too tired physically to do so.

When she did pull away, he gave a lopsided smile that wasn't quite as wide as he wanted it to be. (I'm glad.)

His stomach rumbled again and his smile turned sheepish.

(...will you pass me a plate, please?) *

She smiled down at him, looking into his eyes for a moment until his stomach growled and then managing to not let her smile grow wider, even if a bit of her amusement snuck through the bond anyway.

"You, however," She murmured between them, expression mischievous, "Look like shit."

She kissed him again and pulled away to get him a plate of food, passing it to him and then pouring him some water, seating herself half on the bed, facing him and with one leg pulled up to rest atop the covers.

She held the water between them on her knee so he could reach it when he needed, turning her attention back to her own food for the present. 3

The fire demon might have chuckled if it weren't for the dry throat. As it was, his shoulders only briefly moved with the unaired sound and he nodded his head at her a little.

(I feel like shit.) He admitted this freely, instead of giving some sort of sarcastic comment back to her about him having better days. (Better, but still like shit.)

He reached for the water she rested between them and took first a small drink, and then drank until it was under half full before he returned it to the place where she'd been resting it with a silent thank you permeating the bond between them.

He cleared his throat more successfully this time, and his smile widened at her. "But maybe I'll make an attempt at a shower soon," he lifted a skewer to his mouth and paused with it just an inch from his lips, "so I don't look as bad as I feel." He took a bite, and it was the most heavenly thing he'd ever tasted. *

"Well, don't feel like you have to on my account." She glanced at him, eyes twinkling. She darted her gaze back down to her food, taking a bite as she fed herself one-handed and hid her somewhat glittering gaze.

(I've seen you much worse.)

She glanced over her shoulder, thinking of the clothing she had dropped there...whenever that was, and seeing it was neatly folded and placed on top of the dresser drawers.

Food half sticking out of her mouth, she reached over and filled Hiei's glass back up as she chewed, replacing it again at her knee. 3

Amusement bubbled across the bond from Hiei to Shikiyoku when he realized that the connection told him of the truth of the statement, though Hiei hadn't needed it to tell him of its lack of lies.

He couldn't remember it doing that before.

(And much better.)

He stared at her with his reply this time, the stare a shadow of what it used to be as the intensity no longer was there. It simply was a teasing one, meant to replace a chuckle or a wink.

He thought specifically of their date so long ago, where she'd helped him properly dress for their dance after he'd tripped over his own laces.

He took another bite from the skewer and chewed thoughtfully.

(Apparently a letter came for me some time ago. After we're done eating, would you mind reading it for me?) *

(Much. Better.) Though the bond did not transmit to what exactly she referred, she steadily met his gaze with a single raised eyebrow before returning her attention to her absently one-handed meal.

She almost offered to read it for him then, but her hands weren't entirely clean at present. She only nodded, not thinking anything in the slightest of his incapability to do so himself.

She certainly didn't know how to do it for her first handful of centuries.

Though she did not appear to notice, after a minute or so, she let out a sigh through her nose in the midst of one of her bites and a little more of the worry lining her brow lifted. 3

The silence was not uncomfortable to Hiei, really. It wasn't heavy or weighed down by anything in particular. It just was. And he didn't mind it in the least as he and Shikiyoku ate.

The silence, however, was the only reason he caught Shikiyoku's sigh, and his eyes lifted to her again. He looked her over as he finished his skewer, and after a beat he gingerly lifted the glass from her hand and shifted it to his other so that he could take her hand in his.

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." He took a draw from the glass as he watched her. *

Shikiyoku hadn't expected the glass to be replaced with Hiei's hand, and she only stared at it initially, a couple of wandering sparkles shimmering over her skin before disappearing.

Her eyes drew closed when he spoke as if savoring his voice.

Part of her wanted to say something witty, but when her eyes opened just enough to see their hands, her lips only whispered, "I know."

...

(After all...you're stuck with me, flameboy.) She looked up at him, almost smiling. 3

(There's no one else I'd rather be stuck with, my Beloved.)

He raised that hand to kiss the top of it, his eyes sparkling at her in quiet adoration and reassurance. He carefully wedged his water between his thighs so he could eat with that hand and still hold hers, and he sat this way for a while, until he was done eating and his stomach felt full, though half of his plate still remained.

He thought about his conversation with Kurama while she'd been asleep, and how they had acknowledged their rivalry that also, in some way, somehow existed alongside their friendship. He thought about his revelations in the quiet moments during their honesty hour, and as he looked Shikiyoku over from head to toe again, he was glad that she didn't seem to remember his promise to ask her to be his Mate.

He'd have to figure out what that meant before asking her again, and he hoped that she would not change her mind about taking a mate in the meantime.

His lips twitched into an almost smile.

"(I love you.)" *

His response to her commentary, with which she had been everything but teasing, softened her features even more as she all but whispered between them:

(Lucky me.) And watched him kiss her hand, which sent another pair or so of shimmers fluttering over her knuckles.

She returned to her food, glancing over at the envelope in the growing silence with a sort of curiosity.

It did not seem like just a missive of some kind.

Shikiyoku's eyes widened dramatically at the words Hiei spoke between them and for a moment she suddenly remembered how weeks ago he'd been tickling her and she couldn't manage to get words out to stop him and he'd kept going and-

She flushed all at once at the memory as it came pouring back into her recollection and it took a long moment before she slowly finished chewing and swallowed her food.

"...I..." (I love you.)

She stared down at her plate, feeling the color at her cheeks which was just starting to buzz with her energy, and lifted another bite to her mouth. 3

Satisfaction filled him to the brim at her flushed face and her returning the words he'd said to her, and those same feelings from so many weeks ago came flooding back. His eyelids closed and he sat amongst those emotions for a moment, glad that he finally had time to actually soak it all in and wouldn't be pulled away from her anytime soon.

He half wanted to pull her back to him in a hug, but also wanted her to eat, as he was certain she hadn't eaten enough since their parting for the week where she'd worked on Akari's cafe.

And while the circumstances likely could have been different, more happier for this moment, he found he didn't quite mind where he was right then. *

Shikiyoku didn't know how she'd forgotten...but she had most definitely forgotten.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that she'd been so fraught with ignoring any and all emotions she could conjure for nearly two weeks, teetering on the edge between hope and despair and not daring to truly be one or the other.

That might have been it.

She sat in silence, then, still feeling...so very exposed even though the moment had passed, even though at the time he had nearly overwhelmed her with his...what had it been? Relief?

It had happened entirely by accident, but when he'd pressed her on the words that had slipped out of her mouth...well, it wasn't as if she was going to lie to him.

And in the end, he'd reciprocated her feelings, hadn't he?

The adrenaline of the remembrance passing, the tension at Shikiyoku's shoulders started to relax as she cleared her plate of food.

When she turned to Hiei, bits of concern trickled over her features when she observed the state of what she'd given him.

"Are you okay? Can you not manage it?" She slipped her plate back on the end table and scooted closer to him, taking his plate, but at first going nowhere with it, looking up at his face with concern and all but offering to feed him if he needed. 3

Hiei's gaze softened on her as she began to slowly relax, tension he'd seen since waking slowly beginning to fall away, just as he hoped it would. He knew it wouldn't be easy helping her through the fact that he'd very much nearly died, as she so very obviously had been rattled by it - who wouldn't?

But he would do what he could to make it easier for her.

When she turned to him and caught sight of his still half-full plate, his smile widened just a little and he shook his head at her a bit. "I'm okay, my Beloved. Just full."

He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"It may just take time for me to get my appetite back to normal, is all." *

She...almost felt a little more self-conscious now when he called her that. It had always made her feel strange before, as if she was never quite sure what he meant by it. But after the other day...

The title made her flush a little bit and she couldn't look him in the eye and just nodded, shifting to move his plate over to the table.

"You just...make sure you tell me what I can do to help, okay?" She told him as she set his plate down where it wouldn't fall. 3

Hiei's smile fell a little as he watched her, wishing not for the first time that he could pluck her troubling thoughts from her head and throw them in the trash so she might not be bothered by them.

Instead, he reached to set his empty glass on the bedside table, grabbed the letter from the tray, and he tugged her closer in the hopes that she might rest next to him as she had been doing, so that he could better reassure her.

He wanted to tell her that she could help him by smiling, by cheering up, by just not worrying. He also knew all of those things were easier said than done, and that her smile would likely not be genuine if she did in these moments.

So he tugged at her hand gently, watching her with an unblinking stare and a calm smile that asked her to come closer. *

Managing to fill a glass and drink some of it herself in the meantime, when Hiei began tugging at her hand, she turned and blinked at where he still had a hold of her, seeing that he'd gotten the letter.

When he tugged a second time and looked at her, the edges of her lips turned upwards and she leaned her face closer to him with a teasing, "What?" 3

When she leaned closer, he pursed his lips together for a brief moment, his eyes shining at her as he tugged a third time.

"You're too far away," he answered as his lips stretched into a lopsided smile. "And I haven't had my fill of you yet." *

"Mm. Now that I can help with." She teased him, moving closer to actually climb up on the bed next to him and leaning sideways into the pillows behind him, propping herself up on them with her elbow. "Better?" Her expression hadn't changed.

Though she might not have directly made the correlation, what his admittance had done was settled some of her concerns with her affection. Some. Not being able to sense his desires still left a gaping hole in her understanding, which was never easy, but his feelings about her closed the gap at least somewhat. 3

When she was close enough, he leaned his head down over hers to plant a kiss at her forehead, lingering there for a few moments before he slowly pulled away.

"Much better."

He turned down to the letter in his hand and looked over its front, seeing some scrawlings on its discolored, somewhat burned edges, and he blinked at it and gave a tilt of his head.

It smelled of smoke and ash, as if the place where it had stored might have burned some, if not completely.

He tipped the envelope until the paper fell out into his hand, but something else fell from the letter and tumbled from his hand and onto his lap. He unfolded the paper first and glanced over the few lines of writing before he tilted it Shikiyoku's direction.

(Do you mind reading it to me?) *

Before she answered, Shikiyoku leaned closer and kissed him sweetly on his cheek.

(Of not course, my love.)

Glancing over the paper, she let the understanding of it permeate the bond between them just as she had her letter from Mukuro all those years ago.

(Gouka,

In thanks for your help in saving our city, we send you this gift.

This tassel is made from a strip of cloth weaved by everyone you saved, young and old.

It is fireproof, so wear it proudly and however you wish.

We only wish we could thank you more.) 3

His smile grew as she read, and for a moment he only stared at the paper with the scrawlings. He wondered who the person was to have written it, and remembered briefly how many offers of thanks he had turned away before making his attempt at running back to the bar.

He'd turned down food, drink, favors, gifts, and even a room to rest in overnight if he'd so desired.

He'd done so in many places, over many different jobs over the last several months. But none of them had ever once sent him something in thanks, and his happiness at the prospect filled the bond as he lowered the letter to his lap and lifted the tassel in the palm of his hand so he may look at it.

Each string was thin and medium in length, weaved with different colors and materials that gave the little trinket its own charm. At its head, there were two attachments: one to secure it into his hair, and one to secure it to the end of his katana's hilt.

His gaze traveled from it to the broken sword still hidden in its sheath across the room, and he decided that even when he got his sword repaired, he would not tie it to his weapon so that there was no chance anyone could sever it from its end.

Amusement slithered into the bond next when he realized that he'd never made jewelry for himself, had never worn anything that wasn't simple fireproof clothing or the gems that were his and Yukina's.

Now he would have something else to decorate his person.

He turned and kissed Shikiyoku again, this time on the lips.

(Thank you for reading it for me, my Beloved.) He thought about asking her to tie it into his hair now, but decided he would wait until he showered and was clean. *

She eyed the trinket when he did, finding it to have a certain charm, and then quickly found herself blushing when he kissed her, scalp buzzing a little with his affection. She had definitely not expected it.

(A-Anytime.) She reassured him.

Especially if I'm rewarded like that. 3

Hiei pulled away and leaned his head until his rested against the top of hers, his eyes returning to the little trinket in his hand. He turned it over to see the threads that were on the bottom, eyeing every minute detail and seeing the work put in by the very individuals he'd pulled Infected from twelve days ago. He couldn't remember their faces, but he could still feel lingering energy on a few strands, and that was enough for him.

He lowered it to rest next to the unfolded letter, staring at the pair with a sort of awe.

"...Would you be able to teach me?" he asked suddenly, eyes still on the scribblings that, to his eyes, were meaningless. "When we're both recovered, of course." *

"I don't know." She teased, a hand resting on his arm. "Depends on how good of a student you are." She managed not to smile, but her eyes were twinkling again. 3

A hum reverberated in his chest.

"I believe myself to be a quick study in some fields," he responded with a lopsided smirk that faded after a moment. "Though I'm sure even if I struggled, I'd still be better off than if anyone else were teaching me." *

She considered the idea for a moment.

"Well...to be honest, I see little reason why you couldn't just use the Jagan to lift the information from me. Unless it doesn't do quite as well with languages as it does with dancing." Her eyes reflected her amusement. "I wouldn't know."

"However, if you're just looking for an excuse to monopolize my time..." She grinned and shifted her head so that her nose was next to his cheek, but she was not quite touching him. "...then I am certain I could be quite easily convinced to try my hand at teaching you." 3

"I hadn't considered using the Jagan," he admitted in a murmur, his eyes staring at the wall on the far side of the room. It would be a quick and easy fix for his 'problem', if he so decided to do that.

But a slow smile crept across his features. "I do, however, quite enjoy monopolizing your time and spending as much time as I can with you."

He let out a small breath and turned a bit more serious. "That being said… I would like to try my hand at doing it myself first. And if it doesn't work out that way, I'll try something else." He shrugged the shoulder that she was not resting against. "And I'll just have to find another way to monopolize your time." *

"Mm. Alright, then." She hadn't moved. And neither had her expression changed much. "Convince me. Why should I teach you, flameboy?" 3

"Because you love me," came his instant answer and a teasing smirk.

"But also because I think you'd benefit greatly to my learning to read and write." His tone was still slightly teasing, but less so than before. "Not only would I be able to read letters for myself, but I'd be able to write things for you. Notes here and there, letters if I'll be out longer than I mean to, among other things I'm sure." *

Shikiyoku's face instantly twitched just a little when he gave his first reason and she ended up a breath further away from him than before.

Well, I hadn't meant for it to be quite that easy to convince me.

"That seems like a lot of reasons in my favor, but I'm still not really certain why it'd benefit you." She poked him once, gently in the side and then rested her hand against him. "I didn't learn to read and write until I was already several hundred years old." She was grinning now, unable to help it. 3

He raised his head a little off of hers when she moved, though he didn't move farther than an inch or two. He grinned at the wall across from him and he almost chuckled.

"It'll be just as fun doing those things as it will be to watch your reaction to them, Shiki." When she didn't move further away, he rested his head on hers again. "I benefit by learning something new and using it in various situations, most of which will likely improve communication between us over long distances. And you benefit by seeing the fruits of your labor in the form of the things I send to you."

His eyes darted to the bookshelf in the room.

"As an added bonus, I would be able to read the books you stocked my shelves with instead of just hiding pouches of money behind them." *

Shikiyoku was going to say something along the lines of what good points he was making, how intelligent his thoughts were, but his last little bit of revelation had her giving a bit of a pout.

"Hey, that's right. I didn't get to ask you what you liked, so I just put a whole bunch of different things up there. I was wondering...why...you..." She blinked. "...run that last part by me again?" 3

Hiei nodded a little at her, his cheek ruffling her bedhead just that much more.

"I looked at a few of them, but since I didn't know how to read, I kind of just… left them there?" He shrugged slightly.

"As for the last thing I said," his eyes roved over the books, seeing no out of place shadows or any such indication of what he'd told her, "I just have so much of it that I just put it away for a while. I use it when I run the levels to get food and such, but otherwise I stored pouches of earnings behind the books.

"Not because I thought anyone would take it or anything, but because I don't like the clutter of them sitting on the coffee table, on top of the dresser, and on the floor." *

Shikiyoku blinked a couple more times until she finally sort of just stopped existing for a moment, unable to even comprehend how she would say anything to Hiei in regards to what he just told her.

Her mouth opened a couple of times, but it closed again. And she wasn't particularly seeing anything in those moments either.

"...Hiei...you...hide...all your money...in your room?" She finally managed to say after several silent seconds. 3

The bond went dead silent, and Hiei raised his head to look down at her curiously. Her stare was just as blank as the feedback from the bond, and he resisted the temptation to wave a hand in front of her face if only because he wasn't sure why she'd gone so quiet.

"...You don't?" *

Shikiyoku blinked once as if heralding the misfire of a thousand tiny brain cells and then stilled again.

In that stillness, she slowly started to back out of the bed, reaching for Hiei's hands and pulling him after her, slowly, taking their time so he could get his own two feet under him. He wouldn't be able to get very far, but he wouldn't have to.

With that same deliberateness, she led him down the hall, still grasping one of his hands, and opened the door to her room.

Aside from the glass case sitting next to the hand where the ring and necklace Hiei gave her usually were kept, instead of over top of it, and the note Yusuke had written for Hiei placed next to that, it was in just about the shape that it always was in.

Silent until they stood in the middle of the floor, Shikiyoku gestured to the room, "Where...on earth...would I hide money in here, Hiei?" 3

Hiei frowned at Shikiyoku as she began to slide out of the bed, wondering why she was leaving him after the topic of books and money had just come up. When she began to pull him from his comfy spot on the bed, though, his only protest was his frown deepening just a tad more.

But follow her he did. He set his feet under himself and tested his balance, finding it precarious at best, and he made sure to make each step purposeful as she lead him from his own room to hers.

He opened his mouth to ask her why they were moving from room to room, the bond echoing with that confusion, but closed it when she began to speak in a long, slow sentence.

He looked around the room at that.

"Several places, though maybe not as many places as I originally thought." He nodded at her vanity, indicating its drawers, "There." He tilted his head at the thing at the end of her bed, padded but maybe able to open, "That." He gestured with his chin at both the closet and the chest of drawers, "there and there too." He pointed with their intertwined hands at her nightstand, "that holds quite a bit, surprisingly."

His eyes landed on her, confused, and he pursed his lips at her.

"I don't know about your box under the mattress, but if it's hollow…." He shrugged again. *

Shikiyoku stared blankly at everything to which Hiei pointed, still having not quite rebooted yet.

Silently, she took Hiei over to her bed, and with surprising ease, lifted it up from one side, mattress box and all, to reveal the lack of money underneath, lowering it after a moment.

She opened the nightstand drawers, both top and bottom. No money. As if she forgot them as soon as they were opened, she consequently left them as such.

She took him back and had him sit down on the divan at the end of her bed, and then just as silently left him there and began at the vanity nearby, opening all the drawers to reveal their contents-none of which included bags of money of any kind-and in fact leaving them all open almost absent-mindedly as she kept going.

She moved over to the nightstand on the other side of the bed. Drawers opened. No money.

She continued in this fashion to move about the room, never saying a word, but leaving something of a complete mess behind her, pulling clothes out of the closet enough to see there was no money hidden there either.

It was only until she reached a medium-sized purse sitting almost hidden on the side opposite him of her vanity that she retrieved it, set it down next to him on the divan, and reached inside to pull out an expensive looking wallet, unzipping it all the way across and revealing a few neat bills of the currency of the region inside before zipping it back up and placing it back down inside, staring down at it. 3

Hiei's confusion slowly turned into a blank stare as he watched Shikiyoku go about the room, opening all of the places he'd pointed out and showing him that there was indeed no money in this room. No little pouches, no random bills, no stray coins.

Nothing.

And the more she showed him the emptiness of her room, the quieter his side of the bond became, leaving him in a similar state to how Shikiyoku quietly moved about the room. Hiei now understood that she was in a form of disbelief, or maybe something else entirely, but it definitely had a similar sense of the slow blinks he gave her as she showed him that there was nothing in her closet either.

She grabbed her little bag, and for a moment he thought, oh good, she does have money. But when she sipped open a little object he'd never seen before and showed her currency that he'd likewise never seen before, and that relief vanished in a metaphorical cloud of smoke.

"Shiki…" he stared at the paper, few in number and meaningless to him. "...Do you need money? Because… I have a lot…. And it is more than I'll ever spend…." He frowned at the emptiness of the pouch. "I can share, obviously." *

Shikiyoku...really wasn't sure what to do.

And she was pretty sure it'd been a really, really long time since she wasn't sure what to do.

She sat down next to Hiei and took his hands and held them in her lap, moving her thumbs over his skin and staring down at them for several moments.

Honestly, she had never really thought about how disorganized Demon World was until this very moment. For the most part, there was a staple exchange of goods and services, and as a general rule she could get people to give her anything she wanted, so money had little meaning to her there as well. However, because there was no main ruling government to tie everything together, the different types of currency could vary wildly.

Which is why she had always traded in favors. Which were still the main form of currency she used except when it came to the humans, who were much more organized in regards to matters such as this.

Finally, Shikiyoku smiled, thinking she might start laughing in the next moment.

"Hiei...have I ever told you that you're my favorite?" 3

Hiei's blank expression gave way to a bewildered expression and a frown that creased the space between his brows. He stared down at the hands that held his, watching the thumbs that moved so gently over his skin. Had he really been that pale this whole time?

He turned his eyes up to her when she spoke again, that same expression on his face now reflected in his gaze and filling the bond where he'd previously transmitted silence.

"...Probably? I'm confused." And concerned. *

"Hiei, how often do you get paid in coins when you complete a job with the guild? Is it..." She swallowed, "Everytime?" 3

He tilted his head one way.

"Not… all the time. But mostly, yes." He thought about the katana broken in his room, and the favor he could call in for that to be fixed. "Sometimes it's random objects, sometimes it's favors, but mostly… coins." *

Well, that was more reassuring of an answer than she had hoped for, really.

"Well..." She began. "Favors are probably going to be of more use to you than anything else. ...since you work around on different levels a lot. So...I would suggest...in the future...trying to work on favors as much as possible, okay?" 3

Though he didn't understand why, Hiei nodded, trusting Shikiyoku more than anything else.

"So... " he turned his eyes to his hands in hers again, staring blankly. "Where do you keep your money… if you're not poor?" *

Shikiyoku chuckled at him a little, confident in the fact that even if she was poor, he'd still love her.

"I've never had any use for Demon World currency, Hiei. At least not the kind you're referring to. It's heavy and takes up lots of space. And once I left the Ninth, one coin on one level can't be exchanged on another level... And nobody is consistent with it anyway. I've always exchanged goods and services, and even now still deal primarily in favors." She finally looked up at him, her energy briefly gleaming in her eyes, "If I can't get what I want with other methods."

"You remember my hoard over at the house though, right? Where I lived as Toriko in the beginning? THAT's the sort of thing I have, if anything." 3

Hiei nodded and lifted his eyes to meet Shikiyoku's glittering gaze, thoughts of how many times he'd paid his guild in the same currency as he had stashed in his room circulating behind his own eyes.

He nodded again at the mention of the closet in the other house, a sort of fascination briefly cutting through his thoughts.

"...it really does take up a lot of space," he finally commented as he thought about the various places he'd stored his coin pouches. *

She grinned at him now, just imagining the various spaces in his apartment, which was not much bigger than her own, and how everything was probably overflowing with currency.

"The humans do it much easier." She let go of his hands and reached inside her purse to pull out the wallet. "Well, sort of. There's this whole 'economics' concept...don't even get me started." She nearly rolled her eyes as she grabbed the wallet and held it between them, opening it again and reaching inside. "This is what the stuff they use around here looks like in its paper form." She pulled out the bills and handed them to him to look at.

"But this." She said, pulling out a plastic card and holding it up. "This is a stroke of genius." 3

Hiei frowned down at the paper in his hands, thinking of how flammable it was in his grasp and lowering it to the cushion between him and Shikiyoku, but still looking it over with curiosity.

He saw scrawlings and scratches that he couldn't read, symbols he'd never seen before, and decided that it was definitely more frustrating to look at than the coins he had stored away. Perhaps more organized and easier to carry, but more frustrating.

If he was to deal with this currency at all, he'd definitely have to learn to read.

He looked up again when she pulled out a square piece of plastic, and his brows furrowed further. Almost as flammable as the other stuff, he mumbled to himself in his head. It just melts instead of burns.

He didn't reach out to take it from her for that very reason.

"I assume that somehow holds money too." He reached and took hold of the wrist holding the card up and he turned her wrist so he could see the edges, and then the back, looking for how it would do as he assumed it did.

He found a black strip on the back and more scrawling, and his frown deepened a little.

"What is it?" *

"Kind of." Shikiyoku replied, watching as he turned her wrist about.

"So, you know how you...have all of those...coins, stored away in your room? If Demon World had a system set up that used this, then all of your coins would be usable on all the levels no matter which type of coin it was, and you'd never have to carry any of them around with you." Her eyes gleamed with a dangerous sort of inventor's glee, but it passed after a moment and she shrugged. "Implementing something like it would be impossible, though. Not unless all the levels came under one rule, or at the very least each level progressed far enough to be like the countries are up here. And we all know how probable that is of happening." 3

Hiei's hand dropped to his lap after a few rotations of her wrist, letting her go so that she could put it back if she so wanted.

He made a little huh sound in thought, the cogs in his brain working around the concept on such a large scale as the entirety of the Nine levels. It would definitely be convenient, if demons weren't so hell bent on fighting and such.

Not to mention the Infection going on that would make it harder to set up, he was sure.

And unifying the levels?

Yeah right.

The Three Kings hadn't even been able to unify one level, much less all of them.

Though he briefly wondered if a group of demons working together could accomplish such a thing. For instance, Kurama and Yusuke, with Shiki and himself…

Too much work.

He didn't care enough about the rest of the world anyway.

"It's too bad. I do dislike running with those coins, but they get me things in taverns and such." He shrugged. "Favors it is."

He figured the others wouldn't mind the trade off.

And even if they did, he had enough to pay them from his own stash for a very long while. *

Shikiyoku frowned and started to put away the bills and the card.

"Oh. Hm. I suppose that is a problem." She gave a little laugh. "I never even think about that. People are always just more than happy to part with things when it comes to me for some strange reason." 3

A particular spark ignited in Hiei's gaze at her revelation.

"I can't imagine why." *

"Beats me." She replied with a small shrug, still not looking at him as she tucked her things back into her purse. 3

Hiei watched her replace her things from where she'd grabbed them, wondering about the little bag and what else she might carry in it, but not curious enough to ask.

"It couldn't possibly be your energy and your ability to know what they want in the moment." He thought back to the shopping district on the Ninth where she'd gotten gloves and he'd stolen a sword.

"Perhaps it's the blinding smile." His gaze softened. "Or the eyes that sparkle like the finest of jewels." His lips twitched ever so slightly. *

"I sincerely doubt that." She replied. "In fact, I'm quite certain it has everything to do with the great lengths to which some demons would go for the chance at a kiss." 3

"And I am the luckiest of all to get them almost whenever I want," he replied proudly, nose lifting in the air briefly before he dropped his gaze to her again.

He didn't let himself stay disappointed too long at her brushing away his compliments.

"Speaking of jewels and money," he piped suddenly, a thought occurring. "How would you feel if I asked you to help me open a jewelry store here on the First?" He thought about his overly crowded craft room, filled with completed sets that did nothing but sit on his desk or in various display cases around the room. The clutter was a point of consternation for him, and he'd been meaning to bring this up for a long while. *

Shikiyoku's gaze suddenly lifted and she raised an eyebrow at him.

('Almost,' Hiei? Really?) She would give him kisses whenever he wanted, but she was fairly certain he already knew that and was possibly teasing her in some way.

His train of thought derailed her arch reply and she blinked at him.

"Um. Well, I don't see why not." 3

Hiei's eyes glimmered at her, and the bond became awash with the sentiment that he'd known that and only wanted to hear her say it, though it was definitely accompanied with a warm affection.

He nodded at her once. "Since it'd be here on the First, I'd have to…" he looked down at her bag again, "Become acquainted with the currency." Which seems is long overdue, apparently. "I enjoy making the sets, but they're not going anywhere since we don't go anywhere." He shrugged. "So, might as well sell them so I can make space for more."

He remembered Gai's rings and jolted a little in place and made half an attempt to stand to go get them, though his knees didn't quite hold him up and he found himself sitting right where he'd been with a bit of a frown on his face.

"Which also reminds me that I need to give Gai his rings…" *

She narrowed her eyes at him just a little, but without knowing for sure if he meant he wanted her to kiss him right then, she resisted the urge to do so.

In the next moment, Shikiyoku had reached out to try and steady him when he stood, half afraid he was going to fall over and smiling gently at him.

"We can get them later, flameboy." She let out a breath once he remained seated. "Right now, I think we need to get you back to bed." She got up and held out her hands to him, trying not to let her worry show. 3

A small sigh left the fire demon and his shoulders hunched a little. His brain was awake and aware, but his body still needed a lot of rest, he realized. So, when Shikiyoku stood and offered him her hands, he didn't protest, not even with the frown he'd had before.

He let her pull him to his feet, and this time he dropped one of his arms over her shoulders and leaned down to kiss her, smiling against her lips.

(And just so you know, you can kiss me whenever you want, too.) *

When Hiei rose and quite appropriately draped an arm across her shoulders so she could help him stay on his feet, Shiki turned to start leading him out of the room, but not quite managing to get moving before he'd kissed her.

The combination of his initial contact which had her snuggly pulled against his side in a way she very much enjoyed and then the kiss he'd surprised her with on top of that sent another bloom of sparkles shimmering across her face as she watched him with wide eyes even as he smiled against her lips.

One of her arms had in the midst of their movement circled around his back like their position would naturally encourage, and her hand smoothed once up and down his side as her eyes closed and she kissed him back.

After a few seconds, she pulled away just far enough so he could sense her smiling too before she murmured in the tiny space between them, "If I kissed you whenever I wanted, we'd never get a single thing done, flameboy." 3

Hiei leaned a bit more heavily into Shikiyoku when she pulled away, and it took everything he had not to immediately close the distance again. His eyes came open long enough to see the smile he'd been able to feel, and a bit of relief found its way to his core at seeing the smile again.

"Well, it's a good thing we don't have anything to get done right now, hm?"

He kissed her again, still smiling.

(And the only thing to be done while I'm recovering is possibly, maybe, you teaching me to read. And I'm sure there will be breaks.) *

The sparkles scattered across her face again even the second time he found her lips, the buzz associated with her energy's excitement under her skin tingling all the way across her scalp and shifting slightly through her hair as his words stirred her core into sending more energy cascading through her body as they stood there together.

She would have chuckled a little at him about how they didn't have anything to 'get done' as he put it, but his kiss had silenced it before it rose.

Abruptly, she pulled away from him and started walking for the door and the hallway, her core pounding in her chest.

She had very nearly sought to kiss him more fervently, but all at once recalled his weakened state and did not want him standing any longer than he needed.

"I would teach you anything you liked, flameboy." She told him with no small amount of affection, but strangely no attached coquettishness that it might have had in a different moment, leaning her head into him as she led him back down towards his room. 3

He'd forgotten they'd been standing in her room until the very moment she pulled away and took the first slow steps forward. He'd almost forgotten that he felt tired physically until he had to move with her, and his awareness of it became fresh on his mind.

At Shikiyoku's response, Hiei briefly thought of asking her about the true meaning of being Mates. And just as quickly as the thought occurred, his earlier embarrassment clamped down on the notion, and the shame of his asking her to be his mate before really knowing what he was asking brought a heat to his face that he couldn't remember ever feeling before.

He turned to look further down the hallway they crossed so that maybe she wouldn't see the sudden redness of his face, neck, and ears, and he let out a breathy little laugh that might have been a bit more self-conscious than he meant it to be.

But he gave no answer otherwise. *

Shikiyoku, focused on getting Hiei gently and safely back to his room, didn't really even look up at him in those few moments, though she briefly took note of something blossoming between their bond that didn't quite get far enough for her to feel it.

Leaving it be at present and guiding him over to the bed, she suddenly let out a chuckle, remembering all at once how Hiei had money hidden all over the room.

Unless she specifically searched for it, she wasn't sure she'd even notice. He'd hidden it well at least. 3

The bond began to tell Shikiyoku of his more negative emotions just before he clamped down on them and gathered himself with a small breath. By the time she sat him on the bed, he'd mostly recovered enough to just watch her, his lips tilted in a smile formed of the thankfulness that she hadn't noticed his reaction.

Her chuckle made his smile widen, and he too looked about the room, his eyes scanning over various spots where he'd stowed away pouches of coins.

He was glad that she was amused by it instead of simply stuck in her disbelief over the very concept. *

"I still can't believe you have money hiding everywhere in your room." She shook her head as she stood over him, but in spite of it smiled while crossing her arms over her chest. She let out a puff of air from her lips aimed upwards at bits of hair hanging in her face.

"But I guess demons don't have a need for banks, either." She reached forward and ran her fingers through his hair starting at his temple and moving her hand just past his ear with a certain fondness in her eyes, thinking about his past and his association with bandits. Her hand came to rest against the skin at his neck.

She supposed she had been spending so much time among the humans she'd forgotten how life in the other levels could be sometimes. How her life used to be in some cases. After all, she had in fact picked up the habit of keeping a hoard from Kurama. Rarely did those sorts of things contain coins, though. Usually it consisted of items with value no matter where you went.

She thought of the bar itself, and how while more and more of its patrons were exchanging the money of the region rather than coin from elsewhere, it was likely the only place in the country where they'd accept the "foreign" currency of below, as Shikiyoku could make use of it herself and still had enough of an empire to maintain the upkeep for the bar for when the need arose to go through human networks for things.

Her gaze softened again as her hand stilled against him in the midst of her other thoughts and she smiled a little.

"I am so very glad you came and sat next to me in Game Master's cavern, Hiei." 3

Hiei reached a hand out toward Shikiyoku with the intent to guide her closer so she might sit with him on the bed, just as they had before. When her hand found his hair, though, he stilled and his eyelids drifted closed so he could enjoy the feeling.

His hand fell to his lap and he let out a little sigh of content.

"I assume the bank is associated with that piece of plastic you showed me," he mumbled, continuing the conversation.

At her last comment, his eyes slowly came open, and he blinked once at her in a very cat-like fashion, a slow smile forming across his face.

"Well, you most certainly wouldn't have had your glasses if I hadn't handed them to you," he teased half-heartedly, the bond telling her of his true emotions - amusement, adoration, gratitude - on the matter. *

Shikiyoku's expression turned curious and she leaned away from him, hand dropping to her side, but still standing at his bedside.

"Did you hand me my glasses?" Her brow furrowed as she tried to recall, but laughter began to creep its way up her throat and she let out a puff of air from her nose, "I genuinely can't remember. I was a trifle..." Her eyes darted to the side, and she cleared her throat a little, "...ahem...distracted...at the time."

She did remember how so very attracted she was to him, and how his proximity had made her nervous at the time. 3

"No," he admitted to her question, his smile turning more mischievous. "If i'd thought about it though, it would have been a good excuse." He shrugged and his eyes opened fully to look at the hand that had fallen from his neck back to her side.

"But," he met her gaze again, "you did need to know you were of use at the time, and I didn't exactly look for any other excuse to sit next to you." He shrugged again.

At her admittance of being distracted, his eyebrow shot up in curiosity. *

She couldn't meet his gaze of curiosity, eyes flickering over to the bedside table as she felt a sort of heat creeping up her neck for some reason.

"Mm. Well, yes, I did so hate feeling useless." 3

"The best part," he continued, "was watching you figure out how to get the upper hand, and then keeping the game going just because you wanted it to."

Hiei chuckled to himself as he remembered how impressed he'd been with the 'shy little human' who couldn't even look a person in the eye shifted into a being of confidence who taunted the Gamemaster when she'd beat him.

"What a transformation that was." *

In an attempt to mask whatever feeling it was continuing to move farther up her neck and color her face, Shikiyoku turned and moved over to the chest of drawers to put away the set of clothes on top of it someone had picked up from the floor earlier.

"Ah, yes, I suppose that does sound like me, too." She sort of remembered the circumstances. Physical activity like that always seemed to activate her energy even now, so it was not surprising 'Toriko' had undergone a bit of transformation in the moment. She did remember losing the glasses and letting down her hair, which only furthered the process. 3

Hiei nodded and leaned back against the pillows propped up behind him, one hand reaching lazily for the glass of water he'd set to the side earlier. He took a drink from it as his eyes followed Shikiyoku to his dresser, noticing for the first time the outfit sitting atop it.

"I'd do all of it again," he said quietly before drinking more of his water. *

Shikiyoku let out a single laugh, though it wasn't unkind.

"All of it, huh?" She tucked the shirt away first and then bent to put away the trousers as well, admitting: "I don't know if I could stand to go through it all again." She shook her head.

"Being trapped inside your own head is one of the worst things I've ever experienced in my entire life." 3

"Well, I'd hate to be in the Ninth for ten years again, but even that had its benefits." He shrugged a little, emptied his glass, and turned to watch her again. "Though I don't blame you." I couldn't imagine being stuck in my own head.

The very thought of it was unnerving. *

"I would, however, be more than happy to trick you into being my Champion again." She gave him a wink from where she'd squatted down, her attention suddenly whipping back to the drawer as her knuckles found something rather solid and clinky in a rather uncomfortable fashion.

She pulled out a medium-sized burlap sack of what she could only assume was part of Hiei's stash and lifted it up.

"Really, Hiei?" 3

"I never once fell into any trick orchestrated by you." He reached for the pitcher and refilled his water, and when he set the pitcher down again, he noticed it was below half full. "I was completely willing to be your Champion."

He sipped at his water and turned his glittering gaze over to her again, the edges of his eyes crinkling for the smile that his lips didn't show. He eyed the sack that she lifted so he could see it, hearing the coins inside clinking noisily together

He shrugged at her nonchalantly, and the sensation of him questioning her about its importance filled the bond as he continued to drink. *

She made a noise of consternation as she lowered it back down and nearly smacked her other palm against her forehead at its very existence.

"There's, like, five of them in here." She said when her gaze was turned back down. "No wonder the drawer was so heavy when I opened it."

She clicked her tongue and let out a sigh as she tucked this one back away like he had it. 3

Hiei's eyebrows rose and he lowered his glass, almost empty again, to his lap. He tapped his fingers against it thoughtfully as he tried to remember the last time he'd stored a bag in there.

There's more than that, my Beloved.

He smirked at her and watched as she tucked that bag away. "If someone ever decided to raid the bar and we weren't here to stop them, they'd be very rich, and possibly very confused." *

"By the looks of things, should your stashes be organized by level as I suddenly suspect, I think it'd be safer to say they would be almost rich on several different levels all at once, but not actually rich on any of them at all." She replied glibly, trying to hide her smile as she settled his clothing back into its place.

She shook her head at him, "Have you even ever bothered counting it all? It must take so much time if you don't consistently keep track."

As I would suspect you don't. 3

Hiei nodded. "It's easier to prepare for a job when you don't have to look through all the bags and figure out which level they come from." He eyed the drawer she'd opened. "Those are from the Seventh, where I get money from the least."

At her question of counting how much he had, he shook his head. "I don't count. Most of it I can gauge by weight."

And what I can't guess by weight, I overcompensate for. No one ever complains, and I don't ever spend much anyway. *

Shikiyoku stayed in front of the drawer, staring into it but apparently not seeing much as she blinked down at it, her face twitching a little in places.

"Hiei, you don't..." She was so full of confliction. "You don't count it? You don't keep track?" She finally looked up at him, stunned. "How do you keep up with your books?" 3

Hiei blinked once at her.

"Well, i can't read, or write. So I can't 'keep books'." He gave a sweeping glance around the room, thinking of how much coin he had around and its general weight. "Aki does the paperwork after every job. Where it was, what we did, the pay, all of that. Says he likes to have me as his scapegoat for things that go wrong." He shrugged again. "There isn't much to keep up with, really. I pay for their food and board and weapon repairs when they need it, and they get paid to do the jobs."

Hiei turned his eyes to her again, "I'm sure if we had more members it would be harder, and I'd have learned to read and write before now just to make sure Aki wasn't buried all the time." *

Shikiyoku rocked back to sit on the floor as if it were all too much and she almost couldn't hold herself up any longer.

"..."

She supposed it made her feel a little better to know Akihiko was keeping track for them. But were none of these members ever part of a guild before now?

She blinked several times and realized unless he did some mercenary jobs for a guild down in the Ninth, as far as she could remember he'd never been in a guild either.

A rather large breath released through her nose.

"Well...first of all...I guess I just don't equate reading and writing with being able to do bookkeeping. It's all numbers. And I've known many demons in my time who wouldn't have been able to read a book or write a letter, but were some of the best number wizards I'd ever met."

She frowned as suddenly many, many thoughts were all crowding around in her mind vying for her to attend to them and she reached up and rubbed at her temples, eyes closed as she tried to sort them out.

"Hiei, I- I don't even know where to start. I can hardly believe the eight of you are practically the best known guild in at least the upper three levels and you aren't even actually a guild. Guilds have guidelines, by-laws. They keep records and tallies and store those books at their guild hall. They have a vault there too. Merc guilds tend to store certain treasures so they can all have access to them, weapons, armor, a percentage off the top of everything they earn so they can pay for things like room and board and upkeep for guild matters and not have to pay out of pocket for them, and there are books for that too.

"I...I just..." She finally fell silent after the gush of words, shaking her head a little in disbelief. 3

Hiei finished the water in this round and reached to set the glass on the bedside table again, listening to Shikiyoku and wondering if that should be something he lifted from her mind, if only so he might be able to run his 'guild' as if it actually was one.

He leaned back against his pillows and let out a breath. "I never planned to run a guild," he said. The statement held no ill meaning behind it, or any positive meaning. It was simply a statement. "It just kind of happened, and then they never left. Next thing I know, I'm being called Boss, and it's being called a 'guild'."

He leaned his head back against the pillows behind him, his eyes staring at the ceiling as he remembered those first weeks.

"First it was just the four. I hired them to help me get people to leave me alone so I could come back to the bar, and they kept coming to me for work. Then, there were people asking to join 'my crew'."

He made a face as he recalled Raion's traipsing into the bar and right up to his bar station, asking if he was the Cursed Child who ran the 'local guild', and how he too never left.

He wouldn't know what to do if he had a guild hall to run, and more than the seven 'members' he currently had. He'd be out of the bar much more often, unless he had designated times where he'd be at the guild hall and times where he wouldn't be.

"If I could count, I'd probably be keeping up with the expenses myself. But Aki hasn't complained, and I think he prefers to be the one doing it." A small frown settled over his lips. "I have no idea why they call me 'boss' when he does all of the important things and I just say yes or no to jobs that would require everyone." He shrugged again. *

Shikiyoku felt thankful for Hiei speaking up as he did, giving her a moment to ruminate over and through her whirling thoughts.

There had been a moment between them earlier when she meant to ask him something, and now that something was only merging into a larger solution to what she saw as an unorganized problem.

"No wonder the guilds on the other levels don't take you seriously. You aren't actually a guild." She grumbled to herself.

She and Kurama had run into enough of them to know the "Cursed Child's" guild did not garner much respect from other, similarly established groups elsewhere.

And now more than ever she understood why.

"You're the boss because you're the strongest, Hiei." She finally said when her mind settled a bit. "That, at least, is usually how it goes. Akihiko is your second in name only because then he can blame things on you when it all goes wrong, and you aren't going to get flack for it because you're the strongest. He also..." Her eyes flickered over to the side for a moment. "...his work on the bookkeeping as it stands is good for him. The whole setup is good for him. Being left alone is the last thing he needs, no matter what sort of vibes he may give off from time to time."

She took a breath, and let all of her frustration in her newfound knowledge go, "I guess none of it is really my business. What you're doing may not be particularly efficient or organized, but it seems none of you are particularly bothered by it either." 3

Hiei lifted his head so he could look at Shikiyoku again, a tired smile fighting its way to his face. "I'm not sure who decided to call us a guild in the first place, and now it's associated with what we're doing, so it isn't like I could change it if I wanted to."

He didn't want to mention how many times he had run into those other Guilds, and how often those interactions had gone south.

At the mention of Akihiko's setup being what was best, Hiei nodded. "He's mentioned it a few times, that he prefers to keep busy." He hadn't asked his second what it was that he kept busy from, but he also didn't feel the need to ask. If Aki wanted to talk about it, he'd bring it up on his own.

"I'm sure the others would prefer the more organized and efficient way," he mused. "There'd be less run-ins with other guilds that turn into conflicts, and they'd likely get more work out of it too."

And if he learned to count, he'd be able to help upkeep all of the things he usually paid for anyway. He wouldn't take the job from Akihiko, of course, but he was sure the other wouldn't mind having the extra pair of eyes from time to time. And wouldn't that be the Boss' job?

"You're thinking about a Guild Hall," he finally concluded, knowing her well enough to notice that she had the solutions but wouldn't give them if he wouldn't at least seem interested in them. *

Shikiyoku's nose rose into the air at Hiei's last statement.

"Certainly not. Whatever gave you that idea." 3

The fire demon lowered his head for a moment and stared at his pants, not really seeing them as he considered the idea of a Guild Hall and all that would come with it. The vault, the extra money management, the working environment.

Not to mention they wouldn't be doing all of their paperwork and other jobs in Shikiyoku's bar, taking up a table where others could be drinking. Especially since the group didn't tend to drink while working on this or that.

And it might get Shikiyoku out of the bar more often too, if she came to visit him in his place of work.

And with a proper place of business, he could entertain the idea of expanding if he so chose. Taking in new members and truly working through a majority of what he was sure to be piling up around Yusuke, who never hesitates to pass them a handful of jobs when they're bored.

"Where would we even put it?" he asked, knowing she was much more familiar with the land on this Level than he. And much more business savvy, of course. *

Shikiyoku finally laughed and started to stand up, dusting invisible dirt from her pants.

"Well, to be honest, my love, I was already thinking of asking you what you thought about adding some rooms to let underneath the bar. It would be of little consequence to shift the idea so that it encompassed a Guild Hall below ground for you and your fellows. I know workers for whom such a job is not impossible to manage, and there could still be bedrooms down there meant specifically for your guild members' use for which there would be no charge, along with a main hall and a vault and the like. And the sorts of rooms I was thinking of adding to the bar could just as easily be made into a second story of it." 3

Hiei blinked to rid his eyes of the dryness from staring too long and he turned to look at her. He blinked a few more times to clear a blurriness that had lingered after the dryness, and he raised a brow thoughtfully at her.

Her idea wasn't a bad one either. It'd be convenient for him to go from the Guild Hall under the bar to the apartment above it when work was done. And the guild would enjoy having the food so readily accessible. Not to mention the possible new customers Shikiyoku might be getting when people hear of the guild hall underneath the bar.

But food and drink could come from anywhere, and they could pull customers in any time they wanted simply because of how unique the atmosphere was compared to other places on the uppermost levels. Word had spread fast of its opening, and word was still spreading about its drinks and atmosphere and the owner.

If it was built under the bar, Shikiyoku wouldn't leave much more than she already did. Personally, the fire demon wished she wouldn't work so much, though he knew she enjoyed it.

He blinked at her again, his stare refocusing on Shiki.

"What about next to the bar? Or just a little down the road from the bar?" He didn't want to be so far away that it'd be a hassle for her to come visit him at work, but he also didn't want his customers to disrupt the ebb and flow of her bar. "Close enough that if you need me, I'll be here in less than a few seconds. And when I leave for a job, I can stop by here first." He smiled. "Or you could come see me first." *

Shikiyoku appeared thoughtful.

"That's...either of those are possible, though they would require more work initially. My next suggestion was actually going to be out near the entrance to the Second. Land there would be easier to acquire, and it would be a more convenient location in regards to being centralized given the work you do below without forcing you to leave the level-or me-" She smiled back at him, "-entirely. You'd have more privacy and wouldn't have to be as careful with your clientele. I'm sure we could set something up so that Yusuke could easily, instantly, get in contact with you about jobs even from that distance." It would even be a simple matter to set up a literal job board online where anyone on the First with internet access could submit requests, something she would have done very early on if this was any of her business. And anyone coming up from below would see the Guild Hall first thing instead of bothering Yusuke with it.

She moved back over to him after closing the bottom drawer and sat down at the edge of the bed, reaching over to pat his leg.

"It's entirely up to you, though. Maybe you and the guild, rather. Though, I would help in any way I can if you decided you needed me." 3

Hiei nodded here and there at some of her points, the one about the clientele specifically sticking out to him as important. Humans did wander into the bar on occasion, though rare it was that they didn't already know it was a demon-owned establishment.

He nodded his head back and forth a few times. He certainly liked the idea, though he realized he'd benefit greatly from learning to read and write before such a thing was built.

"I'll talk to them about it," he said finally. "See if they'd prefer the standalone space or a space attached to the bar." Or if they even want a space at all.

"I'm sure we'd benefit more by having your help than trying to do it on our own." He grinned at her. "What we've done on our own got us this far, but I'm sure we could go farther with a bit of guidance." *

Shikiyoku nodded, her hand resting where she'd patted him a moment ago.

"I wouldn't presume to know how to run a guild, but I was a part of one for a few years and grew acquainted with the ins and outs if you'd like advice or help." She smiled, "And heavens know I always have opinions about things." 3

Hiei's grin shifted to an appreciative smile and he pat her hand with his before taking it in his own. "I'm sure I'll come to you for those opinions when the time comes. But before any of that, I'd have to learn to read and write, and I'd like to get with Akihiko about the paperwork he does just so I can say I know what's going on."

His eyes twinkled at her. "Though I'm hoping no one outside of the guild would know that I haven't known."

He squeezed her hand a little.

"I'd be quite the lost one without you, you know." *

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. Most humans assume you can and most demons assume you can't." She shrugged.

She looked over at him at the last and grew quiet.

"I don't know where I'd be without you. ...and I don't think I even want to consider it." She replied truthfully. 3

"Then don't," he whispered as he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a hug. His chin came to rest on the top of her head and he let the bond fill with his presence, warm and reassuring and so very thankful for her and the help she was offering with so many things in one day.

"You surprise me," he admitted after a few beats of silence. "The guild you were in. Was it Horu's?" he asked, thinking of the demon they'd met with in the guild district of the Ninth Level. *

(Okay.) She curled herself up next to him and nuzzled her face against him.

She nodded when he asked.

"After Renai turned me into Kuraku, and I didn't have a Consort to change me from my pain form? I went into the city and offered to work for his guild." 3

He hadn't realized that that had been something that had happened during his time of knowing her, and the revelation had him turning to look at her for a moment. A small frown came to his face as he thought about the time they'd spent apart then too, her on the Ninth and him unable to get to her and losing his Champion's pact with her.

She had never talked about that time, he realized.

"Did you stay with his guild the duration of your time in the Ninth?" he asked as a smile overtook his earlier frown, genuinely curious. *

It took her a moment to think about it.

"Yes. I mean..." She appeared to consider it. "...I was loyal to him for as long as I remained in the cities doing guild work, anyway. My...method of information gathering was sought after by other, similar guilds, so I would be hired out to them from time to time for jobs they had picked up, but it was all orchestrated by Horu when they asked after me." 3

Hiei nodded and turned to kiss the center of her hair.

He himself hadn't thought to look into guilds when he'd been on the Ninth. He'd been too busy trying to get his way out of the level to care about anything else, and by the time he'd become discouraged and given up his fight, he'd taken up residence in the Niiro Kaga, and had quite the reputation as the local annoyance. ...And as the demon who set a few forests into a never ending blaze.

(What about after guild work? I don't think I ever asked you what you did to keep busy.) *

Shikiyoku frowned a little, "Have you not? I thought you knew."

(And here I thought you knew everything, flameboy.) She nuzzled her face into him again and planted a kiss on whatever of him she could reach. Their bond warmed with her amusement as she turned teasing. (Or maybe I just assumed you had rifled through my memories for it all already.) 3

Hiei let a breath of amusement out of his nostrils, and he closed his eyes against her affections.

(It would be easy to go through all of your memories and learn every single detail of your life, if I so wanted.) He squeezed his arms around her shoulders briefly and shifted around a little until he was lounging on the bed. (But I find that, with you, I much prefer to hear you tell me. It's more interesting.)

"And it isn't quite the same, in any case. Especially since you couldn't do the same." *

"That's not quite true." She said, giving a little tug at the bond and she settled more comfortably against him. "I'm fairly certain so long as we're close, I could do the same. And you've shown me memories of your own before, I think. Something about a hammock and a fire. It was very peaceful. An old campground." 3

Hiei blinked once, remembering the very memory she mentioned and giving a little thoughtful hum. "I'd forgotten about that," he admitted. "Would you prefer I go through your memories if I'm curious?" he raised a brow at her, unsure if that's what she meant or if she had suggested it only because she thought it would 'save him time'. *

(Not if you actually like me telling you things, I suppose.)

She hesitated, "And...you'd have to be careful. A Jagan is only as old as its user, you know. Minds...minds have gotten lost trying to sift through memories not their own, when those memories are so many more than they. We already had trouble at least once before, and that was with my awareness." 3

Hiei nodded and his smile grew just a bit.

(I do enjoy hearing you tell them.)

He kissed the top of her head again and turned to rest his cheek there, his eyelids falling closed. "I prefer to use the Jagan for the more surface thoughts. Normally, I wouldn't need more than that to get what I need, though there's been a few instances where I've had to delve deeper. It isn't my favorite, since the Jagan also has its own interests."

He didn't think he'd ever forget the time when it had absorbed Shikiyoku's energy for him, and how chatty it had been afterwards. *

She gave a little chuckle, "It probably prefers humans over demons anyway, when it comes down to it. They're much easier to subjugate as a general rule than a demon ever is."

Shikiyoku almost absently reached into the bond between them to check on the state of Hiei's health as they talked.

(Are you still okay?) 3

"It's a great tool for scanning surface thoughts, telepathy, and watching a general area," he added. "But yes, it much prefers humans, none of which I deal with all too often."

Hiei slid the arm that had been reached across himself and Shikiyoku in their hug, keeping the other behind her back, and he took her hand in his again, lacing their fingers together and giving them a squeeze.

(I am okay, my Beloved. Tired and weak physically, but I am okay.)

He wouldn't be moving around much anytime soon.

(The month before the illness was enough to leave me tired. I'll have to rest a while, I'm sure.)

He gave her hand another reassuring squeeze.*