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.

162. Episode 246

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.

---

Hiei didn't mention that Shikiyoku had never said as such to him about it. He didn't think it mattered so much, since the likelihood of Shikiyoku changing her mind on that was nonexistent, especially after all that had happened over the last month.

The memory of her telling him she loved him brought a small smile to his features, and any of the stress he'd been holding onto melted away in that moment, leaving him feeling light.

He nodded. "I forget, sometimes, that she is strong and independent." He hated to admit it, but it was true. "I got so used to her relying on me the first years that I knew her that sometimes I forget she no longer truly needs to. Not for protection, and I certainly don't have to watch her all the time." He wished he hadn't felt that way before, but he also realized that his changes had stemmed from those days. "I have no doubt she's prepared for everything except the worst."

He chuckled.

"She would kill me if I died now." *

"Wait here." Uryo seemed to become so very still in the next moment, and then he was completely gone from sight before in the following beat he stood next to Hiei on the branch again.

He held out between them a small egg about the size of his palm and as he released his fingers from around it, it began to float in the air a few centimeters up. Looking like so much black and craggy obsidian, the egg was surrounded in the same silent, cold ghost-fire that its sire had been emitting, the flame dancing and flickering in an aura around it like it was on the other ashen-grey eggs in the clutch near the river.

"Basan only lay one of these eggs every hundred years or so. There's a double yolk inside, but the nature of the eggshell makes it impossible to fertilize." He tapped it with a finger as if testing its hardness. "It still incubates like normal as long as the fire around it doesn't go out, but the yolks harden into a pair of identical half-diamond prisms each about half the size of the egg. They're exceptional bits of crystal that never forget their connection, no matter what the distance is between them."

He held it out for Hiei to take, "One for you and one for your sister. I, uh, I'm not so good with time. It gets all muddled in my head when I'm running around. When I woke up and felt the two of you were there, I ran off before Hina could wake. I was scared. By the time I realized I wanted to be there when you were born, I couldn't find any clutches. And by the time I'd returned to the island, they told me they'd killed you two and Hina had killed herself."

He let out a little breath, "It...it probably means very little to you coming from me-if I had been in your place, I might have fried my own ass and told myself to fuck off long before now—but...I'm proud of what you've made of yourself. Who you've become. I cannot think of anyone better to live through our trials than you. Your fires are already very bright. You have come a long way in a short time." He smiled a little, "I look forward to the day when your inferno has passed with you safely here among us still." 3

Hiei tilted his head in Uryo's direction and glanced at him from the corner of his eye, watching as the other went still for a moment. Hiei blinked, and Uryo was standing next to him with an egg in his hand.

He glanced down at the nest by the river, not once having paid it any mind. After a beat of staring at the other eggs undisturbed in the nest, he turned to Uryo again, and his eyes fell to the flames that quietly licked around the black egg.

He listened, imagining the gems inside and wondering, quietly, what he could do with such gems if he had them.

And then Uryo extended it in his direction, offering it to him, all while talking about Yukina and himself, and his mother and-

He carefully took the egg from his father, his eyes lifting to watch Uryo's expression as he spoke. He raised an eyebrow - he wouldn't tell Uryo he'd already attempted to fry his lookalike once, and failed - and he shook his head a little.

He stayed quiet for a few beats, truly not sure what to say; he'd never wanted a father, never cared for the idea of it. And really, if not for this moment, he likely would have never thought again about this demon being his father in any way.

He shook his head again, as if in disbelief.

"Well, I have a long way to go before I can even hope to fry your sorry ass," he finally said, lifting his head to stare at Uryo unblinkingly. After a beat, his lips twitched.

"She's getting married this year," he said after another beat. "I don't know if you knew that, or if you were intending to go." He lifted the egg in his hand a little. "Do you want me to make something for her? Or would you prefer I just give her the raw gem and let her decide?" *

Uryo blinked down at Hiei when the other stared up at him, having never before until this moment really, truly been confronted with the fact that this demon in front of him was in fact his son.

That phrase certainly reminded him of himself when he was Hiei's age.

His eyes darted to the side as his cheeks turned pink at the mention of Hiei's sister.

Aye, Shikiyoku had sent a missive telling him as much. At the request of the groom, no less, apparently.

"I- ... I do not think she would want me there." He'd been around the First Level enough to know what the phrase 'married' meant. He hadn't even known she was 'engaged.'

He considered Hiei's offer, "Perhaps it could be set into a necklace? I think the gems are too unwieldy for earrings, but it is possible you of anyone could manage it. You will need to work with the raw diamond as it is. Any changes to the gem itself will render it worthless." 3

Hiei nodded, understanding that while he thought Yukina would want him there, it would be her decision, and likewise, it was Uryo's decision to give her the chance to invite him. So, he left that be, and he let the conversation roll to the topic of jewelry.

He nodded at the ideas, seeing a couple of images in his head of pieces he could make. "When I give it, do you want me to say it's from you?" He raised a brow at Uryo, not sure if that was what he wanted. He wasn't even sure if Yukina had met Uryo.

He looked down to the egg again. "Lastly, about how long is the incubation period?" *

Uryo hesitated at the first question, reaching over to pick up the bundle again and prepare to leave.

"If you would like, you are welcome to say as much, I suppose, but if you do truly fashion it into something, then you must tell her that bit as well, if you insist."

"Much shorter than the eggs usually take. Perhaps a month or two, if the flame does not go out? It should be fine on its own, truly. It will hover like that above any surface that I know of." 3

Hiei watched Uryo calmly, the other's answer not really much of an answer at all, in his mind. He thought about what he'd tell Yukina - it's from our father, who isn't here because he didn't think you'd want him here or it's from Uryo, a friend of mine. He thought we'd like these - and a frown came to his face.

If he told her nothing? She either would figure it out herself, as she had about him, or she'd accept it as from him.

After a beat, he heard Shikiyoku in his head, saying, it's his decision. If he wants to tell her, then he will tell her when he's ready.

He nodded to himself.

"It's too bad. I'd love to see Kuwabara's face if you got to meet him." He wondered if his soon-to-be brother would have reacted in any particular way.

He carefully tucked the egg in his pocket, worried he might drop it in a jog or crush it in his hand if carried, and he turned to watch the Basan for a moment longer.

"I will make sure that whichever I make it into, she will like it, and be able to wear it whenever she wants." *

Uryo sighed and hunched over a little, hand resting against the bundle, "I am, and always have been, a coward at heart. Truly Hiei, if you think it would be of a benefit to tell her it is a gift from me, from her father, that it would not pain her to know it was from someone who was too ashamed to- Could not even bear t-to bring it to her himself for fear of how she might look at him if she met him..."

His shoulders sagged before he straightened, bundle under his arm now as he lips endeavored to smile and couldn't quite complete the gesture.

"Then I suppose I can live with having been a disappointment to one more demon in the world. What's one more among so many?" 3

Hiei raised a brow at Uryo, completely unprepared for the other's admittance to cowardice and even less prepared with anything to say that might resolve the situation. But, really, he had no words, no thoughts on that matter. Uryo being a coward meant very little to him.

Hiei shrugged. "I certainly do not care one way or the other. However," he reached up and pointed at the eye that was not even concealed behind the usual bandana, "the pact I made for this will keep me from mentioning it being from our father."

He'd almost forgotten in this moment.

"So even if I wanted to tell her, I couldn't. She already knows I am her brother, but I am not to tell her, or even imply as such." He shrugged. "If you want her to know, it will be up to you. Then, you will be ready for the consequences, if there happens to be any."

Seeing that Uryo was ready to go, Hiei let himself climb onto the other's back again, careful that there would be no possibility of him dropping the egg.

"Do you remember where the house is?" *

"Won't even let you tell her it's from her father, eh?" Uryo tossed Hiei a smile as he took off again and headed for the First Level.

"Probably!" 3

The run to the First was much quicker than Hiei had even anticipated, though the conversation had gone a tad quiet once Uryo had taken off again. Hiei had been too busy thinking about his trial, the egg in his pocket, the things he had to make for Yukina, Gai's rings, and the note that he wanted to fetch from Toriko's home.

So when Uryo set him on his feet on the front porch, Hiei had to take a moment to look around, as if he'd forgotten what the area looked like since his last visit. "Don't feel like you have to stick around. I'll get back to the bar on my own, or I'll call for Shiki if I think I can't make it." He looked up at Uryo. "You're always welcome here, whether it's to drink or visit." *

After making sure Hiei was at least somewhat steady on his own two feet, Uryo nodded.

"I might grab a drink before I leave. After all of that, it feels like I might disappear if I turn sideways too quickly."

...

"...and thank you. I will keep that last bit in mind as well." 3

Hiei nodded, and Uryo was gone from his sight.

He stood on the front porch for a few moments, as if he might be able to see Uryo running in the distance. When he was satisfied, he turned and let himself into the house. The door closed gently behind him, and he stood in front of it for a minute longer as he tried to remember where he'd seen that little note last.

He remembered it and his cloak having been in the house, but…

With a look of determination on his face, he began to look through every nook and cranny of the house.

He glanced in every cabinet, drawer, box, and seat. When that turned up no results, he began to look between things. Between cushions and couches, between the wall and the television stand, between just about anything that he noticed pushed up against something else.

When that too yielded nothing, he began to move things around, almost certain that he'd last seen the note in the living area. He pulled books from shelves, trinkets from their display case before carefully replacing them again, the little couch pillows…

Then he moved to the kitchen and repeated this, leaving things wherever he'd dropped them in his search that slowly began to feel more and more fruitless. He even employed the Jagan for as long as it would let him, becoming slightly more frantic when the kitchen proved to be lacking that one note.

He cycled back to the living area again, and his search became much faster. He began a jog around the room now, ignoring the little twinges in his legs that had finally begun to feel rested as he took to pushing them again.

By the time he realized it wasn't in the living area, he flit to the kitchen again and continued to overturn the house. *

~!**!~

Kurama had left the group after moving them through the portal in the tree, excusing himself to attend to other matters, though it wasn't until a mile or so away from the bar itself that one of the guild members said something to Shikiyoku and the lot of them suddenly realized she wasn't there.

Upon looking back, they saw her down the sidewalk following along behind them half a mile back or so and waited for her to catch up before continuing on.

When they reached the bar, she had moved to flit up the stairs, coming back down finishing the last of pinning her hair up into the crown Raion made her-"A pity." He'd said-before moving behind the counter to help her staff with the sudden influx of what were likely to be heavy drinkers for the rest of the night.

She brought them the first round of drinks herself, though she paused with her hand on Akihiko's shoulder after she slid his beverage in front of him and seemed to be looking out at nothing.

"I'll...be right back..." She mumbled absently, Akihiko raising an eyebrow at her as she disappeared out the front door.

The sight that met her eyes when she walked into Toriko's home was certainly not the one she had been expecting when the aggravation of the bond had alerted her to something she couldn't exactly put into words.

"H-Hiei, w-what are you...?" She stared open-mouthed at the mess her Consort had made of the area, if equally as astonished by the fact that nothing seemed particularly broken, just...scattered about and out of place. 3

Hiei had gone through both rooms on the first floor of the house at least three times each by the time he mildly noted the door opening. He'd even glanced in the laundry room before deciding very quickly that it couldn't possibly be there, and he moved back into the living room where he was sure it should be.

He paused to wipe at his face, a bit of sweat there that had annoyed him enough to make him pop up from behind the pile of couch cushions he'd moved for the fourth time. He didn't notice his knees shaking or his fatigue, only that one infuriating distraction of a sweat drop that-

He blinked at Shikiyoku, only just noticing that she stood at the door, her eyes taking in the scene in bewilderment.

The frown he had yet to adopt finally broke across what had been a focused expression, and he opened his mouth to say that he just couldn't find what he wanted when he realized that he had been upstairs after that note had happened.

A proverbial lightbulb lit over his head and he was moving up the stairs, "One second! I think-"

He stumbled halfway up and caught himself.

"-it might be-"

He blinked at the stars in his vision as he stood, and his head felt light as the world rushed around him. (I think I need to sit.) *

Coming further into the house and closing the door behind her, Shikiyoku couldn't stop looking about at the mess Hiei had made, thinking about how she always had someone come regularly to look after the place, but she sure as hell was going to need to either pick things up herself if she could manage it or at the very least hire someone to do it for her.

When she finally spotted the demon she knew to be somewhere in the room, she stared at him now and started moving his direction even as he said something and went for the stairs, her mind too concerned with the pallor in his face and the slight shaking of his limbs to take note of much else.

She quickly darted up the stairs when he stumbled, feeling her heart catch in her throat even as she wrapped her arms around him and gently lowered him to the ground as she felt him faint suddenly and become a much more insistent weight for her.

She only let out a breath when she had lowered them both successfully in a position where she was leaning up against the wall on the one side of the stairs and at least had him leaning into her in a way that didn't mean either one of them might topple over back down the steps.

The breath heaved out of her at that point and she held him close, his head cradled between her neck and shoulder and the rest of him at least somewhat safe in her lap as she sagged a little, the fear of his collapse overcome for now.

She leaned her cheek into his just a little and reached up to adjust the glasses on her face as she closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about how she had nearly lost him not a full day before and trying to console her aching heart with the warmth of him in her arms, no matter how little that warmth was in those moments. 3

To Hiei, it seemed as if he'd blinked and was suddenly not where he'd been a moment before. One second he'd been standing on the stairs, and the next he was sitting somewhat awkwardly on them, a pair of warm and familiar arms holding him up, and a warmth at his cheek as she rested against him.

He blinked into the darkness of the house, suddenly realizing he hadn't even turned any lights on for his search.

He rested in Shikiyoku's arms, her warmth a comforting sort that soothed at least some of his earlier distress. He frowned despite this, and he shifted just enough to kiss her neck, where it was easiest for him to reach.

(I'm sorry. I overdid it. And the house is a mess, but I'll clean it up.) *

"You will do no such thing." She insisted aloud, trying to ignore how his lips sent shivers of her energy cascading over her skin, the sensation this time purely for her and unable to escape as it had earlier that day, locked down behind both the glasses and hair that had been put away because of the unease of her earlier predicament.

(Don't even think about moving.)

She sighed, at least able to relax a little now that he was awake and could keep his own limbs from slipping too dangerously away from her.

"What were you even looking for, flameboy?" 3

He frowned at her and thought about looking up at her, but decided to simply leave his head on her shoulder. He almost protested the first part, but he figured he could come back later and clean it if he managed to convince her not to do it herself. ...Or not to hire someone.

As for moving, as much as he wanted to continue his search, he was very comfortable where he was, and his body was so obviously tired that he didn't think he'd be able to stand anyway.

Her question, however, brought a sigh from him.

"I was looking for that note," he admitted after a moment, crestfallen. "It's here somewhere, but I couldn't remember where. I was sure it was downstairs but…" He shifted a little so that he wouldn't slide. "I couldn't find it," he grumbled, his breath brushing over her skin.

He jolted, suddenly remembering the egg in his pocket, and he fished it out to see that it was still whole, and the fire was still going.

He let out a sigh of relief. *

Note?

What note is he talking about?

Her head tilted at him when he flinched in her arms and pulled out the Basan egg.

Her hands clasped together around his waist, she brushed her cheek lightly against his for a moment before asking, "Hiei, where did you get that?" 3

Hiei watched the egg float just above his palm, its flames still lazily licking at the air around the shell of the egg. He inspected it closely, and when he found no imperfections, he lowered his open hand until it rested on his stomach, palm up so that the egg would continue to hover in the air there.

"Uryo," he answered. "Said he wanted me to give one of the two gems to Yukina too." His expression softened, momentarily distracted from his woes, and he almost smiled at the Basan egg. "I'm sorry I made you worry again," he murmured to her. *

Shikiyoku watched the ghost-flames dancing in the air around the obsidian colored egg as Hiei lowered it to rest his arm.

She smiled a little, not surprised that the fire demon had passed on the responsibility to Hiei instead of taking care of getting the gem to Yukina himself.

When he apologized, she turned her face more fully towards him and nudged at his cheek with her nose before shaking her head.

"I don't know if 'worry' is the word I would use for it." She said softly, almost smiling against him. She huffed a small laugh out her nose, "I can't believe you tore up the bottom floor like that. What did you say you were looking for? Some note?" 3

Hiei's eyes closed as he appreciated her nudge, though at the last he opened them again to look at her. He frowned at her again, and the bond let her know of his sadness at the prospect of losing the note.

"Not some note. The one you left with my cloak so long ago. All my love." He turned his head to look up the stairs. "I looked downstairs because I was sure that's where it was, but then I remembered we were up here when I last saw it, so…" He frowned at the dark hallway as if it purposely withheld information from him. *

"You mean 'With All My Love?'" She teased, kissing his cheek finally before turning away thoughtfully.

"Anyone who drops by has clear instructions not to move anything unless they put it right back where they found it, so assuming they listened," She frowned, trying to remember what he was talking about as she shifted in place a little, "We were upstairs when you saw the note last?" 3

Hiei turned and rested his head on Shikiyoku's shoulder again, letting out a little breath as he settled again. "Yes, that one." His eyes dropped to the egg in his hand again, mesmerized by the ghost-flames. "I think so? We both see the product of my thinking it was downstairs." His smile was sheepish this time. "I think I was remembering the letter from Mukuro instead of the note. That we dropped downstairs at one point." *

"Ah," She nodded at that last bit, smiling a little and leaning her head back against the wall behind her.

"Hiei, that was so long ago..." She murmured, able to remember like it was yesterday, however, the chase down to the Ninth after Kitoushi's death and the journey back up with her Consort.

Without realizing it, her right arm shifted as her hand sought to cover the marking on the left side of his chest. 3

Hiei nodded. "It was." He couldn't remember much of that time, except for his seemingly endless pursuit of her through the layers after Yusuke's tip. He remembered her resisting feeding on him a couple of times, and a few times maybe unable to.

He couldn't even remember why they'd ended up in the bedroom upstairs, only that he'd passed her the note and said something along the lines of you tell me when she asked him who he was.

He couldn't remember what had happened to it after that. Had it been dropped? Had he set it somewhere safe, knowing he'd come back for it later? Had he even considered that idea then? ...Probably not.

"We've… been through a lot together since then." *

"Mm-hm." She agreed, smiling again and shifting her hand back and forth over the fabric of his shirt where her marking lie on his skin.

"It's just a note, though, Hiei. I'm sure I could endeavour to painstakingly write you another just like it, as difficult as it might be for me to do so, if you asked real nicely." Her smile grew and she tried not to chuckle. 3

Hiei shook his head briefly. "Not yet." He turned and kissed that spot on her neck again, "If I can't find it, then I will ask." He shifted around a little, though made no move to go away from the embrace he was in.

"After all, that was the first time you told me you loved me, and I didn't even know it." *

Shikiyoku blinked thoughtfully at the other wall.

"Was it?" She murmured, half to herself. "I remember writing the note at the time." Barely. She had been especially distraught during those years for multiple reasons. "I- I probably hadn't said it aloud before then, I suppose. I guess the distance made me brave somehow." Her smile was a little sadder, "We were already separated, so it wasn't as if you could leave me again when I admitted as much on the paper." 3

He turned his head so that he could look at her. His eyes searched her features as she spoke, and a part of him felt her sadness as if it were his own. After a beat, he raised his head and shifted until he could balance the Basan egg on his leg, and he turned his torso to wrap his arms around her in a tight hug.

And then he planted a heavy kiss on her cheek, then her lips, then back to her cheek. He smushed his lips against her face until even his nose was a little smushed, and he held her there.

The bond reminded her of his love for her, warm and full and happy. *

Shikiyoku blinked in surprise when Hiei shifted around, relaxing her embrace around him and thinking he might stand.

Her surprise then grew exponentially when he freed his arms to wrap them around her and immediately kissed her, her core shivering pleasantly in her chest even as she sat wide-eyed and somewhat stunned.

Okay, yes, I know.

Their bond trilled with his emotions, raw and unchecked and almost overpowering her with their depth as she tried to maintain some sense of herself beneath.

"You're ridiculous." She muttered, bits of shimmers starting to sparkle into the air around her head the longer he sat there pressing his lips to her skin. 3

Despite his earlier sadness about not having found the note, Hiei found himself chucking against Shikiyoku, not exactly disagreeing with her about his 'ridiculousness'. His emotions in the bond quieted, calming down into a steady hum of adoration and appreciation and, in this moment, amusement.

"And you've got me for the rest of our days," he told her as he pulled away, his eyes sparkling at her.

This time, his shuffling around was so that he could get to his own two feet. He plucked the egg from where it hovered over his knee and he pulled his legs up to get his feet under himself. He planted one hand on the wall and pushed himself up, and once he was standing, he leaned his back against the wall and slid the egg in his pocket again.

"Remind me not to let Chisai know I have this egg. If he even knows what it is, he'll foam at the mouth for it." He smiled fondly. "Not that I think he'd take it, but he definitely would pester me to find another one." *

"Yes, well, you've no idea what you've gotten yourself into." She reassured him, mirroring his amusement, "But I suppose it's too late at this point."

She watched him carefully as he got up, not even aware she held her jaw tight with concern as she slowly rose herself.

She nodded absently as he spoke, but didn't seem to really hear him.

"The rest of the guild are back at the bar with Akari." 3

"That's half the fun," he told her as he rested against the wall, giving his body time to tell him if he needed to sit or not. "By the way, I haven't thought of it before today, but," he shifted his feet a little, bringing his heels closer to the wall, "how can I help you manage your energy? You were much more relaxed when in your demon form. I would like to be able to help you be in that form more often." *

Shikiyoku kept her eyes on him, trying not to frown and thinking how it might be best if she just carried him to the bar.

Or...actually...

Her eyes flickered over to the bedroom door he had likely been desiring entry into anyway.

She reached out towards him in case he needed something to gauge his weight against, thinking maybe she could get him to lay down and stop moving for a few minutes, when she realized he'd asked her a question and paused trying to come up with what it had been.

"Uh-" She stared at him dumbly when she finally processed his statements, reaching up and subconsciously pressing her glasses farther up her face. "That form? That's, uh, it's not really, um-" How do I put this?

She reached up and rubbed at the back of her neck a little self-consciously, "I mean, I barely even use that form anymore, Hiei." 3

Hiei took her hand instead of leaning against her, waiting a bit longer before he decided if he wanted to move or not.

"Well," he rolled his head to the side a little and stared down the dark hall, "you could be in that form more often, if I could help you with your energy. If you wanted me to. I know you can't while working with the humans, but I see no reason you can't enjoy your true self when among demons."

He slid his gaze to her again, watching her reaction. *

Shikiyoku stared at his hand in hers almost blankly as he continued on the subject.

"I- That's- It's really, I don't have to be in that form, it's fine." She puffed out a breath, "It's a lot of trouble, and I didn't really mean to stay like that for that long anyway, it was my own fault." She fell silent for a second and said more quietly, "I forget how different it is, is all." 3

He leveled a look at her.

"What I'm hearing is that you want to be able to, but don't want to cause problems. Not that you don't want to." He squeezed her hand in his, but realized in this moment, whatever it was keeping her from talking about it, she likely wouldn't budge about it.

"I… want to be a better Consort for you." he admitted after a beat. "I want you to be you and be happy being you." He lifted her hand to his lips, "So if you change your mind, let me know. Okay?" He kissed the palm of her hand. *

Shikiyoku still didn't look at him, unable to admit that the idea was somewhat appealing, if absolutely terrifying to her.

Honestly, walking around anyone else but Kurama like that made her feel more exposed than not, especially now that she had settled back into her more human form.

She finally met his gaze when he talked of being her Consort and she almost frowned.

"Hiei..." She protested, "You're a fine Consort. I- I don't know any more about the job than you really, I guess, but-" She shrugged a little, at a loss for words, "I mean the only thing that might have made a difference to begin with was kind of all my fault anyway, so I don't really think I have any room to complain. Not that I was." She looked at him pointedly. 3

Hiei raised a brow. "I know you haven't. I'd be the first to know right after you, I think." A wry smile tugged at his lips. "But there is always room for improvement I'm sure. For instance: today, I accidentally went too far into the bond, and I was able to see your mock spar with Uryo through your eyes. And then feel the pain of you being stabbed-" he blinked.

"How are your wounds?" *

Shikiyoku frowned at him as he switched topics, trying to remember what he was talking about, or rather if she knew.

He did what?

Her free hand reached up at the mention of being stabbed to clutch at the place where Uryo's blade had entered her.

She remembered that sensation quite distinctly.

"Um, fine, probably." She replied. "Or, well enough, I suppose."

She stared at him for a moment, "You did what?" 3

He looked her over, looking for any visible wounds or anything that stood out to him. When nothing really screamed 'painful' to him, he blinked and looked into her face again.

...I did what what?

Oh. Right.

"I watched you and Uryo go through the steps. The technique is one I've been against a few times and have only gotten through once, so I looked at every detail, watched for holes in the defense." He paused, remembering the sets of steps. "Then you two were moving fast enough that I couldn't keep up, and that, I guess, is why I subconsciously turned to the bond?" He thought about it for a moment. "And with how little energy I have, even the Jagan struggled to keep up…"

He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand thoughtfully. "Admittedly, I also wanted to be out there, but…" He shook his head, dismissing the thought. "One second I was using the Jagan to watch Uryo try to get through the defense, and the next I was seeing him through you.

"I knew as you did when he would strike and where. And when he moved too fast, I knew as soon as you did that you wouldn't be able to block it. I felt the pain - you feel it differently than I do, by the way. Don't know how to explain that - and then realized I was in the bond and pulled myself out of it." He stared at her for a moment. "...It did take a moment, because I didn't mean to go so far into the bond, but I wasn't so far that I couldn't untangle myself from it."*

Shikiyoku stared almost slack-jawed at Hiei, feeling quite certain she hadn't heard him say half so much out loud all at once in an exceptionally long time, if ever.

She shook her head as if clearing her astonishment, and tried to focus on at least something to respond to him about.

"Hiei...if you wanted to be out there that badly, you should have said something." She squeezed his hand and started to move up the steps. "Today might not have been a day for you to get up and participate, perhaps, but I do not think Uryo would mind sparring with you." She paused, and then added with mock-irritation, "That certainly explains some things though." 3

Hiei pushed away from the wall to follow Shikiyoku, each step measured as she led him by the hand. His eyes fell to their hands for a moment, but they quickly trailed back up to the back of her head at the mention of sparring with Uryo, followed by some things, as she put it.

The bond wordlessly translated his confused pause at the last bit, but he didn't voice that confusion.

"I'm not so certain that sparring with Uryo is something I can rightfully keep up with yet," he told her, his lips twitching. "Especially if he sobers up like he did. I can't even beat him at cards when he's absolutely hammered." He chuckled, remembering those rowdy games on the Ninth.

"However, I'd be lying if I didn't say that my itch to spar was aimed more at you." *

(Looking back, I'm fairly certain I knew you were there.) The bond provided for him upon his confusion. (Perhaps it is similar to what you did for me when you were making jewelry? The circumstances are quite different though...)

"Me?" Shikiyoku turned back to give Hiei a mixed look of disbelief. "Why would you want to spar with me? Uryo is much more proficient at swordplay than I, and I'm sure we could cook something up for him to keep him drunk enough to be manageable." 3

(Ah. Well, it's possible that the one led to the other…) He mused on it for a brief moment before her spoken words caught his attention.

He raised a brow at the look she gave, realizing in that very moment she was about to attempt to talk him out of it, or redirect the subject, or simply deny her skills.

When she proceeded to do exactly what he expected, he shook his head. "While honing my sword skills is necessary, I don't typically encounter someone who is fast enough to parry my attacks." He looked at her again. "However, that technique - the Nitenwa - is able to defend against my attacks even at some of my top speeds." He frowned a little. "It was frustrating, the few times I found someone who employed it."

When she turned and lead him into the bedroom, he paused long enough to look around, looking for a small note. He blinked at a little piece of paper on the floor, and he led Shikiyoku towards it. He plucked it from the carpet and opened the folded paper, and when he recognized the kanji, a small sigh of relief breathed through him.

He slid it into the pocket, keeping it safe with the Basan egg.

"I will go to Uryo when I want to test my speed and swordplay. But that defense? The one you used?" Hiei turned and gave a half smile, his eyes alight with excitement. "If you'd let me, I'd love to spar against you while you fight me off with it." His smile twitched. *

Ugh, that face.

...

I'd give that face anything it wanted.

Shikiyoku let out a sigh, appearing to relent at least a little, though her cheeks were tinged pink and she cast her gaze off to the side.

"I mean...I guess, Hiei. If that's what you really want, I'd never tell you 'no.' I-I've never really sparred with anyone before, though. I barely know how to hold a sword in the first place. I hardly think I'm worth the time."

She gave him a sidelong glance, curious, "You said you've broken through it once, though. That's...impressive. The manner of the defense is one that the defender knows what the attacker will do before they actually make their move. It's..." She seemed to consider it, "It's a lot like our bond in a way. As instantaneous a communication as the thoughts themselves." 3

The bond seemed to shudder with the wave of his excitement as she agreed, and his smile grew just a hair. He almost hugged her, if not for the fact that she continued to say that she didn't think herself worth it.

He shook his head again. "No, no," he began before he pinned her under his stare again. "You are very much worth the time, and it would be fun, I think, for us to use that as time together, away from the bar.

"As for you, I could help with your sword grip if you think you need it, and can even show you a few things if you want. I don't plan to be moving so fast that I break through it with just my speed, which is how I 'broke through' it that one instance." He blinked. "I plan on asking Gai to go with me to get metal for my katana, to repair it. I could get enough to craft a couple of katana that are suited to you, that way you have them for those times. I'm sure Tarou would enjoy helping me with that too." *

Shikiyoku's face reddened further and she still couldn't quite look at him, shimmers of her energy bubbling up the sides of her face as he stared at her, making her feel more uncomfortable than he likely meant to.

"O-okay. If you say so. I-I don't know anything about that other stuff. Not directly. ..." She shrugged and her lips snapped shut. 3

The bond quietly told him of her embarrassment, and for a moment he wasn't sure if she was embarrassed by him, for him, or just generally embarrassed about the situation. The moment that worry popped up, however, the bond seemed to tell him what he needed to know:

She wasn't sure how to take his excitement or the attention he was giving her.

That only seemed to fuel him, and he squeezed her hand gently. "I know you don't like to fight, so they wouldn't be made with that intention. Only for you to have for sparring, and for maybe, possibly, teaching me in the future."

That sudden possibility brought back that itch, and he shuffled in place.

"I couldn't learn it now. Today proved that I don't have the ability to be as calm as you were. But if you'd have me, I-"

He felt his energy flux that time. Substantially.

And when he realized it had rushed down his arm, heated in his excitement, and to the hand that held Shikiyoku's, he instantly dropped his grip on her hand, knowing without a doubt in that moment he'd burned her. He could feel the heat radiating from her hand, could smell the print of his fingers that had burned into her skin.

"Shit, I-"

The emotional upheaval that flooded over him formed a knot in his throat, and he suddenly realized he had taken a step away from her as fear, regret, excitement, and worry piled up over each other, marrying and turning into some great ball of unmanageable emotions.

The room lit briefly with the sparks that danced through the air around his hand, and he clutched it to his chest in an attempt to control it.

He opened his mouth to apologize, but choked on the words and closed his mouth again. He licked his lips and realized he tasted salt there, and he reached up to wipe away what he'd thought to be sweat and instead realized they were tears.

What the hell is happening? *

Shikiyoku hissed at the sudden flash-burn, her hand suddenly devoid of Hiei's grasp and her fingers flinched before she turned to look at her palm somewhat contemplatively.

Hiei's curse brought her attention back to him as he took a step back, and to the bond suddenly awash with a rapidly fluctuating turmoil interspersed with almost equal parts confusion.

"Hey," She moved closer and put her hands up to his cheeks, looking deeply into his eyes with a calm, soft smile.

(Look at me. Take a deep breath.)3

Hiei blinked as Shikiyoku came closer, and an instinctual part of him screamed to take that extra step back. He thought about his impending trial and worried that it had come much sooner than he'd anticipated, that he wouldn't be able to get far enough in case he combusted, but-

But the calm that radiated from her side of the bond and kept her gaze steady on his, coupled with the hands that found his face before he'd been able to take that step back held him there. He lowered his hands a little, getting those little bursts of flame further away from her face, and he did as she told him to.

He took a shaky breath and he locked his eyes on hers, aware in this moment that even if he'd taken that step away, she wouldn't have let him get far.

The warmth in her right hand was unnatural for her, and for a brief moment the thought of 'get yourself under control' asserted itself across his consciousness. He took another breath, trying to rein in the errant energy and pull it away from where it sparked around him. When that seemed to only drive his emotions further, he again contemplated taking that step away.

"The secret of control is that there is truly no such thing." Uryo's voice whispered among the tide. "It is only in freedom that there is any control to be had."

Hiei dropped his arms to his sides and his eyelids slid closed. He took a deep breath and let Shikiyoku's calm wash over him from their bond, careful not to fall into it, and he let those emotions run their course. *

Shikiyoku kept her eyes on him, feeling the snaps of his energy ignite bits of the air around him in tandem with the intensity of the pent-up emotions that, for a moment, she sensed him trying to hold back, perhaps not specifically from her, but in general.

She gently smoothed her thumbs back and forth along his cheeks as she considered him calmly, still smiling a little.

(Just relax, flameboy. Let go.)

When his arms dropped to his sides, she reached across and grabbed the wrist of his right and put his hand up to her core, holding it there for a minute and letting him feel the depth of her breathing before taking her hand away and gently placing her palm over his chest, slowly warming the markings along his skin with her energy.

When she felt him, in a word, shying away from their bond, she blinked and had a thought, inviting him further instead.

(...come see what I see.) 3

As if she'd given him permission to do so, Hiei's shoulders slowly released the tension he'd held there, and he slowly let go of what little control he'd tried to have over his energy and emotions. He let her guide his hand until it rested against her core, adding just one more thing for him to focus on outside of the raging emotions that still roiled and threatened to overwhelm him.

He took another breath, and the warmth that slowly spread from his core along the left side of his body - up his chest and along his shoulder to his cheek while simultaneously drifting along the markings down his side to his thigh, all the way to his ankle - brought him another sense of calm. A warm, welcoming calm that seemed to be echoed in the bond that pulsated when she beckoned him closer to it.

He almost hesitated, his fear briefly spiking for reasons he didn't know.

Instead, he let that fear wash over him, not letting it stay at the front of his mind for too long, and he slowly let himself fall into the bond until, bit by bit, he was able to see himself through her eyes.

(I'm a mess,) he thought wryly, and the impression of a dry chuckle followed suit as he took in the pallor of his skin, the streaks where tears had fallen, and the odd expression on his face that somehow showed all of the emotions he let just wash over him. *

(No, that is what you see.) The edges of her eyes crinkled a little as she blinked once, but kept looking at him, taking another deep breath even as a small roar of flame lit up the side of his face briefly and she stroked her thumb back and forth over his cheek again.

(What do I see, Hiei?)3

A mess, was his immediate answer, and he almost said it aloud.

Instead, he found himself taking a breath when she did, seeing through her eyes that his own chest moved with the same deep breath that he felt her take from within the bond. The thought fascinated him and distracted him long enough that his own perceptions of himself seemed to drift away, leaving him seemingly spectating.

He watched the flame that had erupted on the side of his face slowly dwindle down, and he realized that when Shikiyoku's eyes crinkled, his did too, as if he subconsciously mirrored her actions.

Finally he lowered himself just a little further into the bond, allowing himself to not just see through her eyes, but to feel what she felt and sense what she felt. He slowly opened himself up to those things, careful that he wouldn't go too far.

Again, he heard Uryo's words of control and he finally, completely, let go. His shoulders finally released all of the tension he'd thought he'd lost earlier, and he let himself fall as far into the bond as she beckoned him so that she could truly help him. *

Shikiyoku's eyes tracked across Hiei's face, a sense of awareness of how his jaw and cheeks had lost their child-like curves and had by now been defined and etched by time.

Behind those eyelids, though she could not see them now, were gleaming jewels like rubies that could flash bright red with anger or soften with affection.

A handsome demon. Fine, black hair swept upwards with starlight as its definition. Well-built. Powerful. More so now even than when they first met. And taller, too, tinged with warmhearted chagrin.

Someone who knew her better than anyone else. And had chosen to remain by her side in spite of her deepest fears upon her awakening all those years ago when they were pacted the first time that he might at any moment abandon her, when he realized she had nothing to offer him.

Those fears were long gone, now.

A Jagan, too, was there hidden on his forehead. A tool he used well. The Darkness Flame he wielded with ease.

A swordsman. A bartender.

Her closest ally and friend.

Her Consort.

...

How I love you so. 3

Hiei saw his own expression soften with each detail Shikiyoku saw, her view of him filtering over the bond bit by bit, surprising him more and more with each piece of him that she showed him.

He hadn't noticed his own changes over the years, other than his growing taller than her. As she thought about each transformation, equating each piece to what she saw as a handsome whole, a slight smile twitched at his lips.

He hadn't known she thought him handsome, and it might have been surprising to him were it not for the calm that had begun to take over. He felt the impression of the fears that he hadn't known she'd had until his recent brush with death, and the subsequent follow up of their leaving of her.

Then her admiration of his power - her acknowledgement of his strength and ability - lead into her calling him her friend, and for some reason, a part of him lingered on that more than the rest.

Consort.

The title soothed much more of him than he thought it would, cleansing him of his fear of not doing enough - something he'd only recently found within his soul and only just then identified - and he watched as he slowly leaned in, his body moving as he wished it would in that moment until he rested his forehead against hers, mindful of the Jagan.

Her love washed over him next, replacing his worry and regret and leaving only warmth in its place - a warmth that was comforting and inviting - and the last of the blips of energy he could feel through her died away, leaving them in the darkness of the room.

He realized in that moment that he could feel not only her head against his as he rested against her, but his head against hers, reminiscent of double vision except in feeling, and a blip of amusement slipped through the warmth and the steady calm.

He rested in the bond, enveloped in it and Shikiyoku and the emotions that became his own.

He heard his own voice whisper, "I love you." It broke the silence of the room, and it echoed within him and through the bond as well, quiet and appreciative and relieved. *

"I love you too, Hiei." Shikiyoku murmured between them, her eyes also closing and a bit of the fabric at his chest rustling as the light from his marking faded when she reached back up to rest her hand lightly against his neck.

She let out a breath of amusement at remembering the circumstances under which he pulled those words from her lips originally, blushing a little as she recalled the unintended mistake.

With All My Love, indeed, my heart. 3

Hiei let out a long, slow breath as the warmth faded from his markings and her hand instead came to rest on his neck. Slowly, his hands moved until they rested on her hips, gentle and warm, just as they should be.

After a few beats, his hands slid from her waist to her back, and he moved his head to rest it on her shoulder as he hugged her.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, his words barely even a murmur. "Your hand." *

Shikiyoku stretched up onto her toes when he started to embrace her, curling her arms around his neck as he got closer and resting the side of her face against him.

"Mm-" She considered the question, her hand throbbing a little when she gave it the attention. "Kind of. It'll heal." She smirked, "Though, I'm honestly not even sure it'll stick."

"Do you want to lay down? The guild's not going anywhere..." 3

Hiei pulled from the bond just enough that he wouldn't feel the strange double sensation of hugging her and being hugged and her arms around his neck while also her coming up to meet him and-

He pulled just far enough away that it wasn't so distracting, that when he let out another breath, this one of relief, he didn't also feel it as if it washed over his own neck. That's… interesting and distracting.

He blinked his eyes open, and the actual double vision momentarily distracted him from the confusion he'd felt about what she'd said. He pulled back some more until he was looking at her through his own eyes - when he had stood upright, he wasn't sure - and his confusion lifted a brow.

"You don't think it will… stick?" he repeated after a beat, not understanding what she meant. *

Shikiyoku shifted her hands from around Hiei's neck to rest them gently against his chest as he stood back up.

She nodded at him, absently holding her palm face-up between them when she thought for some reason he might want to see for himself and turning her own gaze down to consider it again.

"Do not mistake me: there are no doubts as to your ferocity, but I have had much worse than this in my time and barely being able to make an enemy flinch isn't likely to be useful to me." 3

Hiei turned his eyes down to her palm, seeing the angry red spots where his fingertips had been, and a place between them where the might have been the threat of a blister. If there had been one there, it was already healed.

He gently took that hand in his, resting the back of her hand on the palm of his left so that he could get a sense for the heat there, and he found that his thumb had left no mark on the back of her hand.

After a beat, a chuckle rumbled in his chest, but it didn't quite make it out of his lips. "I suppose you're right." He gently traced his thumb over the redness, wondering idly if he could take the heat from it. He'd never needed to know before this moment if he could pull heat from a person.

When it didn't seem to work, he only lifted his eyes to hers, and he shrugged. Worth a try. "Uryo warned me that he felt I was close to my trial," he murmured to her, his expression going slightly more serious. "Those burns will be far worse, I imagine." He curled his hand through hers, aware in this moment that despite his wish to not hurt her, it would be inevitable, especially in the time of his true trial. *

Shikiyoku's eyebrows lifted when Hiei said as much about his trial.

(Though I have never witnessed one myself, this news does not surprise me.) Given his recent turmoil. Her lips twitched with amusement. (I must say, compared to full-blooded fire demons, you have always been something of a pussy-cat, my Consort.) She gave him a sly disposition had always been so tempered, Shikiyoku thought, by his Koorime heritage. Fire elementalists were always very quick to harsh swings of emotion so as to make them much more volatile than he had ever been, in her experience. Such musings traversed their bond.

"I can hardly believe you have a fear of hurting me, Hiei." She teased. "I think you will find I do not break nearly so easily. I am made of sturdier stuff than that. Maybe one of those burns will actually be worth remembering." She grinned wickedly at him. 3

This time, Hiei laughed in spite of himself. He lifted her palm to his lips and kissed her hand, still chuckling, and he closed his eyes as the bond told him of her thoughts on his heritage and how it seemed to stunt his more fiery nature.

(I will do my best to remember that.) He opened his eyes to look up at her again, his lips still pressed to her palm. (In the meantime, I appreciate your patience with me.)

He stood up again and shifted his hold on her hand until his fingers were linked through hers and their palms came together.

"So, what do you think of my making you a couple of katana, and us occasionally taking time away from the bar once in a while?" *

Shikiyoku watched with gentle eyes as he pressed his lips to her wound, feeling how he stirred her energy, dusting her cheeks with a pink tinge.

She let out a breathy chuckle at his question and shook her head a little, but at the very least seemed less averse to the notion this time around, "I suppose if a warrior like you wishes to waste his time on a novice like me, who am I to stop you? I can't imagine you're going to have any fun, though." 3

Hiei shook his head and turned to lead her from the room, feeling drained emotionally and physically, but wanting to return to the bar and his guild, who might notice their missing presence after too long and get worried.

"No time with you is wasted time," he reassured her as he tugged her up to his side and lifted his arm to rest it across her shoulders, their hands still linked in front of her. "And I can't have 'fun' in any case, since we've already established that I don't even know what that is." *

Shikiyoku actually laughed, then.

"Ah, yes, how silly of me to forget." She took the stairs slowly, feeling the weight of his exhaustion as if it were her own. "Hiei the Fierce. Certainly not 'Hiei the Fun.'" She grinned. 3

Hiei didn't fight the grin that stretched across his tired features.

"I am fierce, and I'm insulted that you'd forgotten." He squeezed her hand in his as they descended the stairs one by one, slowly, methodically.

When they reached the base of the stairs, he paused to look around at the mess he had made of the first floor again. After a beat, he gave a little sigh. "As for this," he waved the index finger of their linked hands in a circle at the living area, "I'll clean it when I have more energy. I hardly think it fair for you or whoever you have hired for cleaning the place to pick up after my messes." *

"I apologize." Shikiyoku managed quite sincerely, "I'll strive not to let it happen again."

She frowned at the overturned rooms, but turned to look up at him with a flat expression that could not cover up how her eyes gleamed with her teasing, "Hiei, you would rob me of one of the few pleasures I have in this life? Cleaning up messes?" 3

Hiei turned and pressed his lips against her head.

"Not at all. I'm sure you'll have plenty of messes with me around." The bond warmed with his internal chuckle at the prospect. "This one, however, I would like to reorder myself. One less thing for you to worry about."

He smiled against the side of her head. "Until the next one, anyway." *

"I suppose I can let you this once." Shikiyoku grumbled, flushing a little again as he kissed her and starting to make her way for the door. "If you insist." 3

Hiei lingered against the side of her head for a moment before he pulled away and turned to look forward, following her out the door before placing his arm back around her shoulders.

They walked a leisurely pace through the sleeping city, making idle chatter and Hiei occasionally turning to kiss her again. He enjoyed their stroll towards the bar, in no particular hurry, and somewhere along the way he decided that the idea of laying in bed in the apartment above the bar wasn't so appealing as it originally had been.

His time in the bond with Shikiyoku and the observations she'd opened up to him left his mind too awake, too busy that even if he did get comfortable physically, he knew he wouldn't sleep.

And he expected Shikiyoku to work as well.

As they stepped onto the road that led to the bar, he slowed their pace just a fraction, and he expressed his desire to work in the bar with her, even behind the bar together. "We haven't done it before," he told her with a lopsided smile. "I think it would be interesting."

~!**!~

Akari threw her head back and laughed aloud, her hand over her stomach as if it hurt from the exertion. "I can't believe you bet on-"

"It was a possible outcome at the time!" Tarou defended himself, frowning at Chisai, who had ratted him out. "There was no way I thought he'd-" Akari's laughter grew louder and he stopped talking long enough to grumble something about shutting her up under his breath.

Her laughter stopped and she turned a stare onto him, challenging. "Is that so?"

She'd turned serious so fast that he raised a brow at her, his eyes flickering from her to the drink that a passing waitress set next to her, which went ignored just as the past four had.

"I think any bet regarding Hiei is fair game," Raiton said over the tension between the two.

"Thank you!" Tarou yelled, breaking the eye contact he had established with Akari only to turn and gesture in Raitoningu's direction. "I knew I could count on you!"

Akari snickered and lifted her glass to her lips again, eyeing him from the corner of her mouth. "So cute, they're buttbuddies."

"What in the Nine Levels does that mean?" *

"I don't think you want to know." Akihiko murmured over the rim of his glass as he took another drink.

"On the contrary, I think he actually might." Raion grinned.

"How come everyone knows but me?" Tarou protested.

"Because some of us actually use our ears once in a while, Tarou." Tsun's cold blue eyes glittered as Tarou's gaze flickered up towards the wolf ears sitting on top of the ice demon's head.

"Yeah, well, if I had ears like them things, pretty boy, I'd probably be more likely to use 'em!"

~!**!~

It had certainly been a long time since the both of them had worked there together, and Shikiyoku agreed that she didn't think they had worked behind the bar at the same time ever.

"Well," She allowed, "Let's see if we're short any places tonight first, hm? You sure you're feeling up for working?" 3

Hiei nodded, "I think standing in one place will be easy. I'll just move slower than usual." He reached out to pull the door open for her, lifting his arm from her shoulders so she could walk through. "I'll pay attention; if I think I need to sit, I'll just join the guild."

He stepped into the bar behind her.

~!**!~

Akari sipped on her drink, her eyes glancing briefly to the new addition to her slowly growing pile of requests. She shook her head to herself and turned to the conversation again, lowering her glass to the table as she leaned into the wooden structure. She opened her mouth to say something, but Raion spoke over her, his eyes pointed somewhere over her head.

"You're back!" He lifted his glass in the direction of the door, his smile wide. "Glad to see he's in one piece!"

Akari shifted in her chair to look over her shoulder, her eyes catching sight first of the arm Tarou threw over the back of it before her focus moved beyond that and to Hiei and Shikiyoku stepping into the room.

"He looks pale," Akihiko muttered next to her, seemingly to himself.

"He probably overdid it again," Chisai whispered.

"You guys gonna drink at least a round with us before you go up?" Tarou yelled their direction. *

"What do you think, Hiei?" Shikiyoku turned and murmured in his ear as she left her glittering gaze eyeing the table the guild sat around, "One drink or no?" 3

Hiei raised a brow at the guild, Tarou's voice easily louder than the rest of the establishment. He turned his head a little in Shikiyoku's direction, his eyes steady on the group, and he considered the offer for a beat.

He turned and murmured into her ear, "I'm sure one would make them happy."

Akari eyed the pair, amused at their consulting one another, but both still watching the guild.

"The little shit is gonna steal her for himself," Tarou grumbled.

Akari grinned, "Green with envy, are we?"

He might have answered her if not for Shikiyoku and Hiei's coming closer, and she turned to flag a waitress down to order another round for the table. "On me," she told the demoness, who nodded and turned away.

She didn't miss Hiei catching the woman's eye before she could get too far.

Once the pair were within a certain distance, Akihiko stood and waved his hand at Hiei and Shikiyoku, and Akari followed his suit so that they each had a chair. "Sit," he told them with a stern look at Hiei in particular.

Tarou pulled his arm away from the chair Akari had been sitting in, and he gave a look at her.

"Nice try, big guy," she told him as she moved to hover on his left. "But I prefer to stand." *

"Well, don't feel as if you have to stand on my account, cupcake." Shikiyoku assumed Hiei would take Akihiko's chair as she moved in their direction, lifting her glasses from her face to settle them in the midst of the crown of hair on her head.

While her face gave nothing away, the bond between herself and Hiei colored with a mischievous hue as Shikiyoku made absolutely no fuss about immediately climbing over Tarou's leg and sitting perched on it.

"It looked like an open invitation to me, darling. But do correct me if I'm wrong." She leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. 3

Hiei, pinned under Hiko's stare as he was, waved a hand at his Second in Command dismissively, but took the seat anyway. "You worry too much."

"I worry exactly as much as I need to." Hiko replied loftily, and he lowered a drink in front of Hiei. "Drink. Get some color back."

He blinked at the fiery beverage, and when he glanced up, he noticed Sachiko making her way around the table with a smile on her face. He turned up to Hiko again, appreciation clear across his face. "Yeah, yeah."

Akari only shrugged at Shikiyoku. "It was an offer."

Tarou, however, froze when the person he least expected to take his offer slid into his lap, and he eyed her from the corner of his eyes as she kissed his cheek. When she pulled away, he stuttered for a moment before, all at once, he laughed.

"I'll never say no to you. That being said, I think your demon form would be far more comfortable for you." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

The others, however, took one look at the redness that had crept across Tarou's face and various degrees of laughter filtered around the group. The wolf brothers threw their head back and howled their amusement, while Raion snickered and Chisai half chuckled.

Akihiko finished his new drink in one big gulp and waved at Sachi for another.

Even Hiei chuckled to himself, and Akari watched as the rest of the guild immediately silenced and turned to stare at him. *

Tsundora's icy stare pierced across the table and he was the first to speak, "You feelin' alright over there, Boss?"

"Not...feverish or anything?" Raion swirled a finger in the air up near his temple.

Meanwhile, Shikiyoku leaned over before she could stop herself and purred low into Tarou's ear, "If I was in my demon form, Tarou, it would be you sitting in my lap." 3

Tarou crossed his legs so that his right ankle rested on his left knee, and he propped his elbow against the back of his chair. "Well," he said as he settled again, "next time you're in that form, remind me to ask you to save a seat for me." He took his new drink from Sachiko as she passed, and then his other hand motioned for Shikiyoku's drink as well from her. He offered it to her with a lopsided grin. "And then we'll see what happens, mm?"

Hiei, too distracted by the others to really pay attention to Shiki and Tarou's conversation, took a long draw from his drink. His stare leveled off on Raion first, who raised a brow at him before he turned to Tsun. "I am perfectly fine, thank you." *

Their eyes narrowed in contemplation as they openly theorized in front of him.

"He doesn't look fine."

"Doesn't smell very fine either."

"But he can certainly hear just fine, you idiots." Akihiko sighed as the other two just grinned. "I for one am glad you're here. This lot is barely tolerable without you, I'll have you know."

"That's his way of saying he missed you." Raiton tossed Hiei a roguish smile.

Shikiyoku took the drink, eyes gleaming over it as she lifted it to her lips, "All you have to do is ask." 3

Tarou's eyes glittered at her. "Consider this my formal request, then," he wrapped her in a crushing hug, his drink still in one of his hands. "And, of course, you always have the best seat in the house available to you when you decide to grace us with your presence."

Hiei nodded his head back and forth as the other two remarked about his status of 'fine', though his lips almost twitched up. "You're lucky I've no energy to fry you with," he told them.

He flashed a brief glance in Raiton's direction, then turned up to Akihiko with a thoughtful expression. "Is that so? I didn't think I was anything more than a scapegoat for you." He raised a brow. "I guess you don't have anyone to lay blame on for this group's behavior if I'm not here."

Chisai slid his drink to the side so he could lean on the table with both arms. "You're lucky Gai isn't here. He'd probably hug you."

Hiei, knowing the other wouldn't expect it, turned to stare at Chisai. "Are you hinting that you also want a hug?"

"Uh-" He blinked. "-No?"

"That sounded like a question," he replied seriously. *

"Chisai, you're not a very good liar." Raion pointed at him with a finger of the hand wrapped around the beverage he was lifting to his face. "Never have been."

"Gai isn't the only one around here who likes hugs." Raiton piped up. "He's just the one who goes around giving everyone hugs."

Shikiyoku chuckled in the midst of Tarou's arms wrapped around her, holding her drink close to her chest.

"I'll keep that in mind, Tarou. It's certainly not the worst lap I've ever sat in." 3

Tarou lifted his drink to his lips, using it to hide the grin that crinkled the edges of his eyes.

"I'll take it."

Akari, for her part, found her eyes looking from person to person at the table, half bewildered at the events, and almost sure she'd fallen asleep at the table and was dreaming. She sipped her drink some more, then glanced down at it, wondering if it was strong enough to make her imagine these events.

Chisai shot a look at Raiton, but he did not deny the fact.

Hiei narrowed his eyes at the blue haired demon across from him. "I know about as much of hugs as I do video games and puppies. You'd have better luck getting one from her." He tilted his head in Shikiyoku's direction.

"I think he's lying too," Raion said with a grin. "I bet he'd love a hug."

"I bet we could catch him still. He looks pretty tired," Raiton added.

Tarou tuned into the conversation, "Did I hear something about catching Hiei?"

"No," the fire demon replied instantly. *

Shikiyoku sighed a little when Tarou let go of her and she leaned her side into him and rested her head against him, staring over at Hiei, though she likely wasn't aware of it.

She did smile whenever he spoke of her giving hugs and shifted a little to look over at Chisai, "All you have to do is ask, Chisai."

The devolution of the conversation from there almost had her laughing again until Tarou piped up.

"You're staying right here." Shikiyoku poked his chest with a finger before she took another drink.

"Yes, ma'am." 3

Hiei narrowed his eyes at Raion and Raiton, "You move from that seat and you might find a fire somewhere you don't want it to be."

"He's feelin' pretty fiery, huh?" Tsun commented.

Raion shifted as if to stand. "I bet you couldn't make a flame."

"Try me."

Akihiko sighed. "Yes, yes, you're all very strong and fast. Shut up and drink." He pinned Raion with a stare. "Let's not cause a scene in the bar."

"Ah, it's Aki, the killer of fun. He's back."

Hiko raised a brow. *

"You can't kill something that wasn't alive in the first place, kitty-cat." Shikiyoku rejoined dryly as she took another sip.

"Mum, why you gotta be like that?" Raion grinned at her in the midst of other guild members rumbling at the comeback.

"Because you haven't the faintest idea of what fun really is."

"Are you offering to teach me?"

"I think you would make a very trying student."

His eyes gleamed at her. 3

Akihiko leaned over and tapped Akari's arm, and when she turned to look at him, he pointed at the still empty chair that she had vacated for Shiki. Akari shook her head, "I'm used to standing for long periods of time, and today has been a lot of sitting."

He nodded at her before he turned down to Hiei again, "By the way, when you're well enough, Kurama has mentioned a job for us."

Hiei looked up at Hiko, suddenly uninterested in the conversations going on around him. "Is that so?" This was the first he had heard of it.

The older demon nodded. "On the Seventh." Hiko's eyes gleamed. "Just thought I'd give you something to think about while resting."

"What you really mean is 'get better so we can go on this job or I might just kill you.'"

"Kill you? No. But I'd come close."

Hiei shook his head, almost chuckling.

Akihiko pat him on the back, then turned and moved to the bar.

"Yo! Aki!" Tarou held up his empty tankard at the other when he looked back. "Since you're on your way."

Hiko almost smiled. "Nah, I think you'll be fine." He glanced at Shikiyoku, "Do you need a drink?"

"Rude." *

"Anything from you, Hiko," Shikiyoku smiled sweetly at him, "Would be a fine drink, indeed."

Tarou narrowed his eyes at her, but didn't say anything.

The rest of the guild was murmuring about the mission Akihiko reminded them of.

"Did we ever ask him what it was about?"

"He hadn't given us more details than it being something he wanted to hire us for and 'the seventh,' from what I remember."

"An artifact." Chisai provided. "Retrieved from a location." 3

"Sounds like he expects everyone to be involved," Hiei added to the conversation. He turned to the two wolves. "Do you know how long you two will be around?"

"Of course," Hiko nodded to Shikiyoku, as if he'd expected no less. He turned and shuffled his way to the bar, disappearing between the crowds.

"How long is Gai gone again?" Chisai muttered to Raion.

"Aki said a couple of days, probably."

"Is he with Airi?" Hiei asked the pair.

"Yeah. Said she had a couple of days off. I think Akihiko mentioned a vacation?"

Hiei nodded in understanding. "Of course." *

When Tarou felt Shikiyoku sigh a second time, he glanced down at whatever part of her face he could see as she took another sip of her drink and he followed her gaze over to where she seemed to be intently watching Hiei.

"You okay, mom?" He asked quietly, lightly resting his cheek against her hair.

He felt her take a breath like she might answer, but when she didn't, he frowned a little and gently rubbed his free hand back and forth across her back a couple of times.

"I was really worried." She mumbled almost against him and he barely heard her.

His one-armed hug this time was much softer than his earlier one and he glanced over at Hiei himself.

"...yeah me too." 3

The brothers exchanged a glance before they turned to Hiei again, shrugging in tandem. "We're here until they call us," Tsun said.

"Like usual." Raiton concluded.

Hiei nodded.

Akari shook her head at a waitress passing by, denying the third drink that had been offered to her since she'd stood up, and a voice calling her name caught her attention. She blinked and glanced around, until Akihiko's gaze pierced through the crowd from the bar.

She set her drink next to Hiei and shuffled in Akihiko's direction, confused.

"They didn't have a tray for me to borrow," he told her as he began passing her a couple of plates and one tankard. "They gotta eat too." He frowned in the direction of the table, and Akari understood.

"Gotcha."

As he gathered a couple more drinks in his hands, Akari turned and made her way back through the crowd, coming to stand next to Hiei's chair. She set a plate down in front of him, then turned and offered the second one to Shikiyoku, and the tankard in her hand to Tarou. "Courtesy of Akihiko," she told them with a smile.

On cue, said demon appeared with Shikiyoku's drink extended in her direction, and he leaned down to whisper something about helping her watch over Hiei for a bit so she could relax for a moment.

"-Akari?"

"Hm?" She turned to look at Chisai again, Tarou's empty tankard in her hand. "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening." *

Shikiyoku smiled at Akari as the other offered her a plate, nodding thanks at Akihiko when he reappeared and she plucked her drink from his hand.

"I appreciate the consideration," She told him, but shook her head, "But it's not quite that simple for me."

"You're welcome to watch with me if you like." She let out a heavy breath through her nose, nearly laughing at herself, "I keep thinking if I look away he might disappear on me. It's silly." 3

Akihiko shook his head at Shikiyoku, his eyes on Hiei, who looked up at Akari as she leaned into the back of his chair. "It's not silly," he murmured as he moved to sit in the chair she hadn't occupied, leaning closer to Shikiyoku so that Hiei might not hear. "It will take a while to process, I'm sure."

Tarou nodded, his hand rubbing idle circles on her back again. "It's good to see him out here with us."

"Mm, no, I haven't known him long enough," Akari answered Chisai. "And I hardly ever went so far down the levels to even begin to guess what he might have for you down there."

"My parents used to use him as a way to test his security, back in the day," Chisai added.

Hiei turned from Akari to his guildmate, his head tilted a little. "I'm willing to bet they never outsmarted him."

"Of course not. But it did help against others." *

The brothers were batting around ideas about what could be the objective on the Seventh, but they hadn't spent much time there themselves enough to say what it could be.

"He did say something about being unable to go himself." Raion added.

"I just couldn't live without him, you know?" Shikiyoku reached up and fiddled with the tear gem necklace around her neck, growing thoughtful before she shook her head. "I certainly wouldn't be alive without him in any case." 3

Tarou's hand paused and he eyed Shikiyoku. He didn't immediately ask about what she meant, but his expression did soften a little as he noticed her hand playing with the necklace still hidden under her shirt.

Akihiko felt a sort of pang, and he certainly recognized the feeling. He nodded slowly, then raised his drink to his lips. "So, how'd he do it?" He eyed her curiously.

His gaze slid to Hiei again, wondering what he'd have saved her from, and he realized in that moment Hiei hadn't touched his plate. He narrowed his eyes and was about to get up when Akari smacked him on the head and gestured with her drink at his untouched food.

"Pretty sure Akihiko wanted you to eat." She grumbled at him.

Hiei shot her a look. "Touch me again and-"

"Yes, yes. Empty threat, blah, blah, blah. Eat, before he hits you himself."

Hiei narrowed his eyes at her, but turned to his forgotten plate anyway. With the first bite, his stomach growled, and he realized he hadn't eaten much since he'd woken up.

"His attacks, though," Chisai continued, pulling Akari's attention to the others again, "did make it impossible for anyone but Kurama to get in and out. He always knew where the holes in the security were." *

Seeing Hiei eat actually reminded Shikiyoku of the food Akari left her as well and she reached over to have some herself, not moving much otherwise.

She smiled a little, "Would you believe me if I told you he helped mend a broken heart?" 3

Tarou reached out and stole a piece from Shikiyoku's plate.

"I wouldn't think it entirely unbelievable," Hiko said after a moment, and the look Tarou gave him was somewhere along the lines of liar. "I can't imagine the circumstances of your relationship being easy to come by."

Tarou raised a brow. "What makes you say that?"

Aki turned to look at him then. "Why else would a demon form a pact that's - I assume - a lifelong agreement between the two, and it not be a Lifemate's ritual." He turned to Shikiyoku again. "A broken heart is a serious matter." *

Shikiyoku smiled a little at the memory as she munched on the food, still snuggled up against Tarou.

"He took the shattered pieces and bound them all up tight again. If he hadn't pacted with me that second time, I definitely would have died. And he practically killed himself getting to me, I was so far gone." 3

Akihiko nodded, as if he'd suspected as much.

"Then I suppose he can keep yah," Tarou grumbled, though his smile was most definitely a fond one. "For a while, anyway."

Hiei finished his food and drink, and when a waitress stopped by to pick it up, she caught his eye. He felt the little telepathic nudge, and he nodded at her.

"Your regular is asking if you're working today."

Hiei turned to look at the station he usually stood at, seeing a woman sitting with a drink in front of her. The waitress' amusement flickered across her face when he glanced at her again. "Not yet."

"Going to make her wait, hm?"

"As long as I can," he said as he turned away and she continued on her way back to the bar. He leaned into the table and pointed a finger in Raion's direction. "You. Cat."

Raion raised a brow. "You. Little shit."

Hiei opened his mouth to continue, paused, and squinted his eyes at the lion, who only grinned. *

Shikiyoku pat her hand on Tarou's chest comfortingly as she smiled, feeling some sort of charge on the air and noticing Hiei glance over at the bar.

"I'm glad you approve, big guy." She sat up and kissed his cheek again, "Thanks."

She hopped down between his knees and turned to give him a hug before shifting around him to grab her dishes and give Akihiko a wink before moving off through the crowd towards the bar to shoo away whoever was working that she thought might want to leave. 3

Tarou sighed wistfully as Shikiyoku kissed him, and his eyes followed her. "Miss you already!" he called after her.

Hiei jabbed his finger in Raion's direction again, and this time when he opened his mouth to speak, it was Shikiyoku moving away that stopped him.

"Cat got your tongue, Boss?" Raion teased.

Akari moved away from his chair as he threw back the last of his drink, seeing his eyes following Shikiyoku, and she stepped to the side to let Hiei push the chair back and follow after.

Her eyes gleamed at his back as he shuffled through the crowds. He's absolutely smitten.

She turned back to the group to see Raion snickering to himself. "You're right, Aki. He let it slide."

Akihiko stood and moved back towards the chair Hiei had vacated, and he held his hand out to Raion palm-up. "Pay up."

Akari moved away from the pair and took her seat next to Tarou again, only mildly surprised when a waitress passed by and sat a drink at her elbow. She eyed this one, more surprised by its mild request, before she turned and rested her elbow on the table and her cheek on the top of that hand.

When she smiled at him, Tarou only raised a brow at her. "What? Thinking about taking her spot?"

"Keep dreamin'," she told him as she reached out and took the glass a waitress had just set in front of him - his next drink. "Maybe one day your dreams will come true." She sipped at his drink, claiming it as hers.

He leaned her direction. "You're lucky that one doesn't have a meaning."

"I did it because it has no meaning." *

Shikiyoku leaned her elbows up on the bar, shifting between two stools and not paying particular attention to the woman sitting in one of them after she slid her cups and plate onto the counter.

"You need something else, Za Joie?" One of the bartenders shot her a toothy smile.

She tilted her head a little and looked at him steadily as she nodded thanks at one of the others who swept her things off the bar, "What I need is for you to go home, love."

He blinked at her.

"I wouldn't argue, man."

"Same goes for you."

"No argument here." The second one immediately slipped his apron off over his head to turn and go find a hook for it.

"You have a drink you're in the middle of?"

"Nah, finished up the last one. C'mon, dude. Either thank her or close your mouth. You'll catch a fly or something."

"Th-thanks."

She winked at him as she moved around the other side and the first one hugged her as he went by, the second hesitating a moment before she wrapped her arms around him too and after returning it he gave her a half-smile as he left.

"Can I get you anything else, beautiful?" Shikiyoku asked of the woman seated across from her as she absently moved a few things around before giving her a brilliant smile. 3

Hiei slipped through the crowded bar with general ease despite his measured steps, his eyes on Shikiyoku as she hugged the two bartenders she had dismissed. He nodded at each of them as they passed him by, wishing them both a good evening telepathically before he took up residence behind the station next to Shikiyoku's.

He glanced her way long enough to shoot her a smile before he reached below and began to line up shot glasses in front of him.

"Hey, man. Hear you got sick. How ya feelin'?" one of the guys at his station asked, and Hiei turned his attention to the demon whose pupils were nonexistent and whose blond-black hair stood on end in a similar fashion to Hiei's own.

"Not too bad," he told the other, not for the first time glancing over the large tattoo in the middle of his forehead, somewhat reminiscent of a cross and yet not quite proportionate enough to be as such. "How's that hunt going?"

"Man… if I run into one more dead end, I might just have to hire your guy." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Your tracker."

"Akihiko."

"Yeah." Hiei set one of the shot glasses in front of the guy. "Thanks. Anyway, you think he'd be up for it?"

Hiei shrugged and slid a drink past the guy and to a patron at the end of his station, not missing the woman at the far end of Shikiyoku's bar eyeing him.

He slid a half-finished drink in Shikiyoku's direction, the alcohol he needed to finish it sitting on the shelf behind her. (Would you top that off for me, please?)

~!**!~

"Alright, I'm dying to know," Akari piped up after a while.

Tarou shifted in his chair to face her, grinning. "Dyin' to know what, beautiful?"

"Is he always so obvious?"

"Who?"

She nodded her head towards Hiei in the distance, her eyes flickering to him briefly before she turned to Tarou again. "Because his pining is almost painful to watch."

"Yeah, it's been like that since we've known him," Raion said from across the table. "He's clueless, and has no idea what he's doing."

"As we've already established," Akihiko mumbled. *

~!**!~

The seats in front of Shikiyoku began to fill and she at least somewhat cheerily engaged with each one, conversation darting back and forth as she made them drinks along with whatever else the waitstaff requested of her.

After a couple of minutes of doing so, she suddenly reached out her hand and caught a bottle of liquor just about to hit one of her patrons in the face right about the time a voice from the other end of the bar called out, "Special Delivery, Za Joie!" Before a set of giggling cackles reached her ears.

"Tsurara, you little punk!" She yelled back in irritation, gesturing with the bottle whose glass had just a touch of chill from the other's ice affinity, "Don't toss stuff at me from across the room when you're working! You're gonna hit somebody!"

"But I didn't!"

"I told you she'd catch it." She heard a second voice proclaiming proudly to the few seated nearby.

"Don't do it again!" She ordered, earning more laughter.

She huffed and turned away, to put the bottle on the shelf, "You'd think I'd know better than to hire a pair of chiko-level kitsune."

Some of her own patrons chuckled.

"You alright, beautiful? Sorry about that. Here." Shikiyoku slid an extra drink she mixed while her back was turned to the one the bottle had almost hit.

Shikiyoku watched a drink slide its way her direction as Hiei spoke to her and she looked up and gave him a winning smile as she turned to oblige.

(How could I say no when you ask so nicely?) 3

Hiei glanced up in time to see Shikiyoku catch the bottle and the demoness flinch from the sound of her hand snatching it from the air. He watched her sputter for a moment before he turned and slid drinks down the bar for a waitress to snatch up on her way by.

He raised his brow at Shikiyoku telling the kitsune not to toss bottles, and the fire demon, feeling cheeky, glanced down the line of bars to see the drinks the pair had lined up. When he noticed one of those drinks required a bottle that they'd just emptied, a gleam came to his eye and he reached below the bar station to pluck his extra bottle from there.

"Here," he called down the line, "Don't drop it." He telepathically probed the closest kitsune before he threw it down the line effortlessly, not even caring to watch it soar over the heads of the others and instead returning to what he'd been doing.

When there was no crash, he almost snickered to himself. (Thank you, my Beloved.) He plucked the finished drink from her station and slid it to the guy in front of him, who shook his head and swept it up.

"Well, I'll leave you to your trouble making and go see your tracker, then. What's his name again?"

"Akihiko."

"Yeah. Thanks."

The demon slid away, and almost immediately, the woman at the end of Shikiyoku's station said her thanks for the extra drink and muttered something about it being safer further down the line, and she switched stations.

Hiei didn't even look at her as he lined up a few more drinks.

His ear twitched and there was the briefest sensation telepathically of being nudged, and he glanced up in time to snatch a bottle from the air, not even glancing down the line at the kitsune.

"For that one you don't have!"

"Thanks." *

The instant her chair was vacated, two more demons squeezed in to take her place, chatting up Shikiyoku as she seemed to be making two or three things at the same time with just as much ease as she might one and not spilling a drop.

She only let her eyes fall down the row of demons in the stool when something flitted across her awareness, somehow both the desire through her energy and the disgust through her bond as she watched the demon who left her engage with Hiei a little more personally than her Consort preferred.

Her lips twitched a little as she turned back to answer another question or two and hoped the woman enjoyed it, because it was the only moment she was going to get that night if Shikiyoku had anything to do with it.

And she would. 3

Hiei had known it would happen, but once he had gotten into the groove of making drinks - albeit at a slower pace than was typical for him - he forgot all about the woman who had set herself in the very center of his station. He didn't notice her leaning further forward on her stool, or how she planted herself with her arms crossed on the bartop and leaned forward with a certain purpose.

But he was reminded of her presence when he set a glass down in front of her with the intent of sliding it down the way to the very end for Sachiko to take, and her hand had snaked out to just brush over the dragon on his arm.

Hiei batted her hand away and slid the drink down the line, a brief blip of disgust filtering along his awareness before he moved on. He traded trays with a waitress before he lined up drinks again, and he dropped into the bond long enough to warn Shikiyoku that he intended to step behind her briefly before he followed through with it.

"Hiei!"

The fire demon didn't even look up this time, able to hear the bottle coming, and he snatched it too out of the air, his arm extended up over Shikiyoku's head to catch it on the outside section of her station.

He passed behind her once he found a bottle at the end of her station, and he warned her again when he passed back by so that she wouldn't step back. As he passed, he filled a couple of glasses for her with a wink before he returned to his own station and resumed the multi-layered drink he'd started for a customer somewhere out in the crowd.

This time Sachi stepped beside the woman in front of him to retrieve the layered drink, and he reached past the demoness in the stool to hand the drink off to Sachiko, who also tallied off a larger order telepathically. He didn't even notice the woman reaching for him this time, too focused on the order Sachi rattled off. *

Shikiyoku looked up from what she was doing when she realized Hiei caught something in midair just over her head and she heard more snickering from all the way down at the other end of the bar and let out a sigh, but didn't say anything.

Reason number twelve why she would never hire more kitsune: you had to be very specific with your orders if you were trying to get them to not doing something.

She turned as Hiei passed behind her, seeing the bottle he had was the one she needed and stood staring at him when, after doing the deed for her, his somewhat neutral expression was punctuated by a completely out of place wink she wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been about to protest his snatching what she needed.

When Shikiyoku later saw Sachiko move towards Hiei to relieve him of the drink he had been working on, she darted over and slipped up behind Hiei, her right hand resting against the small of his back warning him she was there as she reached out another glass in Sachi's direction, weaving her arm through in such a way that as Hiei retracted his, and the she-demon's hand came up searching for it, the latter's fingers caressed down Shikiyoku's bare forearm where she'd rolled up her sleeves earlier.

"For the big lug over in the corner." She told Sachi and tipped her chin in the guild's direction just as the other demon touched her.

Barely needing the second of their contact to stir her energy with the right timing, it looked as if the demon's fingers left shimmering trails up Shikiyoku's arm before she abruptly pulled away, startled at the arm not being who she expected.

For her part, Shikiyoku looked her up and down as if she was only just now seeing her, pulling her arm back to her side and raising an eyebrow at the other, a flirty half-smile dancing over her features.

"Well, hello, beautiful." The term of endearment had much more meaning to it this time as Shikiyoku slowly winked at her before ducking to reach for one of the glasses she needed from here and sashaying back to her own station with a bit of a sparkle. 3

Shikiyoku's hand at his back had Hiei pausing briefly in place as she stepped up next to him, but after a beat his hands continued their work on the glasses in front of him. About the time he thought he might have a chance to kiss her, she was engaged with the woman sitting in front of him, and the realization that she'd slipped her arm in place of his had him side-eyeing her as she moved away.

He turned forward to the woman in front of him and nodded. "She's pretty, hm?" he commented to the woman, who only blinked at him in an owlish fashion.

He set her drink order in front of her and turned to step into Shikiyoku's station, the bottle he'd taken from her in one hand and a drink in his other. He set the drink down in front of the customer in the last stool of his station, and he put the bottle he'd borrowed from Shiki's station back where it belonged.

On his way back, he paused behind her long enough to kiss her cheek before he continued on, his hands having snatched a couple of things from her station before he returned to his own. *

Shikiyoku's eyes widened as she stared down at the drinks she poured in front of her and realized Hiei had kissed her.

She glanced over at him.

(Cheeky.)

While she hadn't thought just the one time would be enough to deter the other, having suspected this was someone Hiei "dealt" with regularly, as she and Hiei started moving around to fill the order Sachi had given him, Shikiyoku watched the woman order another drink from him, having finished her latest, seeing him nod that he'd heard her even as the two of them began weaving in and out of one another's space like they'd been doing this a while.

This time when Shikiyoku felt it, she was on Hiei's other side and turned to see him almost ready to place the drink in front of the patron, who had every intention of feathering her hand up his wrist, but as Hiei reached forward to place it down, intending at the same time to fish out and place the double olive-skewer to finish, Shikiyoku was already almost against his side, reaching with one arm underneath him for something she needed in front of him while commenting,

"Don't forget the olives." She slipped her hand with the skewer over top of his arm to place into the glass, and this time when the she-demon found herself touching Shikiyoku once more, the same shimmer happened as the last time, but Shikiyoku 'caught' her in the act of it and watched for a moment with a particular smile before turning her swirling gaze on the other and raising her eyebrows a little.

"Again, beautiful?" She murmured at her as she passed, "If you wanted to touch me so badly, you could just ask. You'd find me very compliant." 3

Hiei had let himself stay somewhat submerged into the bond so that when he moved from his own station to Shikiyoku's, or she moved to his, there was an instantaneous knowledge of it happening. They began to weave around each other as they filled orders, and Hiei realized he'd picked up his speed just a little as they worked in tandem.

He didn't hesitate when the demoness at the center of his station murmured her order, and he didn't even look up. He only nodded and set to work on it, setting it in the line of his other in-progress drinks.

This time when Sachi came by to pick up the order she had given him, she stood a bit further away than before, obviously aware of the moment earlier and making it as easy as possible for both he and Shikiyoku.

Hiei almost smiled as he set the woman's drink in front of her and Shikiyoku was there again, her arm taking his place where the other might have brushed against the swirls she hadn't been able to touch before.

He didn't have to see her to know that the woman's eyes darted between them, unsure and slightly frustrated, and Hiei stepped around Shiki for the briefest moment before he returned to where he had been, his hand briefly passing over the small of her back in quiet appreciation.

A few demons at his station snickered and laughed at the events, and one even slid Hiei a drink. "I can't imagine resisting that energy to be easy," he'd mouthed.

Hiei shrugged and sent it right back. I'm allowed to get away with it.

He nodded to the woman finally. "She's very approachable," he told her before he moved off again. "Maybe we should switch stations," he stage whispered to Shikiyoku.

A patron at Shikiyoku's station waved to get his attention, and he paused in front of that woman, who smiled apologetically before asking him for a shot. He happily poured that out for her and set it in front of her before moving on. *

Shikiyoku winked at the she-demon at Hiei's suggestion, but only turned away instead of giving him a direct answer.

Inwardly their bond rang her laughter.

(Hiei, I think I might be rubbing off on you and I'm not sure if that's a good thing.)

After a few more minutes had passed, she silently asked Hiei to fix a couple of the drinks down in the last seats of her section as she poured a shot that swirled with rich burgundy colors en route to the woman still in the middle of what was technically his section.

Her eyes glittered, "Apparently, you've an offer, beautiful."

Shikiyoku placed the shot just at the edge of her side of the bar and when the other curiously reached out to grab for it, she gently ran the tips of the fingers that had been setting the shot down up the woman's arm in a sinuous, methodical fashion, watching the contact between them as the other seemed taken aback by the unsolicited touch.

"Mm. Do you not like that?" Shikiyoku murmured as she leveled a stare on the other and took her hand away, leaning her elbows on the edge of the bar and resting her face in both hands as the woman snatched her arm back.

"Listen, beautiful, it's pretty obvious you probably haven't quite caught on yet, so I'll lay it out real plain for you," She reached out and ran the tip of her finger around the very top of the shot glass, watching the movement, "You'll have a much easier time getting what you want if you set your sights on someone who's actually interested in your advances. Or," She flickered her gaze back up to meet the demon's eyes, "If the thrill of the chase is more your style, you would be wiser to learn what means no, and what no means."

"In other words," Shikiyoku leaned closer, articulating with the seductress' flair, "Don't. Dish it out. If you can't. Take it." 3

Hiei internally shrugged, the impression of it sliding to Shikiyoku over the bond, followed by the hint of a smile that he tossed her direction in the midst of his work.

He might have said something more, but he became distracted by another patron calling for his attention telepathically, and he forgot whatever he'd been about to reply with.

Hiei didn't mind switching her stations, his eyes seeing the shot and where she was going with it. He took her spot quickly and set to work on drinks, chatting idly with the customers who talked while they watched the unfolding events.

"Hiei."

"Hm?" He glanced up at Akari, who had sidled up at some point, and she held up two fingers. He nodded and set to work on those drinks.

Tarou came up behind her. "You don't have to order me a drink, gorgeous," he told her.

Hiei glanced up at the weapons master with a raised brow, "Drink or chat?"

"Yes."

Hiei nodded and poured him a drink too, and when he set the three drinks down, Akari picked up her two and, with a particular gleam in her eye, Hiei had the absolute joy of watching her plant both glasses against her mouth and down both shots simultaneously.

Tarou blinked at her, his hand half outstretched for his own order, and after a beat he tossed his head back and laughed. "A girl after my own heart, I see."

Hiei slid Akari a different drink, and he watched the two turn and make their way back to the guild again, shaking his head at the pair as he turned and set a fruit mix in front of a patron on the far end of the bar.

He looked up, hearing a telepathic request for a bottle from the very far end of the line, and he plucked it from the shelf and sent it sailing to the kitsune.

"Thanks!" he yelled once he caught it.

Hiei returned to the customer in front of him, who remarked something about him 'having too much fun'.

"Nonsense, I've never heard of the word before in my life." *

(And you, sir.)

Shikiyoku glanced at him as she started filling other orders at Hiei's original station, not particularly caring if the demon she had been talking at left or not.

(How long did you let that go on? Did you ever say anything or did you just try and brush her off and hope she would go away?) 3

Hiei turned to the bond when Shikiyoku called for his attention. He shot a brief glance her way, but otherwise showed no outward sign of their communications. He didn't miss, however, the woman sliding from her stool and disappearing into the crowd.

He nodded at a customer's question.

(I'm not sure how long,) he answered, (but I honestly forget between orders.) He might have shrugged if not for the fact that he knew the only reason he hadn't said anything before this moment was how easily he let himself be distracted from it.

"Hiei." He glanced up at Akihiko from across the room, who sat at a table with the demon from earlier. Aki met his gaze evenly, and he didn't need to ask his question.

Hiei shrugged and turned back down to his assembly line, noticed he needed something, and wove past Shikiyoku to grab it. "Your call. Just let me know."

(...I also did not know what to say,) he finally admitted. (Sounds strange when I remember I'd have killed her for even considering it some years ago.) *

(Sometimes killing them is the only 'no' they'll understand.) Shikiyoku replied, trying not to actually frown at his answer.

(From you, though? A sharp glare and a Don't should be all it takes. And I've seen wiser demons back off just from your glare alone.) She almost smiled, thinking back to earlier adventures.

(I am sorry you had to put up with that for so long. Knowing how to tell someone to stop is important. Boundaries are important. Having them and abiding by them. I think more demons would keep their heads if they could learn that.) 3

Hiei set a drink down in front of a woman who had shuffled up to the bar, and when she set a folded bill on the counter and turned away with her drink in hand, he nodded his head at the person next to her to get her attention.

He passed the tip back, a small smile on his face as he tilted his head down the line of bartenders. "Save it for one of them." He told her, and the smile she gave him momentarily reminded him of one similar to a smile he sometimes got from Shikiyoku.

(I'm not sure when I decided that not killing them was better.) The bond rang with his chuckles. (Some things are easier left ignored.) He shrugged. (I'll have to remember to be less tolerant.)

A stool was empty for all of a second before Akari slid into it, crossing her arms and leaning lazily on its surface. She met his gaze when he raised a brow at her. "Surprise me," she told him.

He turned down to pull a tall glass from under the bar. When he glanced up again, Tarou was taking up two whole stools in Shikiyoku's station, and he grinned when he set down an empty glass in front of her.

"You're welcome, by the way." He winked at Shikiyoku and his eyes moved to the wall of bottles behind her. "Hit me with your best shot, Mom." *

Shikiyoku smiled at him, though she was shaking her head.

"I don't think you can handle my best shot, big guy." She teased as she wove a few bottles in and out of one another to finish up another set of drinks to put on a tray and pass out. "Can you settle for second best?" 3

Tarou mumbled an apology to the person next to him when he accidentally elbowed the guy. "Not real sure how much space I've got here, bud." He told the other.

"No worries, man." the other replied, unbothered.

Tarou turned to Shikiyoku again. "Alright then, second best works. If I didn't trust you so much, I'd insist on the best." He gave a wry grin.

~!**!~

Akari shifted until she was comfortable in her seat, her ankles crossed together on the foot rest below. Hiei set down something that had flames burning over its edge, and she eyed it for a moment, slightly recognizing it.

"This is the one you were drinking earlier."

Hiei nodded. "Demon's Fire."

"A favorite, I assume."

Hiei nodded again. She eyed the drink for a bit before deciding it was worth the try. She threw back the flaming shot before following it up with the main drink, and the crackling sparks warmed her all the way through.

She sat there for a while, content with the drink she had. She watched Hiei work as she finished the drink over the span of a few minutes, and when he glanced at her again, she once more asked for him to surprise her.

This time she watched him pull a strange bottle from below in one hand, and in the other he had a short, rounded glass that he set down. She watched the colors swirl in the clear liquid, and when he poured it, a strange smoke effect wafted from the mouth of the bottle as the colors seemed to shoot around the glass like fireworks.

The customer next to her ordered the same thing.

"So," she prodded him telepathically, and when he glanced up at her, she gave him a small smile. "How long have you been pining after Shikiyoku?"

"Pining?" he repeated.

"You know, desperately longing for her."

He lifted the bottle just a hair, stopping the alcohol's flow so he could give her a look. *

~!**!~

"And when, praytell, did you become such a foolish demon as to trust anything I say at all, hm?"

Shikiyoku turned away briefly to grab for a heavy whiskey glass, setting it on the bar in front of him and absently twirling the bottle in her fingers as she leaned over to grab something below before standing back up and letting the liquid pour slowly into his glass, not quite as thick as molasses, but with a similar hue.

Once it filled, she brought up a second bottle that looked to be filled with something more like sunlight and gave it a twisting pour.

When she pulled back, the yellow liquid disappeared beneath the surface of the darker one before suddenly appearing as a brilliant sunburst shape suspended in the midst of the other and she turned to put the bottles away. 3

Tarou shrugged. "Sometimes I like to make rash decisions, and this is one of the more fun ones."

He turned to watch her pour the drink, his eyes following the first liquid, not recognizing it as anything he'd had as of yet in this establishment. When she pulled the second one, he squinted at it almost suspiciously, curious as to its contents and the reason behind its dull glow.

His fascination grew tenfold when she finished pouring the liquid and a little sun seemed to burst to life in the center of the glass. "Whoa, that's pretty cool stuff," he told her as he leaned in to get a closer look.

"I bet it has a sun because it will end up the last thing I drink before tomorrow suddenly hits and I have no idea where I'm at," he joked to the guy next to him.

~!**!~

Akari met Hiei's gaze evenly, her expression serious. "What? You're terrible at hiding it."

Hiei turned back down to the drink he'd been pouring and tipped the bottle over, filling the glass to about three quarters of the way full before he replaced the lid on the bottle, stowed the bottle back where it belonged, and he set the two glasses in front of the two people who had ordered it. "Why do you think I'd oblige you with this conversation?"

Akari took a sip from her drink, and the stout flavor almost made her wince. The lightness of the different fruit flavors popping to life in her mouth contradicted the drink's base dryness, and she blinked at her glass. "This is pretty cool."

The guy next to her made a face. "I think I expected it to be spicy. Because of the reds and such."

Akari nodded. "I bet that would be good too." After a beat, she turned to watch Hiei weave into and then away from Shikiyoku's station, coming away with a bottle that he used to make a line of drinks. "Does she know?"

"Know what, dog?"

"About your feelings, obviously."

Hiei slid the line of drinks to the end of the bar, and then Akari watched as he threw that bottle down the line. Shortly after, another bottle came soaring his direction, and he effortlessly caught it. "Your prying is not amusing." He gave her a look.

She shrugged. "Alright, you're right." She took a sip from her drink. "Oh, can I get another of the Demon's Fire?"

He eyed her full drink, but turned to begin making it anyway. "Since you're paying."

"Of course I am." She turned her nose into the air a bit. *

~!**!~

"It has a 'sun,'" Shikiyoku said, turning back around and leaning her hand on the edge of the bar to stare at it, "Because it's just about the closest I can get to replicating my favorite weapon's gate."

She pointed her finger at it and then him, "This is not a shot. This is a drink. I do not recommend throwing it back all at once." 3

"Damn," he muttered the curse under his breath. "One second she compliments my power, the next she takes my fun away." He sighed wistfully. "But I am so flattered," he placed his hand over his core and leaned dramatically to one side, "to have a mini, consumable version of my weapon's gate in the most popular establishment in the upper levels."

He plucked the drink from the bar and took a careful sip. He mulled over the taste, and after a beat, Tarou grinned at Shikiyoku.

"And it's just as strong as I am. Hell, I think I have a new favorite."

Akihiko appeared on Tarou's left. "We all know you're your favorite person. Glad to see you've found a drink that matches the spirit."

"Damn right I am. But she," he pointed a finger at Shikiyoku, "is a very close second."

Akihiko took a seat at Shikiyoku's station and looked her up and down. "Gai sent a text. I figured I'd update you that he and Airi may be stopping by sometime tonight. Their 'vacation' ended sooner than they hoped, I think."

"He's bringin' the girlfriend?"

Aki glanced at Tarou. "I think so. He's talked about it in the past."

"Well shit, guess I gotta clean up a little."

Akihiko turned to Shikiyoku again. "I'll probably buy them a round if they do show up."

~!**!~

Hiei set the Demon's Fire in front of Akari, and she just as quickly slid it in his direction. "I ordered it for you," she told him. She eyed his still-pale cheeks and noticed not for the first time the slowness in his movements. "To give you a small boost."

He raised a brow at her. "I'll be fine."

"I didn't say you wouldn't. I bet the warmth in that will help a lot."

He let out a breath and, after a beat of her staring, obliged her. He downed the shot, then finished the drink. When he turned to set his now empty glasses in a nearby sink, the warmth settled in his stomach.

He nodded his thanks at her.

"Don't mention it." She took another sip from her drink, and the guy next to her leaned in again.

"You come here often?"

She blinked at him. "Not usually."

"That's a shame."

"Is it?" She glanced around the establishment. "I haven't frequented bars in a very long time."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't have noticed. You're very comfortable for someone who isn't usually around." He nodded his head in Hiei's direction. "I take it you know 'im?"

She smirked. "You don't?" *

~!**!~

Even as Akihiko and Tarou continued bantering back and forth, Shikiyoku busied herself with other drinks for those around her or out on the floor.

She nodded to Hiko after he relayed all the information to her and then gave him a small smile, "Anything I can get for you while you're up here?" 3

Akihiko nodded. "Actually," he glanced back over his shoulder, looking for Raion. He held his hand up in the air with a single finger out, and when Raion nodded, he turned back to Shikiyoku. "My and Raion's usual, please."

Tarou sat back in his seat. "Lazy cat."

Akihiko raised a brow, but said nothing.

"Aki!"

The demon sighed and glanced back again, and when he caught sight of Raion waving an envelope, he turned to Shikiyoku. "Make mine stronger, if you will." His eyes flashed his amusement at her as he slid from his stool. "I'll be back for those," he told her before moving off.

Raion passed him the envelope. "From that guy who pulled you to the side earlier. He left, but said this had all the information he had, if you were up for that job."

~!**!~

"I mean personally," the demon clarified.

Akari shook her head. "No, no. Just ran around with him and his group for a while."

"Ah."

"Have you visited Yusuke lately?"

Akari glanced at Hiei briefly. "No. I only ever work and go home. I should probably pay him a visit." She paused. "I do see Keiko and the others once in a while though."

"Ah." He slid a drink down the way. "How's Yukina?"

Akari paused with her drink hovering just in front of her mouth. "Last I was there, the wedding prep was driving her nuts. We baked cupcakes and drank."

"She drank?" he asked incredulously.

"Mmm. The rest of us did. She didn't drink too much. I'll be making her cake."

"Weddings need cake?"

"Yup. She said she wants cupcakes, but I think a cake would be easier for transport. I need to get with her about that."

Hiei stayed quiet for a moment as Akari turned to answer a question from her neighbor. When he thought she wasn't distracted, he spoke again. "Does she seem happy?"

Akari blinked at him a few times. "...I think she's as happy as she can be while Kuwabara's away." She regarded him. "If you want to know so bad, go see her." *

~!**!~

"Alright, I'm not leaving you up here alone. C'mon, you." Shikiyoku gestured with an elbow at Tarou as she snuck past Hiei and slipped around the edge of the bar.

"What, you don't trust me?"

"Only as far as I can throw you."

He laughed and scooted the stools he'd been occupying back out of the way as Shikiyoku maneuvered through the throngs of people with Akihiko and Raion's drinks in hand, making her way for the table with Tarou following some ways behind her.

She barely made it up to the table next to Raion's chair before a sudden influx of people moved around the main floor and she placed his drink down at his elbow and then leaned forward into the table, staring down at the letter in Akihiko's hand.

"You want this now or should I just drink it myself?" She joked as he blinked and looked up at her, thanking her for it and taking it from her.

"Good shit, mum." Raion punctuated the word with a slap across the nearest part of Shikiyoku next to him and while the intention itself had surprised her into confusion at first, the actual act of his hand making contact with her rear caused a small noise to burst past her lips.

"Really Raion?" She grinned down at him, bits of her energy shimmering off the sides of her face.

"Yes, really." He retorted, turning his face back to take another sip and grumbling a little, "Haven't had a decent one of these all night." 3

Hiei subconsciously stepped forward and closer to his work station as Shikiyoku passed, and when he realized why he'd moved, his eyes lifted to trail after her. He turned back down to his drink briefly, lifting it to pass to Sachi, and then he found himself watching her again.

"That. That right there is what I mean," Akari commented loftily as she sipped from her drink, her eyes following his to see what he was looking at. "So obvious."

Hiei paid her no mind, his hands still working even as he watched.

The wordless confusion that filtered from her side of the bond kept him from turning back down to his task, and his eyes caught sight of Raion's hand just before it smacked into Shikiyoku's rear. He blinked once against the surprise that slipped across the bond, and he eyed Shikiyoku, watching her reaction curiously.

"You've never done that."

Akari's comment made him shoot a glare in her direction.

"I bet you'd get a fun reaction," she told him as she turned forward again. "Especially since she seems clueless about your obvious feelings."

Hiei let out a breath.

"Don't act like you didn't at least think about it. I've seen you stealing kisses, mister loner. Since when did that start happening?"

"I don't remember how long it's been."

"You're serious?"

"Do I look anything but?"

Akari almost snickered. "No, but I didn't expect you to be honest."

He leveled a look on her.

"Just saying..." She shrugged and took another sip, fighting the urge to glance over her shoulder. "Whatever your relationship is with her, I'm sure it would put you at a distinct advantage over those who don't have your relationship."

Hiei turned down to his glasses and filled them all with the same liquid, not spilling a single drop even as he moved the bottle from one glass to another. "And you're telling me this why?"

"Because it's absolutely painful to watch you." *

~!**!~

Distracted for a moment by the line of questioning Akihiko was getting from the rest of the guild about the possible contract, Shikiyoku hadn't realized she was absently rubbing at the lingering sting until Raion looked over and knocked her hand out of the way.

"I'm sorry, was that harder than I meant to?"

He definitely sounded sincere.

That wasn't the issue.

The issue was three seconds later when Shikiyoku realized he had taken to squeezing his hand around the spot he had hit as she stood there next to him.

"Raion..."

"I mean it really is a nice ass."

"Raion." There were bits of energy starting to float into the air around her hair again. "Raion, I swear to kami if you don't stop, I will tear your arm from its shoulder socket and beat you with it."

The hand dropped away, but Tarou laughed and pointed at her.

"Now that's hot." 3

~!**!~

"Then don't watch," Hiei grumbled at her. He glanced up after a beat to see Raion's hand on Shikiyoku's rear again, and her energy floating around her head, and he decided to take his own advice and drop his eyes back to his task.

Akari glanced over her shoulder, wondering what he'd shied away from so quick, and she sniffed to hide the chuckle she almost let out. "So I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you haven't gotten very far with her."

Hiei set a drink in front of his customer and then another in front of a demon sitting at Shikiyoku's station. "I've gone plenty far with her."

If Akari's canine ears were still attached to her head, they would have perked up at his retort. "Yeah? I don't believe you." She sipped from her drink some more. "People who have gotten far don't normally say it like that."

"The Ninth is a long way away," he told her matter-of-factly.

Akari choked on her drink. Oh nooooo…. She coughed a few times, aware that the guy she'd been talking to a minute ago had turned to look at her with concern. She waved him off as her coughs quieted, and when she looked up at Hiei, the laugh she'd choked on shook her shoulders. She pressed her lips together to keep it from escaping her mouth, and a sort of wheeze rushed from her. "That… is not what I meant." *

~!**!~

Shikiyoku suddenly realized exactly where the earlier influx of people had come from when she suddenly found herself tackled from the side in a hug by a green-haired human with dark brown eyes in surprisingly normal clothing.

He planted a giant sloppy kiss on the side of her face and grinned down at her, "Miss me, boss?"

The other members of the band shouldered their way through the crowd as Rizu stood with his arm thrown over Shikiyoku's shoulders, each in equally as mundane of outfits.

"We did try to make our arrival as inconspicuous as possible-"

"-but it seems like the jeans didn't help all that much." The twins noted with wry smiles.

Hara rolled his eyes and put a hand over his mouth as he pulled out his lighter to relight the cigarette hanging from his lips.

"You all aren't scheduled to be here for another week."

"I thought we were due for a few drinks." Misaki shrugged when Shikiyoku looked over at the other questioningly. 3

Akari looked at Hiei again after taking a few moments to calm herself, but when she saw his face, she could hear his response in her head again, and the only thing she could do was lay her head down on her arms and let a few laughs go.

"No, Hiei, that is not what that means, and I'm sorry for laughing, but-" she sniggered some more, "-some day you're going to think about this conversation and either laugh or want to erase it from our minds."

Hiei's eyes swept the bar crowd, his hands picking up pace just a bit more as orders began to flow faster. "If you're just here to take up space, go back to the table. People want to sit," he told her, half hoping she'd leave.

"I need a really strong drink first, because this," she pointed at her glass without lifting her head, "is not strong enough."

Hiei sighed and added yet another drink to his line. "Needy."

She snickered some more. "Add another drink to my tab. I need to send it to Shikiyoku." *

"I miss your ass already!" Raion called after her as Shikiyoku, once excusing herself, slipped back through the crowd of people.

"Yeah, keep dreamin' kitty-cat!"

"I will be! About that ass!"

Shikiyoku just shook her head and moved around the corner of the bar, running a hand companionably across the back of Hiei's waist when she passed behind him to get back to where she had been working, already six or seven drinks ordered on her way from the guild, with whom the band had decided to take up residence, pulling up whatever extra chairs they could commandeer from elsewhere. 3

Hiei raised a brow at Akari, but set to work on the new drink order. He put it together quickly, his eyes seeing Shikiyoku coming back to the bar with the intent to work.

When she passed behind him, he turned to watch her slide into place before he grabbed the drink Akari had ordered for her, and he stepped to her side long enough to lean over and kiss her cheek and set the glass on the bar.

He returned to his station just as Akari lifted her head again, taking a deep breath and avoiding looking at him. "Thanks for the drink," she told him as he set down a stronger drink next to her first one.

She glanced over at Shikiyoku, seeing the drink she'd ordered sitting on the bar, and her earlier amusement turned into a long sigh. I'm so sorry, girl. *

Hiei's kiss sent a fresh batch of tingles all along Shikiyoku's cheek and she blinked at the unexpected affection, focusing in on the glass he obviously put in front of her and shooting him a look.

No, I think I would know if that was from him.

She lifted her gaze as she absently set to work and finally found Akari a few stools down over at Hiei's section, a look of obvious confusion passing over her features.

...

What? 3

Akari met Shikiyoku's gaze and an odd smile lifted the edges of her lips.

"Just thought you could use a drink, is all," she told Shikiyoku as she slid from her stool, suddenly unable to sit in front of Hiei anymore without thinking about how little he knew.

She threw back the stronger shot of whatever Hiei had given her, and she turned to the fire demon. "Send a couple more of these my way, would you?"

He raised a brow at her, but after a beat, he nodded.

"Thanks." She swept up her other glass, still half full, and made her way back to the guild. *

The drink Akari sent her quickly became forgotten. The ordered drinks kept coming in larger quantities as the hour grew later and eventually Shikiyoku found herself doing a load two or three times the size of her normal requirements she strove to train her typical worker to be able to handle at once.

And somehow in the midst of it all, she was able to keep up the banter with anyone that graced her section of the bar, which was likely how she ended up with so many patrons to begin with.

It didn't help that this many months later and it was practically a show in and of itself to watch her work, as she had grown so efficient with her movements as to pull off some rather extravagant maneuvers most of her other workers didn't have the training for yet.

She didn't have the elements at her disposal as most of her other employees she hired for bartending could access, like the two kitsune on the farthest end of the line who had grown proficient enough to use the wind or ice one or the other of them could conjure to expedite their processes and that's likely what made Shikiyoku's work all the more fascinating, as for the most part she had to resort to the tricks she picked up from other more human bartenders across the First Level and actually add ice or make sure she grabbed a frosted glass or time bottles in the air instead of being able to hold several of them up there at once with her energy.

Not really noticing at first how she and Hiei were working around each other as if they had done so for years, there came a moment when a more intricate thought occurred to her.

For the most part that evening, Hiei had been in contact with all of the employees all at once, a screening question Shikiyoku always posed to anyone seeking to join their crew: are you proficient in telepathic conversation, are you willing to learn if not, are you willing to be a part of a crew who regularly works in connection with one another?

With a Jagan, Hiei could immediately pick up orders from the waitresses around the room just as soon as the customer voiced them, and the bartenders behind the line similarly could pluck things from the resulting list he kept up with to claim as their own. And it worked because every employee maintained constant open channels that all flowed through Hiei himself, a closed system where they were essentially all in contact with one another in a way with Hiei as the main hub, but where the mental strength of those connected fed into one another and kept any others that might attempt to break into their private barriers from doing so.

Shikiyoku realized she and Hiei had also been communicating on an even deeper level below the organized input-output of the workers' system when, after measuring with consistent precision the amount of alcohol needed from the bottle in her hand for the three pairs of glasses on her left, she tilted the bottle just enough to stop the pour and tossed it sideways the several feet to her left to which Hiei just barely had upturn his right hand to accept it and continue the pour into the other drinks he was making that needed it.

When she absently flicked the lid his direction and his bottle tilted back her direction, finished the exact moment she did so, to twirl and screw itself onto the top, Shikiyoku glanced up at a couple of the impressed gasps and excited comments at what had been a rather unintentional moment between them and she flashed Hiei a winning smile and didn't even have to ask if he was thinking what she was thinking.

(In my on-going pursuit of educating you on 'fun,' my Consort, how about we have a little?)

As the continuous, well-ordered, work-related channel fed into the top of her consciousness, Shikiyoku dropped lower into the bond between them and with the next several drinks she claimed, sent the necessary glasses into the middle of the space between her and Hiei's sections where they all landed neatly with hardly a tink of contact between them, and even fed into the bond already now pleasantly saturated with her presence the knowledge for the sorts of showmanship and bartending flair she acquired through various means over the years, allowing Hiei full access to all of it that he needed and beginning to quite literally work in tandem with him, finding the two of them together able to take on more beverages at a time than they had alone.

~!**!~

"I mean, honestly, my answer is Stockholm." Rizu was saying, rocking back in his chair onto the hind two legs of it and holding on to the back of the chair next to him to keep from falling completely either way as he briefly brushed the electric green-dyed tips of his brown-nearly-black hair out from his face again. His dark honey colored eyes flashed a little. "The women there are just...mm." He lifted his glass to his lips as he meaningfully shook his head thinking about it.

The twins, who were actually sharing the chair Rizu had clasped his hand onto, just smiled and shook their blonde heads, mirth sparking in their identical blue eyes.

"Absolutely not." They said at the same time, grinning.

"Yeah, well, you grew up with those Swedish girls." Rizu countered, pointing a finger at them from around his glass.

"Madrid-" One of them countered.

"That's where it's at." The other finished.

"I haven't even heard of these places." Tarou protested.

"There are plenty enough women in the other Nine Levels to reject you." Raion piped up, "I don't think you need to be worrying about other countries on this one."

"Not to mention the fact that you barely speak this language with proficiency." Akihiko nearly smiled, but lifted his glass to his lips to hide it.

"Which city have you liked best, Kasimi?" Misaki was standing over the other, more quiet girl's chair they had pulled up to squish next to Tarou's and Misaki jostled it just a touch, Kasimi reaching up to push her glasses farther up her face as she blushed a little underneath her dark chocolate browns.

She pushed a bit of her straight, nearly black hair back behind an ear and stammered, "I-I really thought Wellington was very beautiful."

"The boys or the countryside?" Rizu teased, making Kasimi's cheeks pinker.

"B-both," She managed to mumble, dropping her gaze as the others laughed, herself almost smiling.

Tarou raised his glass Akari's direction as she came striding up.

"Always room for one more, gorgeous!" His eyes glittered, as his lap was in fact unoccupied. 3

Akari took a sip from her drink as she stepped into proximity of the guild, her eyes scanning the immediate area for a vacated seat. Finding all seats taken, she sauntered the rest of the way to Tarou, her eyes trained on him with a hint of a smile hidden behind her glass at his offer.

She planted herself on his armrest and crossed one leg over the other, her shoulder brushing against his as she raised an eyebrow. "Such a sweet offer you extend, handsome, but I'd prefer to be able to turn and look at that." She tilted her head in the direction of the bar, of Hiei and Shikiyoku, before she turned and settled in place with her free arm draped over the back of his chair.

~!**!~

Hiei's lips gave the faintest hint of a smirk in response to Shiki's comment on his lessons in 'fun', and he similarly dropped just a bit lower into the bond so that he could sense her every move and react accordingly.

He absorbed the information she held out to him almost effortlessly, and his hands began to move without so much thought to the actions he took. He tossed bottles between himself and Shikiyoku, his hands weaving through hers to grab one she tossed and continue down the line. He placed bottles back and turned to the line of beverages again, and as soon as the line was done, he moved it away so she could start a fresh one. Together, they poured and mixed, working as one body so that the patrons around them would not only get their orders quicker, but also so they could have a bit of amusement as well.

He noted the growing crowd in front of his and Shiki's station with a slight blip of amusement in their shared mental space, but otherwise paid it no mind as his bottled liquid swirled and married with one she simultaneously poured, all while bottles were flung around the other two hands that continued to move independently from the other extremities. *

~!**!~

"At wha'?" Tarou sat up a little in his chair to try and follow Akari's indicated direction and his eyes widened as he reached over and slapped Akihiko across the chest once or twice to get the Second's attention.

And she thinks he doesn't want her. Akihiko thought to himself for the second time that day as he watched Hiei and Shikiyoku weave in and out of one another in a fashion that, to the tracker, spoke just as much of their connection on a level no one else could sense but that he suspected they'd had for a long time now.

Rising from his seat, Akihiko wove through the crowds, drawn towards the pair for reasons he wouldn't have been able to explain in so many words as he took note of the big lug behind him exuberantly expressing his desire to do the same, up to and including wrapping an arm around Akari's waist and carrying her with him against his side.

As Akihiko managed to find a place for himself where he could view most of the going-ons, he realized Tsundora had also followed, the ice wolf peering just over his shoulder with ears at attention on his head reflecting a similar strange excitement mirrored by the wagging of his tail that on some level Akihiko also felt.

~!**!~

Shiki continued their antics for several minutes, still able to banter and converse lightly with those who gathered closely enough, but her attention fully on the sensation of Hiei moving with her, only able to find herself able to equate their synchronization to that of an intricate dance, the hybrid demon more than an equal match for her in their endeavors.

And she lasted a lot longer than she likely had any right to, given the day's circumstances and the injuries she had yet to actually look at. It was only after she nearly dropped a glass as a twinge of pain shot through her torso that she noticed her breathing finally started to make her sides ache where Uryo's swords had hit her and she indicated to Hiei she should likely slow down.

The last tray they finished was an order of drinks for the band over with the guild and after smiling and accepting the accolades of the crowd at her and Hiei's showmanship, she half-heartedly shooed the onlookers away-most of them fully ignoring her-as she picked up the tray herself and maneuvered through the gathered crowd towards the table near the entrance. 3

Hiei kept pace with Shikiyoku as their hands danced around and with one another, their bodies similarly gliding and weaving about as they crafted line after line of mixed drinks. He hardly noticed his own physical restrictions - the dull ache of his sides, an odd echo of soreness at his abdomen and back, and general tightness of his own muscles - until Shikiyoku mentioned slowing down at some point during their show.

Only once their pace lessened did he genuinely come to notice those things, along with the beginnings of a slight sheen of sweat along his hairline and an ache that echoed from the tips of his toes, to the ends of his fingertips and the top of his crown.

Between drink orders, he managed to grab himself a rejuvenating drink, and as he continued on, he seemed to forget those things while in the midst of Shikiyoku and their bond.

Even as she shooed the onlooking crowd and stepped away, his hands picked up the work and kept him busy. He pulled himself from the bond ever so slightly, and his attention turned from Shikiyoku's movements to the commentary now thrown at him from the still-watching demons at his and Shikiyoku's stations.

He kept them talking as he fulfilled as many orders as his hands could without Shikiyoku's extra set.

"You guys always work like that?" A demon at Shikiyoku's station called as he leaned against the bar top.

Hiei smiled, and he ignored the look of surprise on the other's face. "Not as often as I'd like." He slid the demon his drink.

Another demon called for his attention in the opposite direction, and when Hiei turned towards that customer, his nose picked up a familiar scent that he couldn't immediately place other than its belonging to Shikiyoku.

~!**!~

Akari turned to watch Shikiyoku and Hiei at the bar, suddenly finding herself held up off the floor by Tarou's arm around her waist. She laughed at the abrupt change in location, and her arm slid along his shoulders as he toted her across the bar to watch the shenanigans up close.

He hefted her high enough that she could see over most of the crowd, and her eyes took in the peculiar sight with interest as she sipped on her drink.

She noticed the moment the pair slowed down, but only because Hiei turned away for a drink. Her eyes took in the synchronicity of the pair, the fluid movements and obvious understanding of where one would go and when the other would stay.

Someone to her right asked if she could see anything fun.

She and Tarou responded in tandem, "No, nothing at all."

They shared a look and a grin before turning back in time to see Shikiyoku attempt to wave away onlookers and step from the bar.

Akari locked in on Hiei's continuing of the workload on his own, surprised he chose to stay instead of follow.

"Oo! She's going to the table!" Tarou bounced in place, then turned and hauled her back to the table, where he sat just as they had been before he'd hefted her away. *

"I ordered that one!" He told her as he took her along with him, pointing at one of the drinks on the tray that was just as indistinguishable from the rest of them at this juncture, moving through the crowds under Shikiyoku's watchful care.

Akihiko hung back for a moment to watch Hiei as Tsundora made a tiny huff of excitement himself when Shikiyoku started to carry the tray away, turning to see if he could beat her back to the table.

For his part, the second took note of Hiei's pallor, surprised that the other had lasted this long among them all to begin with, and having a suspicion that this particular outing might result in more bed-ridden days.

Giving the show he'd just witnessed, Akihiko felt assured that as long as said days involved Shikiyoku, Hiei somehow wouldn't actually mind them nearly so much.

A smile just ghosting across his features, Akihiko turned away to wind back through the bodies towards the table he'd earlier left.

~!**!~

"And this one's mine!" Tarou pronounced proudly as he sequestered his drink away from the others, though not fully retreating from the tray or the demon holding it before plastering a sloppy kiss onto Shikiyoku's cheek. "Thanks, mom."

Laughing a little as she continued passing out the drinks, next came Tsundora up to her to gather her into his arms from the side as she lowered the now-empty tray to hang next to her, his breath a little frosty on her cheek as he rubbed his nose against her skin excitedly.

He paused after a moment and she looked up over at him, seeing a certain sobriety in his gaze that matched the smile he gave her as he murmured between them, "Are you happy, mother?"

She reached up and patted part of his arm as he rubbed his face against her, replying in kind, "Yes, Tsun. I am."

"I was worried."

"...me too."

His tail wagged a little behind him as she hugged him back as best she could before he let her go and shifted around the table to find his seat again somewhere around it. 3

"Oh, good choice!" Akari told Tarou as he plucked his drink off the tray, having suspected that specific one to be his. She turned and accepted her drink from Shikiyoku with a wide grin and a 'thanks' mouthed quietly before the other moved on.

She took a sip before even realizing what she'd been handed, and she turned down to look at it quizzically. "I don' remember orderin' this yumminess," she mumbled to herself, unsure of the last time she'd had this particular drink.

"Stop complaining and drink," Raion commented from across the way with a twitch of his tail. "Or I could drink it for you."

"Absolutely not, cat. I's mine." She settled on the arm of Tarou's chair with her feet planted firmly on the floor. "'S my favorite," she mumbled just before taking another sip.

She ignored the sudden appearance of a new drink in front of her, uninterested in any other offers that didn't include sitting with the guild. She glanced around at the various bodies around the table, taking in faces and conversations briefly before she zeroed in on Misaki, and then turned to Shikiyoku. "Y'know, I've been wondering…" She lowered her drink to her lap. "Has Hiei ever gotten you and Misaki mixed up? Because you two look scarily similar." *

While the rest of the room remained just as noisy as ever, the guild's portion of this particular table suddenly grew much quieter as their eyes slowly turned in Shikiyoku's direction, the band themselves sensing something dastardly in the works but not quite understanding exactly what was going on.

Shikiyoku glanced over at Misaki and Misaki found herself being given a small smile she could only raise an eyebrow at.

"Well, he's certainly never mistaken you for me." Misaki offered them, tilting her head a little at Shikiyoku.

It wasn't exactly common knowledge that a Consort and Queen had a bond between them, but Shikiyoku nodded assent with Misaki's statement, knowing it to be true, if also knowing the reason why.

Raion and Tarou suddenly looked at one another and blurted out, "I have an idea."

"I want no part of this." Shikiyoku lifted a hand, recognizing the conspiratory edge to their statements.

"Misaki, you have to send Hiei a drink." Raion asserted.

"He's gonna drink it without even looking." Chisai rolled his eyes.

"Is that a bet?" Akihiko raised an eyebrow.

"In that case, I know exactly what you should send him." Raitoningu piped up, a wicked smile on his face.

Misaki stood blinking around at the guild as Raiton stood up, leaned over and whispered in her ear.

Her face turned a little pinker, but there was a particular sort of smile to her face, her eyes definitely unfocused as someone who's had one too many.

"I'll do it."

"What did you say?" Tarou hissed at the wolf as Misaki turned to find the nearest waitress.

"I'll bet you'll never guess." Raiton stuck his nose in the air.

"I'll take it." He immediately sat back and began contemplating, rattling off the first handful of drinks he could think of before narrowing his eyes at the other. "What if I'm right and you just keep telling me I'm wrong."

Raiton raised an eyebrow at him, "You'll see what it is when Hiei gets it."

"Oh, right."

"You mean when he drinks it." Tsun's eyes gleamed.

"Before noticing what it is or without?" Akihiko asked the ice demon.

Tsun pursed his lips and seemed to consider the question.

"Money on the table if you're in, boys." Akihiko told them.

"Back up, what're we betting on?" Rizu leaned forward and asked.

"The red-eyed demon behind the bar is going to receive a drink from your sister." Akihiko stated as the guild members threw in their coins and made their bets. The band knew from their many ventures that demons often sent drinks to one another with meanings, that the recipient drank if they agreed to the terms. "The bet is whether or not he'll drink it. And if you think he'll drink it, you can decide if you think he'll look at it before he accepts it or not."

Hara glanced over at Shikiyoku to see what she thought of all of this and she winked at him before she grew distracted by the door to the bar opening again and slipped between shoulders with her tray in hand as she sensed the desire of the one who had entered wishing to introduce someone to her. 3

Akari blinked at the sudden silence that fell around her, unsure if it truly did result from her question instead of it being her imagination. She eyed each person around the table, and as Tarou and Raion blurted out their statement of having an idea, she wondered briefly if she should have stayed quiet after all.

The conversation unfolded around her rapidly, leaving her to silently sip at her drink and watch each person in turn. As it became apparent that Hiei was the subject of the bet, she leaned toward Tarou and reached into her pocket to retrieve her wallet. "I'm in," she declared before even knowing what the bet was.

As the terms were stated, her fingers paused on the bills in her wallet and she contemplated.

What would I do..?

A smirk lit her features and she pulled every bill she had from her wallet and set it in the center of the table, the first to place her bet. "He will most definitely drink it before looking at it."

"So confident!" Tarou all but shouted as he too placed bills in the center. "Same."

Various demons around the table placed their bets, and Akari sat back to sip at her drink, satisfied with the turn of events.

~!**!~

Hiei continued to make drinks and pass them this way and that, though his conversations had died down to mild surface chatter every now and then. He focused on his hands, watching the liquids he poured from the bottles carefully held between them.

He passed trays back and forth, and after a few more trayfuls of orders, he slowed just a little and let the other bartenders know he wouldn't be doing as much. "Take some of the workload if you can," he told the others mildly as he took another drink from his own beverage.

He took a deep breath in, again faced with a full awareness of Shikiyoku's scent hanging around the bar despite her physical absence. His eyes swept the area, then lifted to see her crossing the bar toward the door to meet Gai and Airi.

He stared at her, his hands paused in the air as he thought.

"Hiei?"

"Hm?" He turned to look at Sachi, who frowned at him and gestured with her empty tray. He relinquished it from her and passed a fully stocked tray.

"No offense, but why are you still here?"

He shrugged. "We're busy, and I enjoy the work." Before she could retort, he waved her away and turned down to his line of unfinished drinks.

"Don't make me get her."

"I don't intend to be working back here much longer."

"...Good. Don't overdo it."

~!**!~

Ikigai pushed the front door of the bar open and held it open for Airi, who turned her warm chocolate eyes up to him with a smiled thanks. His eyes trailed after her, knowing she was worried about being among so many demons at once.

She hadn't truly been brave enough to step into the bar until this moment, so when she'd told him she wanted to see his work group again and to truly meet his "family," he could do nothing else but agree.

He had wanted her to properly meet them months ago, but hadn't wanted to push her about it, especially after how the dance went.

He stepped up next to her and slipped his hand into hers, not minding that her palms were slightly sweaty or that she stepped even closer to him as she looked around the busy establishment.

He leaned down to whisper in her ear,"Let me know if it gets to be too much."

"I will." She nodded and he stood upright again, trusting that she would tell him when she was ready to leave.

His eyes landed on Shikiyoku as she shuffled through the crowd, and his smile widened just a touch. He lead Airi away from the door and toward Shikiyoku, and for the first time in a long time, he did not immediately reach out to hug her. "Mom! I want you to meet Airi," he gently squeezed his human girlfriend's hand when he noticed her tugging on her hair.

Airi stilled for a breath before she rounded on Gai, and his core stopped. Had this been too much? Was she too overwhelmed?

Then she smacked him and her expression lit up brighter than he had ever seen before. "You know the lead singer to my favorite band," she smacked him on every enunciated word, "and. You. didn't. Tell. me.?!"

Before he could answer her, Airi broke away from him and rushed to stand in front of Shikiyoku. "Ohmygosh I loveyourband and I can't believe I'mmeetingyou and-" she took a deep breath in. *

Considering the conversation that had just happened about Misaki and Shikiyoku being confused for one another, it didn't take but an instant for Shikiyoku to realize what Airi spoke of, the girl practically jumping up and down in front of her and Shikiyoku giving her a kind, patient smile before managing to get a single word in edge-wise.

"He does know Misaki, but I am not in fact her. Happens all the time."

"You manage them though, don't you, mom?" Gai stepped back up to Airi's side, goofy grin on his face mixing with his relief.

He'd been afraid it was all too much all too fast.

Shikiyoku made a noise of affirmation, "They're here, actually-"

"Mom-are-you-okay?" Gai suddenly reached out towards Shikiyoku's torso as the front of her plain white blouse suddenly blossomed red as the wound which had opened earlier while she and Hiei were working together brushed against her clothing and sent crimson rays running along it.

~!**!~

Sashaying her way over to his end of the bar, the scales articulating the mask of Hebi's face were twitching with her lips as she grinned and leaned over the front of Hiei's station to plop a drink down in front of him, her yellow irises seeming to be especially gleaming in the midst of the black sclera surrounding them as she gave him a wink and turned away before he could stop her. 3

Hiei continued working once Sachi was gone, and he passed a drink down the way before he remembered why he had paused in the first place. He blinked and looked up, noticing Hebi in front of him but not really seeing her before his eyes flickered to Shikiyoku.

His nostrils flared and all at once understanding hit him. Blood. Hers.

He set his bottles down and completely abandoned his projects, though he did alert other bartenders that he was stepping away and they needed to pick up his slack for a bit.

He rounded the bar area and shuffled through bodies, and he came up next to Shikiyoku just as Gai reached out for Shiki. His hand deftly took Shikiyoku's tray from her hand. (You're bleeding,) he told her as his hands reached out to grasp at her shoulders and turn her toward the door to the apartment. "You should go bandage that." (I'm sorry I didn't notice earlier.)

As if she weren't moving fast enough for his liking, he bopped the tray against her butt to shoo her.

He paused, a small hm passing over the bond thoughtfully, appreciatively, before he bopped her twice more. "Go on. I'll handle the bar and see to the guild."

Gai blinked at Hiei's sudden appearance and turning Shikiyoku away, and he took a good long look at his Boss. Airi rejoined him, quietly bouncing in place as she watched Shikiyoku and Hiei interact.

She leaned his direction. "You seriously know the band?" she whispered.

"Misaki's?"

"YES."

He blinked at her a few times. "Yeah, I guess? They play here sometime-"

Her hands at his shirt cut him off, and she shook him a few times. "YOU NEVER TOLD ME! AM I GOING TO GET TO MEET THEM?"

He blinked. "She did say they were here, so… yes?"

"YES!" She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. "You're the best!" *

~!**!~

Shikiyoku looked down where Gai's eyes had fallen and realized what the ache all this time actually stemmed from.

Uryo's earlier attack had reopened.

Entirely her own fault, of course. If she'd done as Kurama instructed and stayed put for an hour or so, his medicine would have done the job for her much more quickly than the time it would take for her body to recover from such a severe injury.

As it was, the medicine did not have a chance to finish its work and the wounds had not properly closed.

Before she really had time to reassure Gai that she was fine, Shikiyoku found her tray being relinquished from her and her practically being shoved in the direction of the apartment door by Hiei, mind still too wrapped up in the moment to properly begin moving before she felt him rap the tray against her like it was supposed to start her off the way he wanted her go.

It had the opposite effect as she blinked at the bond ruminating thoughtfully between them and she was reminded of the manner in which Raion had interacted with her the last time she'd come out from behind the bar and caught up in her own confusion and surprise, Hiei managed to smack her twice more before she all but stumbled forward and made her way through the crowd, her scent here catching the attention of those around her in the same way her energy did when it moved more thickly in the air around her.

"Hiei, I understand your concern for Za Joie, but you can't just leave proffered drinks sitting around like that." Hebi's voice wandered into Hiei's mind more poignantly where they were connected for a moment. "I know more than one body in here that would jump at the chance to accept in your stead."

~!**!~

When Shikiyoku managed to get to the bathroom upstairs, shirt discarded to be cleaned later-because there was a rush of people downstairs and she was frankly in a hurry to return and help-she stared at what bandages and things she had found and then at her wound which was currently hidden by a compress she held in one hand trying to staunch the bleeding long enough for her body to jumpstart the process of closing it.

She stared blankly at the bandages.

She'd done this sort of thing before, but never to herself, and the idea of it seemed rather odd in this moment.

The wound's not very big. I'm sure I can just get something to hold this in place for now.

Shiki started cobbling together something from the things she gathered. 3

Hiei blinked up at Hebi as Shikiyoku disappeared upstairs, satisfied that he'd been able to shoo her and finally taking a moment to wonder what the waitress had sent him. He briefly replayed the moment where she had reached out and, after a brief thank you, he turned and made his way back to his station.

His hands immediately picked up glasses and bottles and set to work on orders, and before he could get too far into his lineup, one hand swiftly reached for the beverage at the edge of his station and lifted it to his lips, not looking to see what it was or even caring to analyze the flavors to discern its meaning.

Because Shikiyoku sent it. Obviously he would accept it.

No one ever sent him drinks when she was around.

Ever.

He promptly set back to work on the line of orders, not hearing the sudden ruckus from the guild.

~!**!~

Akari's eyes followed Hiei, watching his every move as Shikiyoku went up the stairs. She held her glass up to her mouth to hide her grin, though her eyes most definitely sparkled with mirth.

She hadn't thought he would actually follow her advice.

She watched him settle in behind the bar, and while she did consider reaching out to tease him about the butt-slap-with-tray she had witnessed, she held off in favor of seeing if he reached for the sent drink.

And just as he did, she took a drink of her own.

"Pay up, boys," Akari said as she slammed her glass down. She reached for the pile of money in the center of the table and glanced around the group. "How many of us won?"

Tarou, Raion, the twins, and Rizu raised their hands. Raiton lifted a finger.

"I believed in him…" Chisai mumbled, and Tsun nodded in agreement.

Akari and Tarou split the winnings among the group accordingly, and then Akari ordered another drink.

The group grew more rowdy all at once as Gai stepped up to the table next to Akihiko, and Akari paused to recount cash before she finally distributed winnings and turned her attention to the male demon and his female companion.

Gai smiled at the group, almost nervously in Akari's opinion, and he waved his hand at Misaki and her group. "Airi, the band. Band, my girlfriend, Airi."*

Tarou almost stood up out of his seat when he noticed Gai introducing the girlfriend to the band before them, and his indignation did not go unnoticed by Gai who immediately went to placating him by admitting, "She saw mom first and thought she was Misaki and-"

"SPEAKING OF WHICH-" Raiton completely interrupted any introductions that might have been happening, cutting through with an arm and snatching for Misaki's wrist, pulling her away. "YOU, missy, have a drink that needs obliging." His eyes glittered mischievously.

He'd seen Raion do this to Shikiyoku earlier and when the thought popped into his head during the betting conversation, it seemed too perfect to pass up.

Misaki very quickly threw back the rest of whatever was in her glass, at this point too drunk to care about what was happening, and what was about to happen, and passed the drink into Rizu's chest as she was pulled beyond him, Raiton shoving her towards the bar with a wide grin and standing with his arms crossed intent on watching.

Misaki wouldn't really remember getting through the bodies later, or any of her journey towards the part of the bar near the door Shikiyoku disappeared into not too long ago.

However the face Hiei made when she walked up to him, grinning, slapped his butt and said, "Here's what I owe you, flameboy," she wouldn't forget. 3

Hiei slid a drink down the bar to the person who had ordered it, and turned to return bottles to their rightful place. He responded to a customer at his station, grabbed a single tall glass, and returned to his post just as movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.

Glad to see the dark head of hair, he turned with every intention to kiss the woman stepping up to his side, and instead every muscle in his body froze as her hand slapped against his butt.

Several things happened at once.

A rush of warm energy bloomed to life within him one second - he didn't dislike the action - and in the next a cold realization that this was not Shikiyoku settled at his core. The bond reverberated with his internal response, swinging wildly from positive to negative before all but freezing over.

In that same moment, Hiei's telepathy screamed a warning at him."INCOMING, HIEI," and, instinctively, his hand snapped into the air to catch whatever bottle had been thrown his way from the kitsune.

His energy flared a millisecond later, and only on instinct did he move to shield Misaki from the bottle that exploded near his head from the sheer force of his ice energy flash freezing its contents. Glass and frozen alcohol went in all directions, pelting Hiei from head to toe, and he finally lowered his arm to hold himself up on the shelves when he was sure that no other pieces would fly from his hand.

Previous moment briefly forgotten, Hiei frowned down at Misaki, looking for cuts on her skin or glass on her person. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?" *

Shikiyoku came out of the hallway and into the bar to the mess on her right and immediately grabbed for the broom and dustpan, hardly noticing either Hiei or the lead singer he stood over, who herself seemed somewhat taken aback by her current position.

The sweeping worked for some of the larger pieces, and one of the waitresses slipped back with a mop and waved Shikiyoku away from it as a second one suddenly had the broom out of her grasp, exchanging it for a tray and sending her back out from behind the bar.

She found the owners of the drinks readily enough as she moved through the crowd, but something else ticked across her awareness and she found herself looking around until she caught sight of the demon who had been a thorn in Hiei's side earlier attempting now herself to fend off unwelcome advances on the part of a stranger Shikiyoku had not ever seen under her roof before now.

"The lady said no." Shikiyoku moved to casually stand next to the pair, finding that the woman's gaze found her with something of surprise. "I would suggest you take her at her word." 3

The long ears standing on the demon's head flicked once in the direction of the mild explosion on the other side of the room, chalking it up to a bar fight that he had no interest in. Glazed eyes drank up the woman next to him, and his hand slid along her lower back despite her earlier knockaway of that same hand against her thigh.

He didn't really care what she said as he downed the last of his drink. Instead, he leaned over to say something into her ear, his breath brushing against her skin despite her slight lean away.

His ear twitched again, acknowledging the voice of the woman who came to stand next to him. Not realizing or not caring that she was talking to him, Yuuichi leaned ever closer to the woman, only to find that she turned her head in such a way that he couldn't quite get what he wanted from her.

The woman's look over his shoulder is what prompted him to do the same.

He glanced the girl up and down, recognizing her as a newer pop icon among the humans. His expression turned almost bored and he waved a hand dismissively at her.

"G' away, li'l one." He turned his attention back to his 'companion', the hand at the small of her back sliding lower as his attention completely zeroed on her again.

~!**!~

Hiei, now standing over Misaki with both hands supporting his weight against the shelf lined with liquor bottles, took a deep breath and finally pushed away. He dusted her clear of any debris, glad to see no cuts on her face, and he guided her back around the bar.

He paused at Shikiyoku's station and leaned there, all at once feeling absolutely exhausted. He watched Misaki return to the guild, seeing Gai and a few others still staring, and he only gave a shrug.

He turned and began to clear up his station, knowing he had no more energy to work this night.

"I'm done for the night," he told the staff.

He was immediately greeted with various agreements and stern looks, and a part of him felt appreciation at their concern. He hadn't ever noticed their concern before now, and it brought a tired smile to his face as he worked to clean his station, despite Hebi's protests. *

~!**!~

Shikiyoku's eyes glittered dangerously at being ignored and any demon nearby who saw her approach now watched the interaction with vested interest.

Energy glimmered across Shikiyoku's hair in the crown Raion wove it earlier, but it was her gaze which leveled on the other more intently, the demon in his grasp still trying to squirm away in as dignified a manner as she could manage.

Shikiyoku had replaced her glasses onto her nose earlier and now she took them away.

"I will not be repeating myself, worm, and if you don't hear me, I don't care. I'll give you one more chance to walk away before I banish you to a life of unending misery and eternal torment. Get off of her now, or I will make you get off of her." 3

~!**!~

Akari finished her drink and reached for her fresh one, smiling at Chisai gratefully as he bumped his shoulder with hers.

He leaned close again. "Just keep showing up. They've already accepted you, you just don't know it yet."

She turned to whisper her thanks in his ear, and he smiled reassuringly at her before he got up from Aki's chair and moved back to his own. Akihiko took his place again, only slightly frowning.

"He okay?" Tarou asked.

"Yeah. He's coming over here once his station is clean. Finally came to his senses, the-"

"Worm."

Akari felt a thrill run up her spine and she turned in her chair, picking up the one word in the room that likely could have gotten her attention even in the ruckus. She stood from her perch against Tarou's armrest and looked around as much as she could, but didn't quite see the person she was looking for.

"What?" Tarou asked. "What are you looking for?"

"There's a worm in the bar," she responded as she turned to look at him. "Hey, don't move the chair."

"What? I don't-" He blinked at her as she climbed onto the armrest she had been sitting on and then stepped onto the wobbly table. He instinctively reached out to steady it, and she meandered her way to the center before she turned in a circle. "What are you doing?"

"Obviously not dancing," Raion mumbled.

"Nope!" Akari smiled to herself. "Worm hunting."

"...what does that mean?" Airi whispered to Gai, who only shrugged.

~!**!~

The dog demon's chest rumbled with a growl and he looked over his shoulder at the girl again, irritated that the pest wouldn't go away. He looked her up and down again.

"Sorry, little one, but you have to be this tall," he held his hand about five and a half feet from the floor, "to ride this ride."

He smirked at her, almost looking sober if not for the lack of focus in his gaze. *

The demons around them had grown quieter and the silence was continuing to radiate out from the scene unfolding in the midst of the bar as more and more started to take notice of the exchange happening.

"And only a guy that tall could be that stupid." One of the demons around them murmured.

Shikiyoku only gave him a sweet smile, "I don't ride worms. And neither does she." She nodded a little at the demon he still hadn't moved from. She leaned closer, eyes flashing, "They don't handle well. Too much squirm." 3

~!**!~

Akari picked up the second 'worm' in the room and her eyes zeroed in on the oddly quiet part of the room. She took in the scene as her ears focused on the conversation, and just as she took a sip of her drink, she realized she recognized the demon Shikiyoku addressed, and that her insult was perfectly fitting to get Yuuichi's attention.

She swallowed her drink and waved her other hand in excitement at Tarou. "Dude! Look! This is going to be great! You wanna know what a worm is?"

Tarou frowned at her. "What is it?"

"It's a BIG DUMB."

Motivated to know just what Akari considered 'big dumb', Tarou stood and hefted himself up onto the table and he stood next to her. She drank more from her drink, excited to see his reaction when his eyes finally found the quiet half of the bar.

"The hell's going on?"

"He's 'bout to get his butt handed to him by Shikiyoku."

"What?"

"Mother?"

The guild all stood as one and turned to look in the direction of the lack of commotion, not noticing that they led the rest of the bar to fall into watchful silence.

~!**!~

Yuuichi growled and shifted in his seat to finally face the girl across from him, and, slowly, he stood to tower over her. He glowered at her as her insult ran through his mind over, and over, and over again, processing in stages.

"You're no different from the rest, small fry. All the same, just like that bitch," He snarled the last word out, his true frustrations finally bubbling to the surface after ignoring them for months on end.

A scent wafted in the room, carried on the stale air with a voice, and he almost looked up. Instead, the anger at the person that scent and voice belonged to welled up, fueled by an old memory of passing by her on the street, of sitting in her cafe, of losing her, and he found himself moving without thinking.

He punched her. *

His desire bubbled up deep inside of her in the split second before he decided to follow through with his fist, but unfortunately for Shikiyoku, the action wasn't nearly damning enough for her to feel the slightest tug at her core, so instead of what she had been planning, she took it right in the face, feeling her neck pop once as his knuckles collided with her right cheekbone and knocked her gaze away from him for a moment, leaving the rest of her otherwise unmoving.

In the aftermath of the moment, the bar was so deathly quiet one could've heard a pin hit the floor and nearly every body in the room would have been at the dog demon's throat in an instant at the slightest indication from the owner.

If the atmosphere had been warm with curious interest at the initial interaction, it both chilled and darkened into a heavy haze of oppressive anger that threatened to boil over at the drop of a hat.

Shikiyoku lifted a hand first as if to stay the desires of those in her immediate vicinity and beyond and more than one of them shifted out of their stance at her silent request.

She blinked and looked up at the scum who'd dared set foot in her realm and had him snared the moment they locked eyes, her gaze now fully shimmering with energy even as the skin around the one of them began to purple with the force of his earlier strike.

"I see no one has ever taught you any manners, worm. If you'll come with me, I think it's time you learned your place." The suggestion was laced with her mesmer, which left him with little actual choice in the matter as she turned and flipped her hair over her shoulder where the bits of it from the woven crown had fallen forward when punched, her scent further twisting into the air around her.

The crowds parted without a single sound to leave her a path to the door and the enthralled demon followed after her. 3

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A few more docs have been created since February when we last updated, so I'm aiming to slowly get those posted.