Ticking Timebomb

by SuperNova90

Morimoto Kasumi is a highly trained, socially challenged martial artist who meets Keiko and Kuwabara at the end of their Sophomore year of high school. Her identical twin sister Hitomi has disappeared and now Kasumi has made it her life's mission to get her back, going as far as joining the Tokyo police force. But who's behind Hitomi's disappearance and what do they want? Hiei/OC

13. It's All in My Head

A/N: No more Hiei's POV for a while, thank the heavens. I missed my little Kasumi-chan! Officially have more reviews on this story then the other crappy one I have posted (which has been up since 2009, if that tells you anything) so thank you guys so much! Sorry for the late updates! I will hopefully have more time to write in the coming weeks. Thank you to everyone who is keeping up with this story, the support keeps me going and makes me want to write more! Anyway, here is chapter 13, happy reading!

Disclaimer: Still don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, drat!

Warnings: Same as other chapters – Swearing/cursing, blood/gore, violence, poorly written fight scenes, adult themes, etc.

. . .

Hitomi had a bad day today…I had known before we'd even gotten out of classes. I spent the next several hours in an after school club for Kendo while Hitomi was supposed to be at her science club. We met every day at the school's gates and walked home together. Without fail…every day, and if one of us didn't show up, we'd know something was wrong. Today…Hitomi had been late, but refused to tell me why.

When we had come home from school I went through my after school training (I trained three times a day, before and after school and when I had club) but Hitomi had gone straight to our room. She didn't greet our grandparents and hadn't said a word on our walk home. Because we were identical twins, I could feel that something had gone horribly wrong and she was just unwilling to talk about it. Once I was done training and Ojichan had given me permission to get cleaned up for dinner, I went and found my sister. She was curled up in her bed, her usually vibrant green eyes dead and tear stains had covered her cheeks. I couldn't find the words to ask what had happened…but when she saw me it didn't matter.

She began to speak, without moving and without preamble, "I hurt a girl during gym today."

My eyebrows scrunched down over my eyes and I frowned, "What do you mean…hurt?"

I knew there was much more to it…that Hitomi wouldn't be so shaken up over giving a classmate a bruise or scrape.

"She made me angry…she was saying hurtful things about you…"

That wasn't anything new; many kids used me as a way to get to Hitomi. I'd told her time and time again to just ignore it, but she never listened to me. She took everything to heart because she was too sensitive.

"…I wanted to make her pay for what she said. I-I…hit her with a Reiki blast…"

At fourteen years old Hitomi was able to produce small amounts of energy…supposedly. I had never seen it for myself, though when it had first happened my grandfather had been elated. I had a hard time believing her even now, which is why I callously said, "You sure you didn't just hit her really hard?"

She started to cry again, her face screwed up and tears spilled from her eyes and down her cheeks. I sighed, because taking care of Hitomi was often taxing on me…not that I didn't love her. It just seemed like I always had to do something like this. Like I had taken over for mom after she died. I didn't like that feeling, that feeling of being depended on so much. It put a lot of pressure on me…and I already had enough.

I sat on the edge of her bed, "Come on, let's go take a bath and then we can talk some more, okay?"

"Ojichan is going to kill me. They promised to call him…"

I had noticed my grandfather acting a bit strange during our Kempo training but he chose not to say anything and I had always been taught to keep to myself and not meddle in other's business (as long as that business wasn't hurting anyone, anyway). If my grandfather had something to tell me he would tell me when he felt it was right. I knew what his silence meant this time…he was doing his best to find a way to talk to Hitomi without making her feel bad. It was no secret that Hitomi was the favorite in the family, even though he had chosen me as his successor. I was a brat; I had often given him and my grandmother problems from getting into fights at school to just being downright disrespectful to them even though they had taken us in out of the kindness in their hearts. I loved them and cared about them…but they weren't my parents and it would never be the same. I couldn't overlook that, I couldn't sit here and pretend they were my mother and father.

And in the deepest darkest pits of my heart I could feel resentment there. Resentment for putting me through so much training, resentment for expecting so much from me when I was so young, resentment for not having any powers, resentment over Hitomi being so fucking special because she could produce energy and see things I couldn't. I think that's why I tried so hard not to believe. I didn't want to believe anything I couldn't see. They could tell me over and over until their faces were red from frustration, but I refused to believe that Hitomi was so goddamn special and I refused to believe in the supernatural and monsters – it was ludicrous, foolish, and insane.

I strayed from that vile train of thought, for it would only poison me further, "Hitomi, he's not going to kill you. Now come on, get up."

It took a little prodding but eventually I got her out of bed. We bathed together and I washed her hair because I knew it comforted her whenever I did. She was silent through it all…so unlike her that it unnerved me. Whatever she had done to that girl must have been bad. I almost didn't want to know but my curiosity was eating away at me so I dared to question her.

"How bad was it, Hitomi?"

She stilled beneath my hands as I ran conditioner through her flaming locks, making sure every inch was saturated before I drew away. Her voice came out shaky and tired, but she told me anyway.

"I gave her third degree burns…the school nurse said she would probably need skin grafts."

I tried to suppress the gasp that came up my throat unbidden, but she heard it and began to weep again. I sighed (as I often did in my sister's presence), "I'm sorry; it just shocked me is all."

She laughed darkly through her tears, not an ounce of humor in it, "You think it shocked you? Try being the one on the receiving end…or better yet, put yourself in my shoes."

I rolled my eyes, because here was Hitomi's unending need to be dramatic rearing its ugly head. I was thankful I was behind her and she couldn't see me, because I was being insensitive and I knew it. I just didn't care.

"I've beaten up plenty of people over the years, broken some bones…I have been in your shoes," I said.

"No, you haven't," she replied firmly. "You never cared when you got into fights. Not even when Ojichan forced you to train twice as hard as punishment."

"His punishment training is a special form of torture, of course I cared!"

She was making me angry and I was feeling less sorry for her by the second.

"Oh okay, excuse me. You only gave a shit because you were too lazy to want to do the training, my mistake."

I ignored the fact she had sworn (Hitomi never swears) because what she had said was so blatantly sarcastic and rude that it had me on my feet in a second. I was so angry I could have hit her and I've never laid a finger on my sister, it wasn't something I'd ever felt like doing. I was just so sick of it always being about her. I hadn't lied when I said I'd been in her shoes, of course I felt guilty after hurting someone…maybe not for the ones that brought it on themselves, such as the idiots at school who picked fights. But I'd injured many an opponent during tournaments and I've even hurt a few classmates during club. Each time was either a mistake or an accident that occurred in the heat of battle, never intentionally. So of course I felt like a piece of shit after. I trained to protect myself, to reign in my anger and hurt and pain, but never to on purposely hurt an innocent person. It was ridiculous of her to even think it was possible!

I turned on my heels, with every intention of storming out of the shower room so I could get some distance from her. The tiled floor was slick and soaking wet beneath my feet and as I hurried to get away from her I never noticed the bar of soap that lay forgotten on the ground. It was like something out of an anime and in that circumstance it might have been comical, but in real life when you slip and fall on a bar of soap and your head smashes into hard tile…you don't get back up with a lump and laugh.

My head cracked hard against the floor and my face was directly aimed at the stream from the shower…it felt like warm rain washing over me…soothing, like a summer storm. My vision blurred and my hearing was fuzzy, I had a hard time trying to make out what Hitomi was screaming at me…but it was just my name. Over and over, she screamed it. She was shaking me by my shoulders and trying to pull me up from the floor but her hands kept slipping in something.

The back of my skull hurt…I reached a shaky arm out so I could prod at the back of my head and my entire hand came back bloody…actually, there was a grotesque amount of the stuff streaming down the drain…

Dizzy now all I could do was lie in Hitomi's lap and watch from the corner of my eye as my blood coated her white thighs to splash against the green tiling beneath her. She was kneeling, with my head in her lap and still screaming something but my hearing was completely shot. The lids of my eyes felt awfully heavy and each second they drooped more and more, until I had finally closed them. The relief it brought was astounding…

With the warmth of the water, my sister's soft hands gripping me to her, and the contentment only a deep sleep could bring…I drifted away.

. . .

The shock of having the wonderful warmth of the shower water taken from me had me choking on my own tongue. I awoke on my hands and knees, covered in mud, with heavy cold rain pelting my bare back. I couldn't breathe; it felt like I'd had every ounce of strength sapped out of me. All I could do was heave in great gulps of air and pray I wasn't dying. My entire body was in pain, inflamed, and the cold rain only made it worse. I couldn't bring myself to rise from the mud, too scared, too confused. Where was I? I couldn't even see my surroundings thanks to my poor eyesight and the deluge falling down around me. The last thing I remembered was passing out in Kazuma's arms…and from there I had no idea.

I felt bare, naked…and not because my top was apparently missing. Something had changed inside me. Something dark, something that had always been there but I had never noticed until now. This rocked me to my very core, put a fear in me I didn't think I could handle. What the fuck had happened to me while I was asleep?

The sound of someone's nimble feet came splashing towards me through the mud but I didn't have the strength to turn around. When small, wrinkled hands grasped at my shoulders and tried to pull me up I panicked.

"Who are you?! Don't touch me!" I screamed.

When the hands didn't go away I shoved them. The person was fairly tiny but that was about all I could make out. They continued to try and lift me from the mud and I insisted on dredging up just enough strength to keep them away from me. I screamed and carried on because I was afraid. I didn't know this person; I didn't know where I was or why the hell I was out in the middle of a goddamn monsoon and I just felt different than I was before. All of this together didn't make a very pretty picture and I knew I was a wreck, but I couldn't even think straight.

"Kasumi…"

That voice…I recognized it. Oh thank God…I could have cried in relief but I sucked it back until it was just a lump in my throat that I was forced to choke down. I would not cry. I would not break my vow. Not now, not ever. I didn't care what had happened to me, nothing would make that change. That didn't stop the well of emotions that boiled up inside me at the sound of his voice because it was like music to my ears. I was safe, he had saved my life three times already…if he was here, everything would be okay.

I tried to squint at him through the rain, but all I could really make out was a black blob, "H-hiei?"

God, I sounded so pathetic but as the rain continued to beat down on my back I grew more and more afraid. Hiei might be there, but I still didn't know where I was…one of my greatest flaws was my abnormal fear of the unknown and until I knew what had happened to me I would either let fear or anger barrel its way through me. I hated being afraid and if an explanation didn't come soon…I would be quick to turn on my defense mechanism and let my rage rule me.

"Can you see me?" he asked.

"Vaguely…" I replied.

My contacts had fallen out during my fight with Hideki and my glasses were at home and broken anyway. Even still, I would have taken cracked glasses over not being able to see clearly any day.

"What is different now from before?"

It took me a second to realize what Hiei was talking about. He didn't understand why I hadn't been wearing glasses earlier but could see just fine without them and now suddenly it wasn't the same.

I answered, "N-no contacts…they fell out."

I really was trying not to sound like a sniveling idiot but was failing miserably.

After my reply I felt the tell-tale tickle itch thing that indicated Hiei was snooping around my head. I'd grown kind of used to the feeling and could easily recognize it now, but it was still unnerving all the same. I didn't know what he was looking for this time and honestly did not care. I moved a hand, perhaps to scratch my head, but I had forgotten about the slick mud beneath me and I ended up slipping.

I was caught by a pair of hot hands; they held me up by my shoulders and had just barely stopped me from landing face first into the muck. I could feel my hair in it though…I would have a sticky mess to take care of later. Dirty hair was the least of my worries and all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around him and let him carry me somewhere warm, but I wasn't a child and I had already shown enough weakness in front of this man…this demon. I didn't even know if I could trust him and here I was, so vulnerable, so open and fearful. It was a travesty, a nightmare. This isn't a side of me someone as strong as him should see.

Another pair of feet, louder than before, came slopping through the sludge towards me. They slid and came to an unsteady halt right beside me. Hiei's hands let me go and a different pair took their place: a large, callused, set of hands that I would have recognized anywhere – I had never been more grateful for the appearance of Kuwabara Kazuma.

He lifted me from the ground, cradled me in his arms and his chest was so warm compared to my frozen skin that I wrapped my arms as tightly around his neck as I could. As he began to carry me somewhere (I hoped to a place that was less wet) only then did I recall the memory I had just been stuck in. My cruel and callous behavior towards my sister wasn't something I liked to remember. Her bad day had only turned worse; she had never stopped blaming herself for my fall. That was the first time I'd ever been brought to a hospital, normally any wounds I gained during my training or fighting were taken care of right at home. From minor stitches to bruises…but this time I'd lost too much blood. I'd ended up with a bad concussion and spent two days in the hospital after receiving a blood transfusion. Hitomi never left my side, going as far as to skip school just to be with me. We never talked about the incident at school again…and now I was left to wonder if she would still feel like such a horrible person even though it had happened so many years ago.

After all the times she had comforted me…I had never been very good at doing the same for her. I was a pathetic excuse for a sister.

Kazuma carried me out of the rain and I hadn't seen where he'd brought me, but was only happy that I was no longer being pelted by cold, fat droplets of water. He tried to set me on my feet, but I wouldn't let him go. I wasn't composed enough to face the world at large yet. He sensed this and stopped to give me a minute.

"Is she okay?" I recognized that voice too…Yusuke. He sounded genuinely concerned and it made me feel a tad better.

"Yeah," Kazuma replied, "She'll make it. Just give us a second."

I felt Yusuke pat Kazuma on the shoulder and then heard him walk away; two other pairs of feet followed but neither of the people said a word as they passed us. I didn't take my head out of the crook of Kazuma's neck to find out who they were, it didn't matter. I was just thankful for the silence.

"Hey…I know I told them you were alright, but are you?"

I pressed my lips together and swallowed another lump in my throat before lifting my head so I could look him in the eye. He took one long look at me and sadness crossed over his face. No…I wasn't okay. I didn't know if I would ever be again…and the fact I didn't know why that was just made it ten times worse.

"I'm so sorry Kas, I promise to explain everything."

I didn't believe him. I knew I would be kept in the dark just as I had been from day one. There was nothing he could do about it. I didn't want him to defy orders, or go against his friends. I didn't want Kazuma involved in any of this at all, if I were to be honest. Not that I didn't trust him or want him by my side…but if I were to get him hurt…or worse killed, I'd never be able to live with myself afterwards.

I was saved from having to come up with some kind of an answer when I heard someone shout my name from behind me. Kazuma lifted his head in their direction, but I didn't turn around. I didn't need to, because Keiko came up and wrapped her arms around me anyway, squashing them between my waist and Kazuma's chest. Her head landed on my rain soaked back, her cheek burning hot compared to my skin. I shifted against my friend so I could keep one arm behind Kazu's neck and then reached behind me with the other to pat Keiko's head. What a picture we must have made.

She hugged me for a moment and then drew away, "Would you like to take a shower?" she asked.

And a shower, though it brought the memory of my sister back to the forefront of my mind, sounded like such a wonderful, tiny piece of heaven that I nodded and then hopped down from Kazuma's arms. I stumbled upon landing and frowned at myself, because I was not used to being so ungraceful or having less than total control over my body. When Kazuma was forced to catch me because my legs almost gave out, I felt like a weakling. Once again a feeling of pitifulness washed over me. Neither of my friends said a word, Keiko just lifted one of my arms over her shoulders and then guided me towards what I assumed would be a bathroom.

Kazuma went to follow us, but Keiko must have shot him a look because a second later he said, "Right…sorry," and then walked off in a different direction.

"Honestly, did he think he was going to come and bathe with you?" Keiko mumbled more to herself then me.

I assumed it was a rhetorical question and kept silent. I hadn't spoken since Hiei had come out to help me…and if I did now, I might just become sick. I hadn't been this messed up in a long while…not since…well, that was another memory I didn't like to think about. One where I spent more time drunk than sober anyway, so what I could recall was hazy and worthless. The only thing I truly remembered was blacking out during a competition fight only to wake up with my opponent at my feet so beaten I had nearly killed him. I'd been disqualified from the tournament and I hadn't participated in a competition since.

I don't know if I ever would again…

And to this day the memory still made my stomach churn.

"We're almost there Kasumi-chan, its right down this hall."

Keiko had led me down two different hallways, I still had yet to figure out where we were, but if all my friends were here it must be somewhere safe. I could trust Keiko and Kazuma; they would not lead me astray.

It was a large building from what I could gather and when we finally entered the bathroom it was only to discover it was the size of a small public bathhouse. It was designed much the same as well, with little cubicles housing showers on each side and then one large bathing pool in the center. It wasn't separated for men and women, as far as I could tell, because it was just one big open room. Four sinks lined one side, with mirrors above each of them and on the other side were six thin wooden closets, all lined up next to each other. The entire bathroom was done up in white and pale blues.

Keiko left me in a shower cubicle after grabbing a stool for me to sit on. She wandered over to one of the closets and pulled out something I couldn't quite see, but the next object she grabbed was the same general size and shape of a folded towel. She set the towel down on the closest sink and then meandered back over to take care of me. The first item she had grabbed ended up being a plastic toiletry bag with tiny travel sized shampoos, conditioners, and body washes inside. I hoped to see a toothbrush or even just some toothpaste in there, but she didn't pull it out and I decided not to ask. I would just use water to wash away the vile taste in my mouth as best I could.

She turned on the water, let it get warm and then helped undress and situate me under the stream while still sitting on the stool. This was when I finally noticed my arm was bleeding. It had been so caked in mud that I hadn't noticed before but as the water washed the dirt away I could see bright red streaming down the drain with the brown. I lifted my arm to get a closer look, only to see that the blackened palm mark that I had received some days ago was no longer there…though its general shape still remained. An open, disgusting looking wound had taken its place. I cringed at the sight of it and shoved it back underneath the spray to try and wash it out.

"Here, let me," and then Keiko took my arm and ever so gently (though it still stung like an absolute bitch) she meticulously cleaned the wound.

I struggled to find my voice, to speak up and say something, to ask about what had happened to me but I was afraid of the answer. The words died before they'd even made it up my throat and I hung my head under the stream of the shower and let the mud wash itself out of my already sopping wet hair.

"Can you wait here a moment Kasumi-chan? I promise to be right back," said Keiko.

I nodded detachedly, not really caring if she left me to my own devices or not. I didn't turn as she got up and left, I just continued to let the hot water slide over my skin and drown the rest of the world out. I was so lost in my bizarre little world that I never heard the sound of someone entering the shower room and didn't notice their presence at all until I felt the heat at my back. I knew instantly who it was, knew that he was staring at my naked form and had walked in during a time that just wasn't right for either of us. He was beyond not caring and I never opened my mouth to speak. He stood at my back, kept me warm, but remained just as silent…it got on my fucking nerves.

What the hell did he want now – to gloat, to humiliate me? Why would he come here, why now? Why hadn't he said anything? All of this rushed through my head at once and made me dizzy. I sat up straighter, my wet hair spilling over my shoulders and clinging unpleasantly to my back. The silence between us stretched on and on and I kept hoping Keiko would come back so he would flee, however she seemed to be taking her sweet ass time. I grew weary, angry, and emboldened as the time kept ticking right along and he continued to stare at the back of my head.

"What the fuck do you want?" I finally snarled through clenched teeth.

I could hear the anger in his voice and something that sounded so akin to hurt I almost turned around, "I came to make sure you didn't succumb to a bout of weakness and died."

But the words, as angry sounding as they were, perhaps because of how I had spoken to him after he'd helped me so much, were so rude that the little bit of guilt I had felt fled out the window.

"Oh fuck you, go away."

A flaming hot hand grabbed my bloody arm and hauled me to my feet, I slipped on the slick tile but unlike my memory of Hitomi, Hiei caught me long before I could fall to the floor. He pulled me towards him until he had me close enough so he could inspect the disgusting open flesh wound I was sporting and then without warning...he cauterized the fucking thing.

I screamed, blood curdling and high pitched and I made to punch him as hard as I could in the head, but the damage had been done and I ended up missing by a mile anyway. He flickered away and reappeared near the door.

"Tell her to leave when she comes to heal you," and then he was gone, nothing but a black blur against the white tiling.

I didn't even know who the fuck he was talking about, because Keiko didn't have any goddamn healing powers as far as I knew. The only girl around that I knew of who had any ability in it at all was Botan. Why would he want me to send her away? Not that it mattered. Hiei had stopped the wound from bleeding…but in return, Hideki's palm mark had been replaced with one that belonged to Hiei. His hand would be forever scarred into my skin and this irked me to my very core. I screamed again in outrage and kicked the stool I had been sitting on across the room.

I heard Keiko calling to me from somewhere out in the hall, the sound of pounding feet telling me she was running towards the room. I sat hard onto the ground and buried my face into my hands. I wished I could kill something. I was so fucking angry.

"Kasumi, oh my god, what happened?!" Keiko came rushing into the room, through my blurred vision I saw someone hot on her heels…another woman by the looks of the kimono she was wearing.

She was short…probably about my height maybe an inch or two taller but the most striking thing about her was her bright, pastel, minty colored green hair. Both girls rushed to my side and when the stranger got close enough to me for me to make out her features (I could see things that were really close alright) I noticed her vibrant red eyes and instantly made a connection.

This woman was related to Hiei. I didn't know how…or who she was or what she was doing here in the bathroom with me while I lay in a heap on the tiled floor, but her eyes were unmistakable in shape and color. They were exactly the fucking same. This must have been who he had spoken of, no doubt about it.

I chose not to heed his warning. Call it spite, call it immature, call it whatever you'd like, but I wasn't about to listen to someone who had just taken it upon themselves to hurt me for no goddamn reason.

Together the two girls lifted me to my feet, Yukina let go to grab another stool, and Keiko directed me down onto it after the other woman had placed it back beneath the stream of the shower.

"I'm so sorry Morimoto-san, I would have preferred to have met you under…different circumstances."

Her voice was pleasant, soft, and sweet. It brought me a tiny bit of comfort, for I could hear the kindness she must possess shining through just by her tone. I was embarrassed myself…that I would meet such a well-mannered, not to mention beautiful, woman in the state I am in – naked and half crazed. I brought dishonor on my entire family, dead as they were.

Even though I didn't answer her, she proceeded to introduce herself, "My name is Yukina. Keiko came to me so I may heal the injury to your arm."

Ah and there was the part about her being a healer. Apparently Hiei didn't want me anywhere near his family. Too bad, asshole, I did what I wanted.

And then with a jolt, I realized I recognized her name. How could I not? Considering Kazuma spoke so highly of her all the time. It couldn't be a coincidence that she happened to have the same name as the woman he loved. The fact she was a demon surprised me…because if she was related to Hiei she must be. No wonder Kazuma had never introduced us. Had he not known she was a demon? Had she played a trick on him just like Hideki had done to me, but Kazuma had chosen not to care once he found out? No…she didn't seem like the type. He must have known the entire time and just loved her for exactly who she was, it was time I started looking at demons just as a different race instead of monsters because this woman could never be considered a monster. I wasn't prejudice, or racist, or bigoted. I shouldn't assume all demons were evil…

And if Kazuma had found it in his heart to love and cherish Yukina, then she must be a truly wonderful person. Maybe she wasn't related to Hiei after all…

She pushed up her sleeves and gingerly picked up the arm with Hiei's freshly made hand shaped burn and cradled it in one hand, while the other hovered above the wound. Her face was close enough to me so I could see when her eyes scrunched up in confusion and the inevitable questioning came soon thereafter.

"Why has it turned back into a burn?"

It didn't look nearly as severe as Hideki's burn had looked, it was bright red and painful, but it had sealed up the wound and stopped the bleeding. I'm sure it had stopped any infection as well.

I felt the need to lie to her, as much as I hated to, but something told me that telling the truth would be a mistake. "Not sure…that's why I was screaming. It hurt something awful."

She shot a sidelong glance at Keiko who was resting on her haunches beside the girl and then the green haired woman directed her gaze back to me, pretending she hadn't looked away at all.

"Residual effects from her energy maybe…" she mumbled to herself.

I acted like I hadn't heard her, "Can you fix it?"

"It will scar," she said sadly, "But I can take away the pain."

I nodded my assent, for I had given up on freaking out whenever someone showed me their powers now. I'd seen enough to know it was all true. The things that go bump in the night…and the heroes that saved you from them. It was all real and all still confusing and nerve wracking. It was enough to drive a lesser person to utter madness. I thought of my sister and grandfather once again and guilt riddled me. I had called them insane…called them liars, although I had been the one who was just too stubborn to see it was all true. I should have just believed them. Perhaps I wouldn't have ended up in this mess.

I was knocked from my reverie when a noise like tinkling glass entered my ears. Yukina's healing energy was a beautiful ice blue and it was just as cold as its color implied. The temperature made me flinch away at first but the lost look she shot me afterwards made me feel guilty, so I slowly moved my arm back to her. She grasped it again gently and proceeded to infuse it with her power. It was strange to watch as the burn turned from red and inflamed to nothing more than a light pink scar. When she was finished, I brought it back to my side and ran my fingers over the raised skin – Hiei's hand…

Remembering my manners I said, "Thank you."

"You're very welcome," she said.

She rose gracefully from the floor to dainty slipper clad feet and bowed, "I will take my leave now so you may finish your bath."

"Thank you Yukina," said Keiko.

"There's no need, I am always willing to help."

And then she bowed again and shuffled out of the room. I watched her retreating form until I could no longer see her and then turned back to Keiko.

"Help me wash my hair?"

She smiled, "Of course."

Keiko had rolled up the hems of her pants and the sleeves of her long sleeved shirt, though she didn't mind too much when a little bit of water splashed on her here and there. She was extra careful in order to wash out all the mud, giving my hair a good scrub twice just to be sure before she spread conditioner through it. Her hands withdrew and then she just let them rest in her lap, sitting next to me quietly. She had pulled up a stool before starting so she wouldn't have to kneel on the ground. I was tempted to tell her to leave so I could just be alone.

"Kas…" she started, "Do you remember anything that happened today?"

It was a loaded question, because behind her words had been the subtle sound of fear. Whatever I had done today while blacked out had scared her…just like the last time. What I wouldn't give for a bottle of sake to drown myself with right at this very moment.

"…No, I don't remember anything," I said, my voice low. I couldn't bring myself to speak any louder. Today just wasn't my day.

"Do you…feel…any different?"

This question was almost even worse than the last. This I knew the answer to but I couldn't explain it. Why did I feel different? It didn't make any sense: not that waking up in a rain storm without a freaking shirt on and covered in mud made much sense either. Keiko must know something that I didn't and was trying to gauge my reactions, to see if I truly didn't remember anything or not.

I answered her truthfully, "Yes but I can't tell you why."

"You don't know?" she asked.

I shook my head – how could I? My mind drew up nothing but complete blanks other than the memory I had been dreaming about before I woke up.

Abruptly she changed the subject, obviously with the intent to get me to forget about her even asking…yeah right, like that would ever happen.

"I can't do anything about your lack of glasses, but I can get you some clean clothes," she smiled, an attempt to cheer me up that didn't even come close to working.

I forced an extremely fake smile onto my face in return and she frowned. I don't know what she wanted from me, I couldn't force myself to suddenly get over it and feel better, that's not how my brain worked nor would it ever. She sighed and got up from her stool so she could put it back in its rightful spot.

"Can you handle the rest?" she gestured towards my hair and I nodded.

"Okay, I'll go get you some clothes. Once you're done with your hair feel free to use the bath."

Then she bustled out of the room, I hoped she would return a little faster this time. I quickly rinsed my hair and ran my fingers through it to release any tangles. I reached up to shut the shower off and then just sat in the cold bathroom air. For a while, I just stopped thinking. Eventually I dragged myself up so I could go and sloppily fall into the bath. Just like at a public bathhouse, the water was already filled and hot. It did wonders on my sore muscles to the point I had sunk into the steamy goodness so deep only the top of my head and my nose remained outside of the water. I don't know how long I stayed like that; blowing bubbles in the liquid like a child, but no one interrupted me this time.

At least…not at first, as I drifted further away inside myself a voice made itself known in the back of my mind. I couldn't quite make it out but within time it became louder and louder until it was all I could hear. It called out my name and it echoed over and over, bouncing off invisible walls inside my head. The voice, high pitched, strident and disembodied reverberated inside my skull. It was neither a man nor a woman's voice, yet completely inhuman and it made my heart freeze in my chest. I shot out of the water so fast it splashed out around me to crash back down outside of the tub to the tiled floor. I stood in the middle of the bath, staring straight ahead, with my fists clenched at my sides.

"Who the hell are you?" I said out loud.

"I've spoken to you before child, many years ago," it said, "Do you not recognize my voice?"

And that was the most horrifying thing of all…because I did recognize it. The night my parents had died, in those early hours of the morning when it was darkest before the dawn, an entity had come to me. Before the phone call reporting their deaths, before I had been awoken only to be told my life had been changed forever. At six years old I lay in my bed and dreamed of a being that had come to join me inside my body: from then on I would be their new vessel. In return, they would save me from mortal danger and give me powers I could only dream of. Being so young, I thought it was a wonderful thing. It had shown me images…shown me pieces of my future I could neither understand nor remember and when it entered my body and merged with my soul…it was like they had always been there. It sat in the background, a little powerful ball of neither darkness nor light, but that grey area in between and bided its time.

Back then…I had thought it was a guardian angel my parents had sent to watch over me, but it had not been so. It did not protect me when I was bullied at school. It offered me no kindness and only spoke when it was absolutely necessary. Every time it gave me another piece of insight it drove my young mind closer to the brink of insanity. A year later, it came to a screeching halt after an incident during training with my grandfather. The entity had offered to loan me the power to become stronger, so I could match my grandfather in both technique and prowess. Perhaps even be able to overtake him…and at such a young age, it would have been an astonishing accomplishment. Even back then I had wanted the power to put an end to my training – if I became stronger than my grandfather, then he would no longer need to train me at all.

I accepted its offer willingly enough; however, I should never have made the mistake of trusting it. As soon as it allowed its power to flow through me my body was in utter agony. Cuts, bruises, and gouges appeared all over my skin. They began to bleed and coated the white gi I was wearing in horrible red stains. I must have fainted for I had never seen that much of my own blood ever in my life. The next thing I knew I was being carried up to mine and Hitomi's bedroom nestled safely in Ojichan's arms.

…It was shortly after that I met Genkai for the first time and I couldn't deny the connection. This thing, whether it is a separate personality or something different entirely, was still some kind of threat. I didn't know if it was just a threat to me…or if it was a danger to everyone. I needed to do something about this and fast.

"Oh yeah, my psychotic break. Welcome back," I said sarcastically.

"I'm neither an illusion nor a second personality. My name is Chronos and you are my vessel."

Its voice made my head hurt, like it was splitting my skull in two. I brought my hands up and gripped at the sides of my head, like I could keep it together that way. My eyes screwed shut and I dug my nails into my crown.

"What are you?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"In simple terms, I am a god. I was the creator of time, once the ruler of the cosmos and now a trained dog that has been forced into servitude."

"Servitude?" it sure as hell wasn't serving me, so who?

"I have been enslaved by Lord Enma, the ruler of the Reikai."

"Why?"

If anyone were to walk in right now they would think I had gone insane. I was standing in the middle of a pool of water just talking to myself. Why I was even bothering to question this thing I did not know. I just had a feeling it wouldn't go away until I did. Maybe I would get some answers this way…maybe this entity would know something about what everyone had been hiding from me.

"So I may guard the entrance into Purgatory."

I gasped and my eyes flew open, I let my hands fall away from my head and I could feel beads of sweat beginning to form on my brow. This was why all those creatures had been after me, not because I was the gate keeper, but because this god was. I'd been an innocent bystander, dragged into this entire mess when I was only a child, how fucking fair was that?

"And what in seven hells are you doing here?"

"I've been in your family since your earliest ancestors, there was no avoiding this."

"How is that possible?"

"The night your parents died…I was trapped within your father," it said, "In the event a vessel dies I will be passed onto the next best candidate. That happened to be you."

It continued to spin this unbelievable tale, completely ignoring my question, because I still didn't understand how it was possible. My father had never acted strangely…at least, not that I could remember. However…how good could my memory of my parents possibly be when I was so young when they passed away? I thought hard on it, trying to recall anything that would clue me into this strange phenomenon, anything that would explain it away. There was nothing, not once had my father mentioned that he housed some separate entity nor had he shown any signs or powers.

"You do not know much about your parentage." It wasn't a question which led me to believe this being knew more about my family than I did.

"Get out of my head…" I growled.

"Unfortunately, I can't until we find your sister."

"What does Hitomi have to do with this?"

"She has my key, the object that will open the gateway."

"What?"

It sighed, a sound that caused a migraine to form beneath my eyes. "It is housed inside her, she is also a vessel. The key and I are handed down through siblings."

Siblings, huh? My father did have a brother…a distant uncle of mine that hadn't associated with our family. I had met him only a few times that I could remember but he had moved to America a year before my parents died. The last time I'd seen him was at their funerals…

I remember Ojichan telling me he didn't come around because he didn't approve of our lifestyle. At the time I had thought it was because we weren't high class people…though we certainly weren't street urchins. Now it just didn't make sense, what lifestyle hadn't he approved of?

"What happened to my uncle?"

It knew of course and that didn't surprise me, "Hideki killed him, just as he did with the rest of your family."

"Hideki? I hadn't even met him until after I moved out of my grandparent's house, how would he know about any of my family?"

"Hideki isn't his true name…and I'm sure you know of his demonic heritage by now. He's much older than he led you to believe."

I swallowed hard…if I was to believe this voice in my head that would mean Hideki had been hunting down my family members. The circumstances of their deaths had been rather suspicious, from the stories my grandfather had told me. They had just started dropping like flies, on both sides – my mother's and my father's. This created a new issue, if it had been passed down through my ancestors…and this Chronos character had been in my dad before it had come to me, why had Hideki killed off my mother's side of the family as well? That just didn't match up.

"I think you're lying," I concluded.

It laughed without any humor, a cruel, mocking sound, "He had to make sure he covered all his bases…and your mother's family was just as powerful as your father's."

"So what?"

"They would have hunted him down…not that it really mattered; they wouldn't have stood a chance."

Hunted…? As in hunters…like, demon hunters? This blew my mind. I knew my family had had a few psychics and others that had been able to use Reiki (supposedly) but this was the first I was hearing about them being demon hunters.

As this revelation rushed through me it chilled me to my bones, because it made a certain kind of sense that it shouldn't have. Memories I had long forgotten about surfaced – my father out well into the evening, my mother going to work at the diner but working twenty-four hour shifts when it wasn't even open that late…and then there was the year they had died. It had been so close to Christmas but they had sent us away to our grandparent's with the promise they would join us on Christmas Eve. Now that I really picked apart the memory I can recall their worried and frightened faces as they loaded us into my grandfather's car and kissed us goodbye for what ended up being the last time.

"Kasumi…?"

I jumped and turned to stare at Keiko and the look on my face must have put pure unadulterated fear in her heart because she took a couple of steps back and her eyes had widened as far as they could go. I must have looked crazed, panicked…fucking psychotic. How long had she been standing there? How much had she heard?

I leapt from the bath, tripped but caught myself with my hand to regain my footing and ran at her. She screeched and tried to high tail it out of the shower room but I grabbed her around the wrist before she could get very far. She had dropped the pile of clothing she'd brought me to the floor and was struggling to get out of my hold but I only gripped her tighter.

"What did you hear?" I pulled her to me and shook her. I knew I was scaring her, knew that she would never look at me the same again if I kept it up, but I couldn't help it.

The voice in the back of my mind receded…the fact I could feel as it did made shivers run down my spine. This interruption would cost me.

"N-nothing…just you talking to yourself!" she tried to rip herself away from me but I grabbed both of her shoulders and brought her so close to my face our noses were almost touching.

I didn't want her to think I was crazy; however I wasn't doing a very good job. I took a long look into her eyes…saw how afraid she was and then let her go. She didn't run away as I had expected. She just stood there wringing her hands. I'd left a mark on her wrist that was already bruising and guilt settled deep within my belly. I felt sick.

"I…I'm so sorry Keiko…" I backed away from her, shaking my head.

"What's wrong with you, Kasumi?" she asked.

The way she said it had my hackles rising, it was like she was accusing me of something. Like any of this was my fault. I reined my anger in, trying to put it away in the dark pit deep within my soul where it belonged. It festered there like a disease. It ate away at me. It would surely be the death of me someday…

I didn't answer her; I just bent down so I could pick up the clothing she had dropped. I walked away from her and over to the sinks…I used the towel she had left there all while avoiding looking into the mirrors innocently hanging on the walls.

When I finally did…it was only to look into a face I no longer recognized. It was still me, to some extent. The only true difference was my eyes – dead, hollow…the eyes of a person who was standing on the precipice of insanity. I wonder what it would take to push me off. Or had I already fallen?

I dressed slowly; the clothing must have belonged to Keiko because it was a little big for me. She was a few inches taller, making the pants I put on too long and also too tight around the waist. I was forced to leave the top button undone because Keiko had a smaller waist than I did. Luckily we had similar chest sizes, so the shirt she had given me fit well enough and managed to cover up the fact I'd been forced to leave my pants unbuttoned. The clothes were simple, a pair of khaki's and a grey long-sleeved thermal shirt. There was no underwear, so I was forced to go without. Keiko had taken my dirty clothes away, so I hoped she was washing them and I'd be able to put them on later. Nothing was more uncomfortable than walking around commando in front of a bunch of dudes.

I turned back around to find Keiko still staring at me. I said nothing and she drew her lips down into a frown, "Are you okay now?"

I didn't know what she was asking – was I no longer crazy? If I had calmed down? That I no longer felt like I was dying from the inside out? With no answer to give her I just nodded. She came over and took my hand tentatively; probably still afraid I would attack her, and then led me out of the bathroom.

I tried to pay attention to my surroundings as she directed me back down the two hallways we had traveled previously. The style of the home we were in was Shinto…leaving me to believe it wasn't so much a home as it was a temple. It was easy to conclude after who it belonged to – we must have made it to Master Genkai's during the time I had spent blacked out. I wondered how they had gotten me here while I had been so injured and why the hell Keiko seemed to know her way around so well.

Then again, Yusuke had mentioned that she was his grandmother…so maybe that was why.

"Is this where Yusuke goes on the weekends?" I asked suddenly.

She smiled, "Yes, he makes it a point to come once a week."

"He's her successor?"

Surprise bloomed over her face, "Yes, how did you know that?"

"I saw him use a technique only a master of Reikohado-ken can produce."

Her eyebrows rose to her hairline and she looked impressed, "Was it the Reigun?"

"Yeah…"

"When did he do that?" she asked.

"During our fight with Hideki…"

Her face considerably paled and she averted her eyes away from me. I narrowed my own…why did she look that way suddenly?

"He's dead, right Keiko?"

She gulped and her lips pressed together into a thin line, "No."

I think I stopped breathing for a second and I stopped in my tracks while Keiko kept going. When she had pulled my arm as far as it would go was when she finally noticed I hadn't continued along with her. She stopped too and turned around to see what was wrong.

I was staring at the floor, my eyes skipping over the wooden boards without really seeing them as I tried to comprehend what she had just told me. How the hell hadn't Yusuke's Reigun killed him? I'd never even heard of someone able to release that much energy and he had hit Hideki with it head on. How was it possible that he had lived through it?

"H-how…?"

Keiko blinked at me and then said, "I don't know. It doesn't happen very often anymore…but sometimes an opponent will come along that's stronger than Yusuke. And that…it scares me so much Kasumi."

I was such an insensitive prick. No matter the bullshit going on with me, I should have thought about Keiko's feelings in all this. Instead I'd done nothing but scare her. Apparently not only was I a pathetic excuse for a sister, but I was also a horrible friend. I didn't know if I could hate myself any more than I did at that very moment. Thanks to me her boyfriend had been put into a perilous situation and I'd only known the guy a week. It went to show how much Yusuke really cared for Keiko, if he'd be so willing to risk his life for one of her friends.

I crushed her to my chest in a tight hug and she gripped desperately at my back, forgiving me for my earlier transgressions and just letting all her emotions sink away and into me. She wept into my shoulder, her sobs were soft and forlorn and her tears created a wet ring on my shirt. It struck me that this was similar to the many times I'd comforted Hitomi. All I could do was hold her. No words, no encouragement, just physical contact because that was the only thing I truly understood.

I guess that's why fighting came so easy for me. I couldn't deny my talent in it...although meeting Yusuke and his friends had drastically changed my view on what I considered 'talent.' I couldn't use Reiki…no matter my physical strength. Even Kazuma who had only been properly trained in one form of martial arts was stronger than me. I could learn all the techniques in the world and it wouldn't change that fact.

How was I going to survive this ordeal…when I was pitted up against demons? I didn't stand a fucking chance.

I swallowed hard and forced away my pitiful thoughts. I gave Keiko a squeeze and then extracted myself from her arms.

I placed a hand to her left cheek and honestly tried to genuinely smile at her, but all I managed was a sad lopsided grin, "You don't have to worry about Yusuke, I'll kill anyone that hurts him."

It was fake bravado, for I would never be in his league and if something managed to hurt him it would certainly kill me, nevertheless it made her feel better and that's all I cared about.

She rested her own hand against the one I still held against her cheek and a bright smile graced her face. All was forgiven and forgotten between us, as it always has been, as it always would be. Keiko had taken the place of my sister and even that made me feel guilty, yet I couldn't stop loving her. Hitomi was my most important person with Keiko coming in a close second. Ever since the night I had rescued her from a mugger we'd been best friends and I never wanted that to stop. I needed her.

…And I prayed that she needed me, too.

"Come on, time to face the music Kasumi," she said and then pulled my hand away from her face so she could lead me once more.

My hand was icy cold compared to hers. She gripped it tightly anyway as I trailed behind her, walking along hand in hand. She brought me to a rice paper door and I could hear voices and see the movement of shadows through the thin material. I took a deep breath and she slid the door aside to reveal what lay beyond it.

It opened up to a comfortable looking living room, complete with a small television, big couch, kotatsu, and plenty of zabutons to go around. Scrolls hung on a few of the bare walls as decoration, on the far left side was another set of rice paper doors that must lead outside because they were shaking from the storm.

Straight ahead of me was a circular window with a thick ledge and curled up inside it was none other than Hiei. He had turned his haunting eyes towards me the second the door had been thrown open. I was still angry from earlier so all I did was stare back at him coldly. I didn't give him the satisfaction of showing him any more emotion than I already had. He could not break me, for I was already broken. And there was no putting me back together again.

A small hand touched my lower back and urged me into the room; however I refused to budge and couldn't get my eyes to stray from Hiei. I almost wished my contacts hadn't fallen out so I could make out the glare he was sure to have on his face. I imagined his jaw tensed and the muscles working as he ground his teeth together. The longer I stared, the more heated his gaze became, I could feel it. Damn my blurred vision, I wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine.

"Kas, you feelin' better?" it had been Kazuma; though I proceeded to keep my eyes trained on Hiei I answered him.

"Yeah, so much better," it didn't sound convincing in the slightest.

"Is there something going on between you two?" Yusuke had stepped in between me and the window, cutting off my line of sight.

"Huh?" What was he talking about?

"You're staring at Hiei like you want to eat him," he said.

I scoffed in Yusuke's face. Yeah right, I wanted to eat him. He might be attractive as all hell but that didn't mean I wanted anything to do with him. Not unless it involved my fist getting slammed into his face.

"Sorry, I'm so blind I couldn't tell who it was," I said dryly.

Yusuke shook his head at me and I traversed around him so I could get to Kazuma. He was sitting on one end of the couch, so I took up the arm in order to be next to him and also so I was a bit closer to the window – all the better to keep an eye on Hiei, the little bastard.

"Oh hey, here, I saved this from your jacket," Kazuma pulled my cell phone out of his coat pocket and handed it to me.

I noticed he still had mud all over his front, mostly dried at that point, "Sorry," I said.

His eyebrows drew down over his eyes in confusion, "For what?"

"A lot of things…but your clothes this time," I replied.

He shrugged, obviously not caring that I had gotten him dirty. I let my gaze wander around the room and saw Keiko whispering something to Yusuke near the door, when she noticed I was looking she gestured for him to leave with her and then they walked out into the hall. Geez, could she be any more obvious?

That left me alone with Hiei and Kazuma; I wondered where everyone else was. I knew at least the old woman Genkai must be there as well as Kazuma's girlfriend Yukina.

As I thought of her, I decided it would be a safe enough topic to talk about, "So, I met Yukina a little while ago."

Kazuma turned surprised eyes on me and a huge goofy grin spread across his lips, "Did you? She's wonderful, isn't she?"

He sounded so damn excited and I went to agree with him, however Hiei's cold voice stopped me dead.

"I thought I told you to make her leave," he said it so quietly but his tone was deadly, holding a promise of pain.

"Oh, you were talking about her?" I lied, for I had figured out that it had been her he was speaking of.

Kazuma was watching us, his eyes flicking back and forth between me and Hiei as I settled him with a blank stare. He was still sitting in the window and now that I had moved closer I could see his face a little clearer. His eyes were narrowed threateningly, his lips curled into a sneer and I felt a humorless smirk stretch across my face.

"Stay away from her," he said seriously.

"Oi, Hiei, what the hell is your problem?!" shouted Kazuma, as he verbally jumped into the middle of our altercation.

"Stay out of it, baka," said Hiei, giving Kazuma the briefest of glares before he trained those bloody eyes back on me.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "No, I don't think I will. I rather like her, she's quite nice."

He growled low in his throat and bared his fangs at me. This was the first time he'd ever fully shown them in front of me and I regretted not being able to see it clearly. I caught his hint though and it didn't scare me. Go ahead, act like an animal, it wouldn't change anything.

"Cripes, what the hell is your problem man?" Kazuma was staring at Hiei in disbelief, his hands held out in confusion while he shook his head.

Hiei rolled his eyes and turned away from us both to stare out into the storm that still raged beyond the window.

I promptly forgot about him when the rice paper doors were thrown open again and Yusuke came charging through them. Right behind him was a panicking Keiko as she tried to stop the man from coming straight at me. I stood quickly from the arm of the couch and backed away from him. There was anger clear as day in his face and he marched right up to me and picked me up from the floor by the scruff of my shirt.

Snarling, he held me close to his face and spit, "What is this shit about you hurting Keiko?"

I stared wide eyed beyond his shoulder at my cowering friend, who looked so guilty I felt sorry for her. I sighed and then turned back to take my punishment – I did deserve it after all.

Coldly I said, "She pissed me off." That was a complete lie but it got the necessary result.

Keiko screamed his name as his fist came barreling towards my face and I closed my eyes and accepted my fate. The impact never came and when I lifted my lids to see what had happened I found Yusuke's fist an inch away from my face. Holding his forearm with one strong hand and stopping him from hurting me was Kazuma and on Yusuke's other side was Hiei. He had pulled his blade and pointed it directly at the boy's neck. I couldn't fucking believe it. What the hell was this?

Yusuke stood frozen, his eyes seething with suppressed rage as he glared directly at Hiei. Kazuma wasn't the threat here after all – the fire demon was.

"If you want to fight someone, pick someone who will provide you with a challenge."

It was a direct insult to my pride and it hit me damn hard. Goddamn Hiei, he sure knew how to make a person feel shitty about themselves. I might not have Reiki but I was better trained than Yusuke, what right did he have to criticize my ability?

"I don't need your help, so fuck off," I snarled at him.

He snorted derisively and didn't remove his blade from Yusuke's neck that was until Yusuke abruptly dropped me so I fell into a heap on the floor and he took a swing at the fire demon. His punch hit nothing but air as Hiei blurred away from him, he reappeared with his blade sheathed and a smirk on his face.

"If you two are going to fight, do me a curtesy and screw off to do it. I don't want my home destroyed."

In the excitement I hadn't heard when more people entered the room. I looked up from the floor into the faces of Master Genkai, Botan, Yukina, Kurama…and finally Koenma. I cringed at the sight of the prince, for if he was here that didn't mean anything good for me, and then rose from the floor.

Yusuke still looked pissed but he put a halt on his pissing match with Hiei so he could turn and snap at the old woman, "Don't worry you hag, I won't ruin your house."

"Either way, we don't have time for you two to be acting like fools."

This garnered her two glares and she only chuckled at them, apparently she was not afraid of the fire demon and didn't take Yusuke very seriously. She wandered over to take a seat at her kotatsu and Botan and Yukina joined her soon after.

Koenma remained by the door and he was looking at me with pursed lips, "Has it spoken to you?"

I hadn't expected the question and it caused me to jump, "What?"

"Has it spoken to you?" he repeated, none too pleased.

I gulped, for I feared what would happen to me should I answer him truthfully…but I wasn't a liar, never had been.

"Yes…" I breathed and it was this answer, that one simple, tiny little word that would set my life on a course of events I had never expected.

I don't think I'm ready for this…

. . .

A/N: I'm really sorry this is a bit on the long side! And it also wasn't very exciting, poor Kasumi, she's all kinds of messed up though. And Hiei's such a little jerk, so much for him watching from a distance, what a fibber! Also, oh my god, did Kasumi have a potty mouth this chapter or what? Haha. I hope this chapter came out alright, thank you everyone for the wonderful support and comments I've been getting! Almost 50 reviews upon the completion of this chapter, I appreciate it so much! See you next time!