A/N: I have a lot more free time on my hands now that I'm out of college, that's why there have been so many fast updates, but my work schedule fluctuates so they're not always guaranteed. The previous two chapters were written in succession, basically cut in half, that is why they were posted so closely together. Anyway, I hope the last chapter was well liked, here is chapter sixteen. Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I will never own Yu Yu Hakusho and will never make money off of this story.

Warnings: Violence, blood and gore, adult themes, sexual themes, poorly written fight scenes, etc.

. . .

Morimoto Kasumi-san,

I hope this letter finds you well.

I am writing on the behalf of Master Ryuunosuke, you know of him as Matsubara Hideki-sama.

He has located your sister and requests you return home to Yokohama in due haste.

He shall await your arrival at your home until three o' clock in the afternoon of October 15th.

If you do not show up within the time limit your sister's life is forfeit.

Master Ryuunosuke sends his regards and sincerely hopes you will be able to make it…

. . .

My chest ached from the strain I was putting on my lungs and my legs felt like they were burning as I ran as fast as I possibly could towards the nearest train station. It was still a twenty minute journey through the city, in which I spent much of my time screaming at pedestrians to get out of my way and plowing straight over the ones that didn't heed the warning.

I knew what I was running to, I knew I was heading directly into the heart of a trap but it was the first lead I had gotten in over three years. I couldn't waste it. I couldn't leave it to chance. Even if he didn't have my sister, I could at least beat some actual information out of him if it came down to it. I just had to make it to the train station in time.

The closest depot that had a running line to Yokohama was the originally named Tokyo Station; I would take the Keihin Tohoku Line which connected to the Negishi Line that ended in Ofuna. From there I would have to run the rest of the way. The train ride would take an hour and my grandfather's home would be another hour and a half's walk through the city. I could catch a bus…if there was one running when I needed it. Unfortunately, I didn't even know if I had enough money on me for a bus. I'd had the presence of mind to bring my gun and police badge before I'd left the house but not my wallet. It was pretty sad to see where my life's priorities seemed to lie these days.

I dug through my jacket pockets as I ran, pulling out old receipts and pocket change. I was lucky enough to find a few bills – it would be just enough for a train ticket. Just as I had expected, I would not have enough for a bus once I'd made it to Yokohama. I silently cursed myself for my stupidity but there was no time to do anything about it now. I would have to roll with it.

How much time did I have anyway? I pulled my cell phone out to check the clock; it read that it was a quarter to ten in the morning. By the time I got to the station and purchased my ticket it would be after ten and I knew the train would be leaving just a few minutes later. I'd be cutting it close. There would surely be another train at eleven but I didn't have the patience to wait that long. For all I knew Hideki (or Ryuunosuke, whatever he was called) could have already killed my sister…if he even had her to begin with. I couldn't be wasting time waiting for trains.

I counted out, down to the minute, how long the travel time would take me. After the hour long train ride it would be eleven, by the time I made it to my grandfather's (as long as there were no obstacles in my way) it would be around half past noon. That left plenty of time to spare before the deadline Hideki had given me. There should be no reasons for him to hurt Hitomi – I would make sure not to give him a single one.

I came up on the entrance to the station; I could see the steps leading into the terminal directly ahead. I plowed over some poor high school student, who went flying to the ground and I didn't stop to help as their bag broke open and the contents spilled out all over the sidewalk. I just took the steps two at a time and called out, "Sorry!" without so much as turning my head.

At the top of the staircase I wasted precious seconds to double over and catch my breath. This was when I ended up being grabbed from behind, a bandaged hand coming around to cover my mouth so I wouldn't scream and one arm wrapping around my midsection to pin my arms down. I was ripped back into a muscular chest and then hauled off into a dark utility closest, flailing my legs fruitlessly the whole way. I continued to struggle in the hopes I would eventually hurt my captor enough to get them to let me go, however, I ceased my antics when the person leaned over my shoulder and whispered in my ear.

"Where do you think you're going?" he was not pleased with me, you could tell just by his tone – so dark and malevolent it was like he'd spat poison at me instead of words.

His hot breath ghosting over the shell of my ear caused a violent tremor to travel down my spine that I had no doubts he felt. I blushed, because that little reaction was definitely not caused by revulsion and I was extremely thankful the room was so dark so he wouldn't be able to see how red my cheeks had suddenly become. He removed his hand and let me go, allowing me to get some much needed space.

"Damn it Hiei, did you think that was funny?!" I said in a heated whisper so as not to attract the attention of anyone who might have been passing by outside.

I could see nothing in the darkness as I whirled around to confront him, only to trip over what I assumed was a mop bucket and land face first right back into his chest. He was quick to grab my upper arms and pull me off him, I'm sure he was disgusted by my proximity as he didn't seem to like humans very much, but he didn't let go immediately afterwards.

I seriously didn't have time for this.

"Listen, I have maybe five minutes to get out there and buy a ticket for a train. I can't do this right now."

We would have to finish our fight later, which was the only plausible reason I could come up with as to why he had followed me here, the fucking stalker that he was.

"You're walking into a trap, baka onna," he snapped at me, speaking as if I was some kind of moron.

"I know that," I replied, a bit shocked by what he'd had to say. What I didn't know, was how he knew that.

I think he was surprised by my answer because I felt his hands tighten just a smidge around my arms before he let his own drop.

"Why did you follow me here?" I asked.

He was silent for a moment, only making me aggravated because he was blatantly wasting what little time I had left. I cleared my throat loudly so maybe he would get the hint that I wasn't in the mood for him to play his little games with me at this point in time.

"The letter," he said finally.

How had he known about that? I hadn't felt him read my mind, even though I'd been distracted during my run here I think I would have still noticed if he had. I searched the breast pocket of my jacket frantically, trying to locate the letter and when I discovered it missing I knew then that I had dropped it along the way somewhere…and Hiei must have been there to pick it up.

My thoughts were confirmed when he waved a piece of paper underneath my nose and I snatched it from his hand irritably. I shoved it haphazardly back into that same pocket, not caring if I crumpled it up.

"If you've read it then you know I'm on a time limit, I have to go," I reached for the door handle of the closet but he stopped me with one overly warm hand of his own, grasping mine over the handle and preventing me from turning it.

"Don't be a fool; you're going to get yourself killed."

"What does it matter to you?" I spat at him.

"Hn, have it your way then," and then he abruptly turned the door handle causing me to almost trip and fall on my face as the door swung open and I went with it.

I regained my footing easily enough and ran off to the ticket booth. Hiei followed closely behind me, much to my irritation. For sanity's sake I ignored him for now and barked at the lady behind the Plexiglas window to give me a ticket for the train to Yokohama. I slapped some yen down on the counter, snatched the ticket out of her hand, and raced off to meet the train. It had already pulled up to the platform and people were beginning to board. I rudely pushed my way through the crowd to make sure I was able to get a spot, come hell or high water I would not miss this train.

Being a Monday morning, the train ended up packed. I was forced to stand and to my utter astonishment Hiei had managed to stick to my side and follow me onto the train. He had not bought a ticket which led me to believe he had jumped the gate, big surprise. He probably didn't even know how to purchase a ticket, considering he was a demon and all.

He looked so uncomfortable I almost laughed at him, but thought better of it when his lip curled to bare his fangs defensively at the people surrounding us. He moved a little closer to me, his hand in a death grip on the support bar hanging above our heads and glared at anyone that was stupid enough to bump into him.

"If this freaks you out so bad, why did you come?" I whispered urgently, my eyes flicking around at the people giving Hiei weird looks because of how he was dressed.

He didn't answer me, although a moment later I watched wide eyed as his Jagan began to glow beneath his headband. It lasted only briefly and when the light faded the group of people surrounding us mechanically turned away to look in the other direction, avoiding us while acting like we weren't even there at the same time. Even as the train began to move and it jostled us around, they all carefully kept as much distance as they could, given the limited amount of space. If that eye of his didn't scare the pants off of me I didn't know what did – controlling so many people that way, it was the kind of thing horror movies were made of.

"What did you just do to them?" I asked in disbelief.

"Directed their attention elsewhere," he replied through gritted teeth and still looked for all the world to see like he was being forced to do the most unpleasant thing known to man.

A thought occurred to me then, "Have you ever even been on a train before?"

He glared at me out of the corner of one eye, "Once, with Kurama."

Obviously once with Kurama had been enough to make Hiei never want to do it again. Animosity was practically rolling off him in dark clouds and I could only hope the train's next stop would get some of the passengers off the vehicle so there would be space for us to sit. If the fire demon was stuck amongst this crowd for the entire trip I loathed finding out what would happen if he were to blow his stack. Hiei didn't have the patience of a saint after all, not even close.

"Seriously though, why did you follow me?" I was truly curious, why would he force himself to do something he obviously hated so much?

"Hn," he grunted, his eyes still flicking around the crowd warily.

I sighed, because I wasn't going to get an answer out of him no matter how many times I asked. He was far too uneasy and suspicious of the people riding with us. I would just have to wait it out.

We made it twenty minutes into the train ride when the conductor came over the intercom and announced they would have to make an unexpected stop. What confused me was that we were stopping in the middle of nowhere, almost smack dab in the middle of the station we'd just left and the next one down the line. I hoped to god it wasn't because the train needed repairs or some other idiotic reason that would waste more of my precious time.

Even as it was announced, the train came to a jerking halt, throwing the other passengers around and slamming Hiei into my side. I pitched over sideways and ended up grabbing onto the fire demon as if I were trying to keep him from falling over, when really it was me that needed saving. Having somehow lost our grips on the safety handles, we ended up falling into an ungraceful heap of tangled limbs. As per my luck I got kicked in the head by some guy standing nearby me and had a snarling demon lying atop my chest, who was currently trying to figure out how we'd managed to get so wrapped up in each other (quite literally, in this case). If this day couldn't get any worse, as I tried to separate myself from Hiei's arms and legs, I shifted just enough to somehow knee him in the balls.

He sucked in a sharp breath and held it, his hands coming down to slam into the metal floor on either side of my head, "Stop moving."

I immediately obeyed, for his voice promised me unending torment if I didn't. He squeezed his eyes shut, released the breath, and then climbed off me as calmly as he could. He did not bother to give me a hand up nor had I expected him to, so I unsteadily rose to my feet on my own. I braved a glance in his direction to see that his face had turned to stone and with a squeak I quickly looked away.

With a hand to the back of my head and the most sheepish look I could muster on my face I said, "I'm sorry."

The glare he shot me was enough to make a weaker person wet themselves – if looks could kill, I would have been lying dead on the floor.

Excited mumblings from the other passengers rose up around us when the train didn't start back up right away. That's when I heard the distorted pounding of feet on the metal roof of the train, though it was quite a distance from our car. I shot Hiei a look of apprehension out of the corner of my eye, but he was already scowling up at the ceiling. Just from that I knew whatever was above us was not your run of the mill maintenance workers.

"Prepare yourself," said Hiei, as he grabbed my hand in a tight grip and began to drag me through the crowded train.

People parted for us, leaving a single small row of space just wide enough for Hiei to pull me through. I was too stunned by the fact he was holding my hand (if you could call it that) to try and take it back but what he'd said registered clearly enough.

"Prepare myself for what?" I demanded to know.

He turned his head just enough to scowl at me over his shoulder, "For the trap you were stupid enough to walk into."

My mouth made a little oh shape as an answer and he rolled his eyes at me before turning straight ahead again. As the feet over head began to pick up their pace, Hiei started to dash through the train, continuing to pull me along with him. I had no idea where he thought he was going, but learned soon enough when he hauled me through one of the doors at the end of the car we were currently in. He was headed for an emergency exit, one that led out onto the roof. It was clearly marked with a bright red painted ladder and while all the other people on the train were distracted by the sounds coming from above them he swiftly climbed it. I followed after him closely, praying we wouldn't get caught, and hauled myself out of the tiny square hole to be thrown into bright sunlight. It was practically blinding as it refracted off the bright metallic of the train and for a moment I couldn't see my surroundings.

I raised an arm to block the sunlight, allowing my retinas to become accustomed to the sudden brightness. After my eyes had become sufficiently adjusted, I dropped my shield only for my eyes to land on Hiei as he pulled his sword out from inside his cloak, up through the back of his collar. I hadn't even noticed he had it on him; he'd hidden it so well down the length of his spine.

I walked up to stand beside him, "What else you hiding in there?" I joked.

He didn't find it funny and didn't deem it worthy of an answer, "Do you have a weapon on you?"

It was going to be all business huh, that was fine with me, "Yeah, I have my gun."

His eyes were flickering around the roof of the train nervously, the sun so bright it made everything kind of hazy and hard to see. The only reason I knew something was coming was because of the split second in time Hiei gripped the handle of his sword just a little harder.

I saw the thing's aura long before I could see its body. It came lumbering across the roof, dragging something large and heavy at its side. The aura itself was a sickly mix between green and brown, like some kind of noxious gas. As it walked out of the shimmering haze brought on by the sunlight my breath caught in my throat. Gods, the thing was absolutely disgusting. It looked like a creature that had just stepped out of a horror game and behind it were three of those lizard-men I now knew as Hideki's henchmen. Apparently, Hideki had planned all along to make sure I didn't make it to Yokohama within the time limit…why did this not surprise me?

Oh yeah…because he's an evil son of a bitch.

"What is that thing?" I asked Hiei, because it was seriously freaking me out, even the way it dragged its big heavy feet was creepy.

It had a grotesque, large, misshapen body covered in dirty, wart encrusted skin. It had no eyes to speak of, but a large pointed nose and gaping hole in the center of its face that I assumed was supposed to be its mouth. Its right arm was small and shriveled, probably to make up for the fact that its left was ten times larger than a normal arm should be and the big thing it was dragging along…yeah, that was a giant spiked club. Shit, that thing would squash me in a single hit if I wasn't careful.

"That…would be a golem," explained Hiei.

A golem…? Like those things I'd read about in one of Ojichan's ancient books? Golems were summoned with black magic, made up entirely of clay or other such inanimate material. They had no weakness that I'd read about, the only way to get rid of one was to kill the person who had summoned it to begin with. How the hell something like that even managed to sneak on top of the train, I couldn't tell you. I was left feeling completely stunned, unable to believe my eyes or even what I'd just heard.

"You realize we can't kill that thing, right?" I pointed out to the fire demon.

"No…but I can slow it down," he said.

Slow it down? Surely he didn't mean to have me escape so he could stay behind and fight that thing. I wouldn't have it, I'd had enough of people risking their lives for me lately, and I didn't care how strong Hiei thought he was.

The monster came to an abrupt halt, so the group of cronies could surround it. They began to snicker at us, their scale covered tails waving around excitedly behind them and then one stepped forward (this one had purple skin), crossed his arms over his chest and sneered.

"If it isn't Jaganshi Hiei, didn't expect to see you here."

Were all of the people Keiko and Kazuma knew famous? That demon I kidnapped that one night and interrogated had recognized Yusuke too. The more I learned about these people the stranger it got, I swear.

Hiei kept his face carefully blank and shifted into a stance that would have him prepared for an attack. I glanced around the roof anxiously, fearing that the train would begin to move again. If it did, our lives might as well be forfeit. We'd be thrown off like leaves being blown off a tree in a wind storm.

"Hiei, you know this is a bullet train right?" I whispered to him urgently.

He cocked his head so he could look at me out of the corner of one eye, "What does it matter?"

Of course he wouldn't know the difference between a bullet train and a regular locomotive, not that it would have been safe to ride on the roof of one of those either. I pressed a hand to my face in exasperation and sent a prayer to God that the train would stay put for now. I might have been on a time crunch, but this problem would have to be dealt with first and foremost. I didn't have a choice in the matter.

"Never mind, we need to come up with a plan and fast," I said.

"Ahem," the head lizard cleared his throat in an attempt to garner our attention, "If you hand over the girl there won't be any problems."

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms across my chest, "I'm standing right here. You can address me, dumbass."

"Keep your smart mouth closed woman!" it snapped right back and I just smirked.

"I was on my way to see your pal Hideki, I didn't need an escort," I replied flippantly, keeping that mocking smile stretched across my lips.

"Master Ryuunosuke doesn't have time for the likes of you," the demon said, as it dug around in one of its pants pockets only to produce some sort of little black box.

I stiffened automatically, which Hiei noticed and turned to regard me with a raised eyebrow.

I answered his unspoken question, "It's a detonator."

"You're pretty smart for a human," the lizard said with a laugh, "It is a detonator."

"Where's the bomb?" I demanded.

"Oh, not so cheeky now, are you girl?" they began to snicker amongst themselves again. It grated on my very last nerve.

My attention was partially pulled away from the purple bastard as Hiei removed his headband and activated his Jagan once more in flash of amethyst colored light. It scanned the length of the train before finally resting on the group of demons. He regarded them with a cold stare and moved over slightly so he was standing in front of me instead of beside.

"They killed the conductor, the bomb is there," he pointed towards the head car, "They plan to kill everyone on the train."

The lizard-men looked far less smug now than they had just two seconds ago. While I still thought Hiei's third eye was just about the creepiest thing in existence, I couldn't deny it was damn useful. If he would just keep it away from me we'd be square.

I came back to the matter at hand and the beginnings of a plan started to form in my mind's eye. This would probably be the first and only time I asked this of Hiei, "Use your Jagan on me. I hate to leave you…but I'm going to go after the bomb."

He turned to fully look at me, face full of alarm, eyebrows raised towards his hairline. I kind of liked that look. I smiled at him, one of those full teeth smiles that I didn't show very often. Apparently, I could still surprise him yet.

His eyes flicked down to my lips for a split second, so fast I thought I'd imagined it, "Don't be a fool. What will you do once you find it?"

"Get rid of it," wasn't that obvious?

His eyebrows scrunched back down and he pursed his lips, "I find that to be an unwise plan."

"Yeah well, I don't care what you think of it. I'm not going to let innocent people die because of me."

He scoffed, "They're only humans."

Any bit of fondness I'd somehow managed to muster up for him in the past few weeks flew out the window with that statement. If he hated humans so much, why was he even here? His every action contradicted what came out of his mouth.

"In case you've forgotten…I am human," I said quietly, eyes downcast. It kind of hurt…if I was being honest…for him to say something like that.

His eyes widened imperceptibly and some hidden emotion flashed across them that I couldn't name, but he shuttered it away quickly and turned to regard the other demons with his usual form of stoicism.

"Go, if you must. I will handle the golem," he held his sword at the ready, prepared for the worst.

I didn't wait to see what the lizard-men's reactions would be; with Hiei's permission I just took off running down the length of the train. It gave me the element of surprise, as the creatures were temporarily stunned. However, when they finally realized what was happening and began to chase after me, I felt more than heard when Hiei killed one of them. His power made itself known and the harsh sound of dying screams filled my senses. I swiftly came to a grinding halt and pivoted around so I could see what had occurred behind me. I witnessed Hiei kicking the scaly body of one of the lizard-men off the side of the train and down onto the tracks below. He was covered in a bright golden light – his Youki, no doubt. As he turned to face off with the golem, who had begun to advance on him after the death of its comrade, I picked up my pace again. I felt the itch of Hiei's power enter my mind and smiled ruefully. He had my back…no matter how far away he was. I just hoped he'd be alright in the meantime.

I came upon another emergency hole, pried it open and jumped down into the train car below, completely forgoing the ladder. After my landing, several people had screamed and then even more converged on me to ask what was happening up above. I dug my police badge out of my jeans pocket (thank Kami I carried it almost everywhere) and flashed it at the crowd.

"Out of the way, police business!" I yelled as I pushed through the throng.

The sea of people parted as I came barreling through each of the train cars, I could hear the fight that was ensuing up above and was tempted to ask Hiei if he was doing okay, but thought better of it. There was no need to unnecessarily distract him. He might be an asshole but that didn't mean I wanted to get him killed.

The horrified screams of civilians filled my ears, as the roof of the train caved and bent with each smash of the giant club the golem was carrying. At one point it even went through the metal completely and I caught a glimpse of the spikes as I was dashing through the cars. Hiei must be leading it down the train…he'd followed me through every one of the compartments if the sounds overhead were to be believed.

Without warning, I was brought to a screeching halt when a hole appeared in the roof of the car I had just entered into. I dodged as a large molten piece of metal fell from the ceiling to land at my feet. Hiei must have resorted to using his fire, this wasn't looking good. I jumped over the quickly solidifying hunk of roof and continued on my way. I only had one more car to go through before I made it to the conductor's area and as far as I knew Hiei hadn't killed the demon with the detonator. I was also sure the bomb would not be unprotected…which meant even if Hiei did manage to get the device away from the slimy prick it would make no difference. Every plan should have a fallback and I'm sure Hideki knew that as well as I.

I could see the doorway to the conductor's car straight ahead; I pushed two people out of my way to get to it, not stopping to apologize for my rudeness because saving their pathetic lives should be enough. I hauled ass through the door, slamming it shut behind me so no one would follow, and I had only a split second to make some kind of decision.

With a shit eating grin on its face stood another lizard type demon, green skinned this time and resting innocently next to him was a chrome covered briefcase – it didn't take a genius to guess what was inside.

"Fork it over," I snapped at him, holding my hand out and motioning towards the bomb.

"Make me," it replied petulantly. Unfortunately for him, I had already planned to.

I bum rushed him, catching him off guard and I landed a solid drop kick straight to his chest, sending him smashing into the control unit. I was quick to roll back into a crouch after the move and swept one leg out while still on the ground so I could knock him off his feet. He hit the floor with a pained groan and scrambled to make a recovery but I was too fast for him. I was on my feet swiftly and before he could so much as raise himself up from the floor again I elbow dropped him right in the throat. It ended up crushing his windpipe and I cringed as the demon made choking noises and scrabbled at his neck with both hands, his eyes wide and full of terror. It knew it was going to die and I was quick to put it out of its misery.

I pulled out my pistol, aimed, and took one shot. It hit him directly in the center of his forehead, right between his eyes. It didn't take long for a large pool of blood to form beneath the demon and just so I wouldn't have to look at the body, I opened the side door of the conductor's car and then kicked the demon's corpse out onto the tracks. Afterwards, I carefully skirted around the copious amount of blood on the floor and made my way over to the briefcase. That was when I realized that I was, in fact, not a member of the bomb squad and had no idea whatsoever how to diffuse a live explosive.

I unclicked the latches holding the case closed and slowly opened it, peaking into the gap and praying it didn't just explode in my face. When nothing happened I threw the lid open the rest of the way. Inside the briefcase was a complicated array of wires all jumbled together and connected to one main unit, which had a digital clock in its center counting down from the number five. I discerned that it was set for five minutes…and it was ticking away by the second.

This was the fallback…not the demon that had been protecting the bomb and not the golem that was still trying to kill Hiei up above. The bomb would go off even if the detonator wasn't pushed. I had to act quickly if I was going to save all the people piled on the train, but diffusing a bomb isn't like in the movies where you cut a wire and you're done. I didn't even know where to start, there were so many and all of them were a different color. What was I going to do?

I gripped my head and groaned in frustration, this was looking worse by the second.

"Cut the yellow, green, and red wires in that exact order."

I nearly jumped out of my skin as Hiei's voice filled my head – I had forgotten he was there. I took a moment to make sure he was still doing alright, "You handling the golem?"

"Use your inner voice, baka."

Huh? How did I do that? Even as I thought it I slapped my forehead – duh, Kasumi, all you have to do is think what you want to say.

And so I did, "Are you alright?"

"I've killed the henchmen…as for the golem…" He trailed off, which worried me and as I waited for him to fill me in I began the process of cutting the wires.

I just hoped Hiei knew what he was talking about and that he hadn't been given false information from one of the idiots in Hideki's employ.

I searched the conductor's area for a sharp object of some kind and came up with a butter knife. It had been left resting on the control unit next to a half-eaten bagel partially smeared with cream cheese. The poor conductor hadn't even gotten the chance to finish his breakfast before he'd been brutally murdered. I wiped the remains of the spread on my jacket and returned to the bomb. I took up the yellow wire, angled the knife underneath it and then pulled upwards sharply to give the dull blade enough force to snap the wire. I squeezed my eyes shut afterwards and cringed away, thinking it would explode. After a time I peeked open one eye, realized I hadn't been blown to smithereens, and released a slow breath of relief from between puckered lips.

Hiei still hadn't answered me and as I readied the knife for the second cut I checked up on him again, "The golem, Hiei?"

"Rubble…for now. I'm coming back down, stay where you are."

This took a load off my mind, thankful that Hiei had managed to deter such a beast. Although, I knew it was only a matter of time before it would rise up again – golems didn't stay dead unless their masters wanted them to. You could turn them into dust and they would still put themselves back together eventually should their summoner will it.

Ojichan might have been a crazy old bastard, but at least he had given me vast amounts of knowledge on the occult, even if I hadn't believed a word of it at the time. If he hadn't…well, I would probably be in a mad house somewhere…or dead, considering I had demons out for my life.

The second wire snapped beneath my fingers and once again the bomb didn't explode. I quickly cut the third and released a whoop of joy when the timer went blank and the bomb stopped making that ominous ticking sound. Hideki could kiss my ass; it was high time he gave me the credit I deserved. Nothing was going to stand in my way, bombs, golems, and gods included.

I proceeded to toss the dead explosive out of the open side door and smiled as it smashed to pieces against the tracks. Hiei came flickering through the door moments later and we just took a hair's breadth of time to look each other over. While I remained unharmed for the most part (unless you counted emotional trauma) Hiei on the other hand was profusely bleeding. The only reason I could tell at all was the fact his cloak had been soaked through and the material was clinging unpleasantly to his left arm. The golem must have gotten a lucky hit in at some point.

I rushed over to him, intent on inspecting the wound but as soon as I reached for his arm he reared back with a feral growl that bubbled up from deep within his chest. It was exactly the same sound a wounded animal would have made.

"Don't touch me," he snapped.

"Oh come on, you're bleeding! Let me look at it, at least!"

I received another sinister growl and a glower as my answer. This man was beyond stubborn, it was truly unbelievable. I would have to try again later, but right now I just didn't have the seconds to spare. I looked towards the control booth aimlessly, my face scrunching up in frustration, for I didn't know how to operate the train and knew I would have to find some other way to get to Yokohama. I also had the passengers on the train to deal with; they would be stranded in the middle of nowhere if I didn't do something.

I pulled my cell phone out of my jacket pocket, hit the first number on my speed dial, and it rang only once before someone answered, "Hello, this is Tokyo Police Department Precinct 101. What is your emergency?"

"Hey, this is Officer Morimoto Kasumi, with whom am I speaking?"

"Oh hey, Morimoto-san, this is Higashi Akio!"

Higashi Akio was an intern the precinct had employed strictly for secretarial work. He did a damn good job too, considering how young he was. He was also sort of the office's comic relief – always joking around.

"Higashi-san, I need to report a crime in progress."

I heard him gasp over the line dramatically, "Alright, give it to me straight and I'll send out the closest unit."

So I explained what had occurred (leaving out the demon bits of course) and after he blurted out several curses he promised to have a squad come out to handle the passengers on the train immediately. I hung up quickly and turned back to Hiei.

"We need to get out of here, like right now."

I proceeded to maneuver around him, to get to the door, but he grabbed me by one of my upper arms.

"What? Are you too injured?" I wasn't trying to mock him, or dent his pride, but he sneered at me anyway.

"No," he snapped and then asked, "Do you plan to make it by the time limit on foot?"

I shrugged out of his hold, "What else can I do? I can't operate a train."

He sighed, his features taking on the same form as they had earlier when he'd been standing amongst the crowd during the train ride – like he was being tortured. Then he bent his knees slightly in a crouch and held his hands, palms upwards, behind his back. I kind of thought I knew what he was trying to tell me…but I had to make sure, because if I decided to just climb onto his back he might not be too damn happy about it. Especially considering he was injured, his left hand was soaked in blood even.

"What are you doing?"

"For fuck sakes, are you numb?!" he snarled, obviously embarrassed by the fact he was offering to piggy back me all the way to Yokohama.

I gave it some thought…It would probably be even faster than the train, given his significant speed. Also, the opportunity to see what it felt like to run as fast as he did…it was too good to be true. An opportunity too good to pass up, I suddenly felt kind of giddy, even given our current predicament.

I ignored how rude he had been, because in my book that was pretty normal for Hiei and stepped up to him awkwardly. How should I go about this? Should I just hop on…? I didn't want to hurt him, I had no idea how injured his arm actually was after all.

I placed my hands on his shoulders for support and then slowly one by one, I lifted my legs so they were wrapped around his waist. His hands came up to firmly grip my thighs and without warning me first he was off like a shot from a gun, hauling ass through the open door of the train car.

I discovered rather early on that trying to hold onto his shoulders was impossible, so I wrapped my arms around his neck doing my best not to choke him to death. At first, it was dizzying, sickening even. Colors blurred together and my eyes couldn't even move fast enough to keep up with that. Soon enough though, my eyes became so dry I had no choice but to keep them closed. I buried my face into the back of his neck to stave off the buffeting wind and just let my body feel.

It felt like I was flying, weightless and surrounded by such a heat that I couldn't even feel the biting cold of the wind as it pummeled me from all sides. It was amazing, an astoundingly different type of experience than that time he'd saved me from a six story drop – I would never regret allowing him to do this. I might not be able to see anything but it did nothing to lessen the incredibleness of it. I had the sudden wish to be able to lift my arms out to my sides, so I could let the wind take me where it would, but I knew I didn't have the strength in my legs to keep holding on. It was best I just clung to him…and enjoy that too, while I was at it.

Hiei gripped my thighs a little harder, I felt his body tense, and then he was leaping through the air. The smell of vegetation and just pure life filled my nose as he continued to jump every so many feet. We must be running through a forest. Soon we would reach Yokohama and this once in a life time opportunity would be over.

He made one more death defying jump, launching us through the air and then landed. His stop was abrupt and none to gentle, especially when he unceremoniously dropped me to the ground. I landed with an oomph, not having expected him to so suddenly let go – so much for him being nice.

"What the hell, Hiei?" I groaned as I rose from the ground, rubbing my backside. It would surely end up bruised thanks to him.

Coming to my feet, I took stock of our surroundings. We were standing in an alleyway, trashcans and litter lining the almost claustrophobic path. At the end of the tunnel, I could see the bustling streets of Yokohama, people passed by without paying any attention to us, walking by the alley like it was invisible. We must be in the heart of the city, for I could hear nothing but the sounds of car engines and foot traffic. I gazed around at the two brick buildings on either side and then pivoted to pin Hiei with a contemplative stare.

"Were you…running across rooftops before?" I think that last flying leap he'd taken was to land us down in the alley and both the buildings surrounding us were quite tall.

He raised an eyebrow at me, "Why?"

"Forget it; we don't have time for this anyway," I shook my head and then ventured to the end of the alley.

I sneakily peered around the corner of one of the buildings and as a group of shoppers passed I slipped out of the alleyway and entered their little group seamlessly. They hadn't even noticed and neither did anyone else. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Hiei disappear and reappear at the top of a restaurant across the street. He waited only long enough for me to spot him and then took off. I felt him enter my mind a moment later.

"Show me where you plan to go," he commanded.

I almost made the mistake of doing just as he told me, but then paused in indecision. If I were to show him the way, bring up my memories of the hundred different routes I knew to get to Ojichan's from where I was, he would use that information to get there ahead of me. I couldn't allow that – this was my fight, my sister, and my home.

"Just follow me," I replied as I carefully did not think about my childhood abode.

He cursed at me in a language I did not understand, but could tell just by the tone it hadn't been a compliment, "Show me, baka onna," he demanded again.

"No Hiei, I will not, especially if you're going to ask like that."

"Then I will find it myself."

What he did next gave me nothing but a splitting headache. It nearly blinded me with the pain as he lunged through my memories, digging things out I was trying valiantly to suppress. I stumbled; disengaging from the group of people I had been blending into, and pressing myself against the side of a random building so I wouldn't fall over. A hand came up to grip my head and I squeezed my eyes shut – holy shit, whatever he was doing hurt like a bitch!

A memory I had hoped he would never see came up in the rotation and he made it a point to stop at it, sensing my distress when I realized what it was.

"No, please don't!" I begged him. God, this was going to be embarrassing.

"Show me then."

"No!" Once again I refused. Let him look at my private thoughts, I didn't care anymore, as long as he didn't make it to Ojichan's before I did.

"Fine," he whispered menacingly and then began to play the memory for not only himself, but me as well. This wasn't one I wanted to relive; it was enough to cause me to cringe.

It began with a rainy night, in the midst of a thunderstorm. I was sixteen; I'd just gotten back from a wild night of drinking and was hanging off of my boyfriend as he hauled me through the doorway to his apartment. I'd only had one serious boyfriend my entire life…and it was easy to guess who it was.

I had been that sloppy kind of drunk, the kind that can make a girl act like a total slut and as Hideki left me go to shut and lock his front door I began to strip. I hadn't been wearing much to begin with, short shorts and a tank top and it was all soaking wet anyway, so my drunk-self had justified the removal of all my clothing. By the time Hideki had come back I was nude and stretched across his couch like some sorry attempt at a pinup model.

The fact Hiei had just gotten a full frontal view of me naked didn't pass me by. I hoped he was enjoying the view, the bastard.

If you hadn't guessed by now, this particular memory was a lovely reminder of the night I had lost my virginity. What ideal conditions they had been too (that was sarcasm, just so you know); I was drunk, a teenager, and blindly in love with a demon. Not that I had known that at the time, but it was pure stupidity on my part anyway. I mean, who in their right mind trusts a guy who is willing to get frisky with a girl six years his junior – I was an idiot, a complete and utter moron.

As the memory became more heated…turning into a realistic porno more so than a replaying of my past, it abruptly paused.

"This…isn't something I should have intruded on."

Oh wow, was he just now figuring that out? Holy crap, what a typical male thing to do, I'd thought Hiei was above that kind of thing but apparently not! Pissed now, I pushed myself off the wall I'd been leaning against and broke out into a run. My face was so hot it could have melted straight off my bones.

"Fuck you!" I shouted at him internally, as I used my leg muscles to push myself further. I wished I could run until I could no longer feel.

The route to my grandfather's home came to the forefront of my mind unbidden and I didn't care any longer if Hiei made it there first or not. He could be my guest, go get himself killed, and then I would arrive in the aftermath to scrape his innards off the walls once Hideki was finished with him.

I heard the sneer he was wearing just by his tone, "I'll have his head on a spit before that happens."

I was about to retort with some scathing remark but was stopped short when a group of men came streaming out of an alleyway. They blocked my path and spread out so I was encompassed within a circle of sniggering punks. These actions garnered them a few odd stares from passersby but no one stopped to help me. I seriously hated people; it was no wonder why I was so anti-social.

They were trying to look menacing, making gestures that promised me pain, such as running a finger across their throat or slapping their firsts into the palm of one hand. Except I wasn't scared and as I looked a little closer I was clued into the fact they weren't human, but just more lizard-men wearing the illusions of human bodies. They would have done an alright job too, if I couldn't see the horns.

I took a stance to prepare myself for the imminent fight for my life; however I hesitated when I thought about where I currently was. I couldn't just start a battle royale in the middle of the city, I would get the cops called on me and I was willing to bet they wouldn't give two shits that I was a police officer in Tokyo. I also had no idea how much time I had left, leaving me with only one option – running away.

I hit the guy directly in front of me with a high kick to the chin, when he hit the ground I rushed through the others before they even knew what was happening. I stomped on the guy I had knocked over just for good measure, "See ya later, suckers!"

They followed of course and I must have been a sight to see, as I raced through the city with a stream of shouting men behind me. As I rounded a corner Hiei appeared beside me, running at the same pace as I was with little to no effort on his part. He looked completely unamused, annoyed even.

"What are you doing messing around?" I heard him ask over the sound of my racing heart and panting breaths.

I released a bark of laughter, "I wasn't meaning to!"

"You're nothing but trouble," he said and then before I knew what was happening he had scooped me up into his arms.

I had no time to struggle for he jumped straight into the air and in a desperate attempt not to fall out of his hold I reached up around his neck. My fingers scrabbled at his cloak, holding on for dear life as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop. Hideki's mob was left in the dust.

"We lost them, put me down!" I screamed over the rush of the wind.

He did not heed my request, not right away anyway. He waited until we were closer to the outskirts of the city, a short distance from our ultimate destination. As he came to a stop on the roof of a convenience store he set me down much gentler this time than the previous. My feet touched the concrete with a soft pat and I took a breather, reorienting my head to accept stillness instead of impossibly high velocities. I took the time to check my cell phone, saw that it was just a little after twelve and sighed in relief. We had plenty of time.

"You should rethink this," said Hiei.

I looked away from him, pretending to inspect the giant electric sign we were currently hidden behind. It was only the store's name displayed in giant block letters, nothing all that interesting, but it was better than looking at his smug face.

"Kasumi…" the way he said my name made me want to rip my hair out. It was more than I could stand sometimes and not because I thought it was irritating.

"Don't say my fucking name!" I screamed.

He looked lost at my outburst, lips, eyes, and nose scrunching up into a half disgusted, half confounded expression. I knew what I just said made no sense, that he wouldn't understand why I was so vehemently against it, especially when I'd never been before. I had too much going on at once, too many things to think about and too many emotions boring their way through me. Adding the most volatile man I'd ever met into the mix – it was just asking for trouble. Much more trouble than it would ever be worth.

"Just…just forget it!" I waved it off like I hadn't meant anything by it, but he saw through it. Eyes as shrewd as his never missed a thing.

He chose to ignore my random bout of craziness and tried to talk some sense into me instead, "He does not have your sister, baka onna."

I was so sick of hearing that too, baka onna this and baka onna that. I wasn't stupid, so why did he keep telling me I was? It made me want to hit him, maybe give him a black eye or two. My gender had absolutely nothing to do with my level of intelligence and it angered me that he was so prejudiced.

"First of all, stop calling me that," I ground out, "Second of all, I'm going whether he has her or not."

He scowled at me, clearly unhappy with my answer, "This is senseless, he is only after you."

"I still need to be sure, Hiei. If there's even the slightest chance she's there…I have to go. Surely you understand," I pleaded with my eyes, trying to get him to see my reasoning, he should be able to grasp it – after all, he had a sister too.

"I would never willingly walk into a trap," he said, his tone condescending, his voice filled with nothing but insult.

"You're telling me you wouldn't even do it for Yukina?"

He had me slammed into the back of that giant neon sign faster than I could blink. The metal bars that held the structure to the roof dug into my back harshly, bending bone and bruising skin. He had a single hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing just enough so it was difficult for me to draw in a breath but not enough to cut off my air supply completely. He was so angry, so beyond enraged that I felt my heart nearly stop in my chest. Fear, horrible, gut wrenching fear engulfed me because he was inside my head telling me all these horrible things while silently snarling at me on the outside. He showed me every which way he could kill me, all the ways he knew how to torture someone and squeezed my throat that much harder. This was only the second time he had caused me to be this scared of him…and it probably wouldn't be the last.

With his fangs still barred he growled, "Who the fuck told you?"

I answered him through our mental link, unable to speak for his hand on my throat.

I had a hard time gathering my thoughts, my head a mess of frightened human and stubborn woman. A single part of me became angry at his reaction, but my fear far outweighed it. I chose to be honest with him and prayed he would believe me, "I…figured it out…on my own."

"Really?" he said out loud, drawing out the word, not sounding the least bit convinced. His eyes had narrowed further, become even more enraged.

I tried to nod, found I was not able to do that either, and then just stared straight into his eyes. I knew the truth, Yukina was his sister and there was no taking back what I'd said. I had known they were related, but had only guessed at how – that guess was now confirmed. I had been thoughtless, not realizing how Hiei would react; I should have been more careful with my choice of words…or better yet, not have brought it up at all.

I began a mantra of, "No one told me," inside my head. I repeated it over and over until it became a constant echo.

Eventually, as I barraged him with the honesty of my internal plea, his hand loosened and then fell away. I choked in great gulps of air afterwards, still pressed against the metal support beams of the store's sign; I brought up a hand to rub at my abused throat. He backed away, a dark cloud of animosity moving with him and then waited for me to recover myself.

I had hoped our little spat from last night was over, but with this I knew that it couldn't possibly be. I knew then that Hiei hated me, he hated everything that I was and everything that I would ever be and it chilled me right to the bone. He didn't want me to know about his family because he didn't trust me. He didn't want to be my friend because I was a human. He didn't speak to me as an equal because he would never consider me one. Hell, he couldn't even act like a semi-decent person when in my presence.

I wanted absolutely nothing to do with this man after today. Not a single goddamn thing.

My voice a hoarse croak I said, "If you ever put your hands on me again I will end you."

He curled his lip, unimpressed by my bravado, "I figured you would have learned your lesson after last night, apparently you're as stupid as you look."

"I hate you!" I spat, my eyes narrowing and lips forming into a thin line.

Those blood colored eyes took on a dangerous light, a range of emotions crossed over his features and then they settled into a look so cold I swear the temperature around us dropped a few degrees because of it.

"Good," he breathed out, a humorless smirk settling across his lips, "The feeling is mutual."

He turned away from me, shoving his hands into his cloak pockets and I remembered the wound he had received from his fight with the golem. I couldn't tell if it had stopped bleeding and had been too wrapped up in my own drama to really worry about it. Something occurred to me then: if he truly hated me, why would he have protected me today? Why would he have saved my life so many times? Or helped me when I needed it the most?

That was probably wishful thinking. There might not be anything behind what he'd done, just a sense of duty or honor on his part. Perhaps he liked being a hero even while he acted like a villain. Then there was Koenma, even though Hiei was the type that walked to the beat of his own drum, he had still listened to the demi-god when he'd been asked to watch over me. I shouldn't look too closely into what he's done for me, it would give me a false sense of hope, and I would only get burned in the end. I learned long ago not to fully trust anyone – not even those closest to me.

"Breathe not a word about Yukina, not to anyone, or I will put a stop to your miserable existence."

I wanted to know why, wished to ask, but knew better than to do so. He must have a very good reason to become as angry as he had and as much as I tried to hate him in return, my previous words had been blatant lies. As much as I wanted to hate him, I just couldn't. This man was jaded, you could see in every inch of his body that he'd been through more shit than any person should ever have to go through, and it made me feel things for him. Things I would never let see the light of day. It brought with it a kind of kinship I'm sure we did not share, a one sided emotion that would need to be dealt with in the near future. As I'd said, I wanted nothing to do with him after today…more like I needed nothing. It would take a person with much thicker skin to get through even the tiniest layer of Hiei's defenses…and that person sure as hell wasn't me.

Back to the here and now, I knew that as cruel as he could be, I had no reason to spread his personal business. If that was how he wanted it, then so be it.

"I won't," I said firmly, a promise I planned to keep.

As we headed towards a doomed situation, I ended up learning something about Hiei that day – sometimes, the things that came out of his mouth, were only spoken in order to protect his pride.

And were just hiding the things he didn't want to say aloud.

. . .

A/N: I had an outline done for this chapter ages ago…but I'm not sure how much I like it! It feels…like it's lacking something, I guess? I had a hard time getting this out, I will admit, and no matter how much I edit I am still unhappy with the results. It was my plan to have this one an entire Hiei/Kas centered chapter, next one not so much. Let me know your thoughts, maybe I'm just being dumb? Thank you to everyone who has been sticking with this story, I appreciate it!