A/N: Had some trouble with the last chapter, but hopefully not this one. If you guys haven't noticed this fic is making itself out to be super long, hope that's alright with you all. Also, it seems like I've lost some readers…but no one tells me what I've done wrong. Without some feedback I can't change things, or make them better, so please don't stop reading in favor of just reviewing and kindly telling me what didn't sound right. So here we are on chapter 17, thank you guys so much for the reviews and PMs and happy reading!

Disclaimer: So sick of putting these in every chapter, lol. Still don't own YYH, much to my dismay.

Warnings: Lots of swearing/curse words, violence, blood and gore, adult themes, sexual themes, poorly written fight scenes, etc. Basically M rated for a reason.

. . .

Pain, it was a fickle master. It came and went as it pleased, put you through agony unlike any other. It could bring you to your knees and make you scream until your lungs filled with blood. It sent signals to your brain, spreading the sensation across your skin, down to your bones, to the very center of your being. And then there was that kind of pain that could reach such extremes that your brain just shuts itself down – you can't feel, or think, all you can do is pray for your life to end. That something, anything will put a stop to the misery.

That something never comes for me. I've spent most of my life suffering in one form of pain or another, pretending nothing was wrong, that everything was kosher. I mean, I couldn't sit there and wallow, other people had it so much worse than I did, so what right did I have? Even knowing this, it never stopped hurting.

Although I was no stranger to pain…nothing could have prepared me for what I had ended up walking into on the afternoon of October fifteenth.

With Hiei the fire demon as my escort, I had made my way through the city of Yokohama to its outskirts where my grandfather's once beautiful home, along with its dojo resided. As a unit, we walked up to the property encompassed by tall, heavy, red and gold painted fencing and stood outside its doors just waiting.

Waiting for what I wasn't sure – an attack, some kind of revelation, for someone to pop out and yell 'boo?' None of those things happened, just the wind blowing softly through the air. My grandfather's home was in a rather rural area, considering its location. He owned a large chunk of land and there were only a few other neighbors in the nearby vicinity. Even so, the gigantic fencing around the compound prevented any prying eyes from being nosy, so neighbors would not have been much of an issue.

From memory, I pulled forward what my grandparent's home used to look like, before I had allowed it to fall into decay and become over grown with weeds. Inside the fence stood a single two-story house, painted the same shade of red as the fencing, and attached to that but much larger than the home was my grandfather's dojo. It was only one story, old fashioned with rice paper doors, tatami mats, and wooden floors. Outside its entrance was his carefully maintained (not so much anymore) zen garden and flowering cherry trees. The dojo also housed my grandfather's workshop, a hidden room in the back that students hadn't been allowed near. Even Hitomi and I were only let in on special occasions and not until we were much older and knew better than to touch any of the tools. Much the same as everything my grandfather put his heart into, he accomplished it the old fashioned way. His methods of blacksmithing and the extent of his skill produced wonderful weapons, not many could hold a candle to the old man.

Hiei stepped forward and placed a hand upon one of the two large doors that would open up to reveal my childhood home. With very little effort, he pushed one side open just wide enough for the two of us to slip through and we were greeted with tall grass and two overgrown cherry trees on either side of the cracked and poorly taken care of stone path leading up to the house. Neither of us spoke, but silently we prepared to be ambushed. When still nothing changed I became wary…something about this was off, it didn't feel right. I felt my gut twist unpleasantly and scanned the property with shrewd eyes that discovered little out of the ordinary.

Frustrated, I cast my gaze over to Hiei who was standing at my side as tense as a board. He didn't like this scenario any more than I did.

"It's too quiet…" I whispered.

The wind wasn't even blowing any longer; I couldn't hear the sound of birds or the buzzing of bugs. While nothing looked out of place the unnatural stillness and silence was what clued me in to the presence of evil. Only something sinister could make even the smallest of creatures scatter from an area out of instinctual fear.

Hiei hummed softly in agreement, our earlier fight long forgotten in the face of danger. Not wanting to be ill prepared, I pulled out my pistol, checked its chamber to make sure it was loaded and then cocked it. The sounded of metal clicking against metal heralded a great gust of wind that sent my hair flying wildly around my face, blocking my vision. It was heavy enough to force me to take two steps back and it blew the drying leaves straight off the cherry tree branches, their boughs bending from the strength of the gust. Hiei stood stalwartly against the assault, unfazed, reminiscent of the time he'd jumped into the back of Kazuma's truck while I was driving almost a hundred and sixty kilometers an hour.

"I see you made it here in one piece…mostly," the sound of Hideki's velvety baritone made my blood run cold and I whipped my hair out of my face irritably as the wind finally died down.

My ex looked much the same as the last time I'd seen him, dressed all in black and devilishly attractive. If I hadn't seen him for what he truly was, I might still find that to be true. I was the kind of person that no longer saw outside beauty once I'd seen how ugly a person's insides were. Now, Hideki was just another enemy, another scumbag criminal I needed to take down and eradicate.

"No thanks to you!" I snapped at him.

He chuckled darkly, one of his hands coming up to play with something around his neck I hadn't noticed before. The chain looked familiar…and when my breath caught in my throat as I recognized what he was spinning between his fingers, he smirked.

He brought the pendent to his lips, pressing it there so it was in plain sight just to tease me, to torture me with it. I grasped desperately for that same chain around my neck and released a wail of dismay as I discovered it in its usual place. I knew it hadn't been mine, but that didn't mean I couldn't still have some vain form of hope that it would be.

"Where is she?" my voice promised him nothing but a painful death, the words spoken through gnashing teeth.

Hiei was eyeing us both with interest, standing off to the side and allowing the play to run its course. I almost wished he hadn't accompanied me. Dealing with Hideki was far too personal and it brought forth sides of me not many people have had the opportunity to witness. Nor would they want to if they could, however Hiei was different. He seemed to take great pains to learn more about me and this much was obvious as he kept his mouth shut and watched the proceedings.

"Where is who?" Hideki asked, though you could tell just by his mocking tone of voice that he knew exactly who I was talking about.

"That is Hitomi's necklace around your neck, how did you get it?" I demanded.

"Perhaps I will tell you…if you hand over your half."

Like that would ever happen. I lifted my gun, the weapon steady in my hands, and pointed it directly at his heart. He smiled at the action, not in the least bit worried. The gun would have no effect on him after all, a knife through his chest hadn't worked, why would a bullet?

"I won't be giving you anything," I spat at him.

He laughed and then out of nowhere turned into that viscous black smoke. It swirled through the air, high up into the sky, and then came rushing back down straight towards me. I dodged as it smashed into the earth, breaking the stone walkway to bits and sending clods of dirt flying in all directions. Hiei had drawn his sword, prepared to fight, but when Hideki solidified again only a couple of feet away from me he paused. This was not the time to be enjoying my overly dramatic life and I wished I could yell at him, but I had bigger fish to fry.

"Ah, but you've already given me so much Kasumi," he smirked, a twisted, unforgiving smile.

The memory of the night I'd lost my virginity, still so fresh in my mind thanks to Hiei, came forward even as I tried with all my might to suppress it. His smirk grew, for he knew exactly what I was thinking of. This brought a healthy rage forth from my chest, I was sick of being mocked and controlled.

"I didn't come here to play games, Hideki!"

"And neither did I, Kasumi-chan."

The way he spoke my name, drawing the syllables out, sent waves of revulsion down my spine. I closed my eyes for a moment, my lips twisting in disgust, and tried to forget everything I knew about this man.

Deep within the dark confines of my head, the presence of Chronos emerged, slowly and gently. I noticed right off the bat even though the god was trying hard not to be obvious.

"What are you doing?" I asked it as I opened my eyes once more and pretended all was well, that I wasn't speaking to something inside my head like a crazy person.

"Give me partial control girl…Ryuunosuke is far beyond your caliber."

Its voice was deafening and it took all my willpower to keep my face in its same cold, unforgiving mask. One slip and either Hiei would notice or Hideki would. I would rather neither of them realized I was conversing with the god. Hiei wouldn't like it…and as for Hideki, perhaps I could use it as a trump card against him.

"What does partial control mean for me?"

It growled irritably at my question but answered anyway, "You will have full knowledge of what occurs after I take over and you can put a stop to it any time you like."

"And how would I go about putting you back in your cage?"

It was displeased with this, you could tell just by the god's tone, "If you demand it I will go willingly. We must discuss our…partnership at a later date."

A partnership, huh? Is that what it wanted, access to my body whenever it deemed it necessary? I could deal with that…if the god was willing to work with me.

I shifted on my feet, keeping a close watch on Hideki whose eyes had narrowed knowingly. I didn't have much time in order to dissect what Chronos truly wanted from me and as it had said, we would have to discuss it at a later date. All I cared about now was figuring out what had happened to my sister. If Hideki had her necklace that means he must have had access to her at some point…or had found the item by other means. I prayed to the gods above that she wasn't dead; I don't think I could go on living if she was. I'd dedicated my life to Hitomi, from when we were kids up until now. Without her, I was nothing.

"I'll give you this one chance Chronos; if you fuck up…I'm never letting you out again. I can promise you that."

It chuckled darkly, an air of excitement traveling through my brain at the speed of light and then something shifted, shattered, changed. Suddenly I was inside and Chronos was out. I could see through my eyes, but it was hazy and faraway like I was looking through frosted glass windows. I could feel my body move but had no control over those movements. It was one of the most surreal experiences I'd ever been through to date. Even though it was odd and rather uncomfortable and all kinds of strange…I could feel raw, unadulterated power surging through my veins. The feeling was exquisite, something I had never thought I'd get to feel in my life. Is this what Kazuma and Yusuke felt like whenever they got the chance to fight with their energy? It might not be mine, but it was amazing all the same.

On the outside I saw Hideki's mouth open wide in shock and he took a surprised step back. I laughed, for whatever Chronos looked like in this moment was enough to frighten the man. I felt the god toss my gun aside and a moment later the sensation of something extremely warm touching my upper arm had the image I was viewing switching blurrily to the side. There stood Hiei, a look so full of anger on his face that regular me would have been scared shitless…but not Chronos.

I felt a smirk stretch across my lips, "Hello Jaganshi, it's so good to see you again."

That was definitely not my voice…not wholly anyway. It came out sounding like a man and woman's all in one, much like Chronos sounded inside my mind, but there was the underlying hint of my natural alto. It was creepy and mesmerizing all at once and I was happy to hear the same bite of sarcasm I always instinctually turned to. Perhaps the god and I were not so different.

"What are you doing out?" the fire demon snapped.

The smirk grew, "Doing what you cannot."

And then it began, all together things slowed down, the wind that blew through the trees stopped and the world around us came to a pause. Even Hiei, who normally moved faster than the human eye could see, was frozen to his spot. As for Hideki, he was in the process of pulling his sword but it was in slow motion…it took a good solid minute for him to extract it from its sheathe and point it at me. A spot in the middle of my forehead flared, causing warmth to course through me, and then time sped up again.

Suddenly Hideki was without a sword and bleeding from his side and I was behind him with his sword tightly held in my hand. He recovered quickly, switching to hand to hand combat (he was trained in Judo just as well as I) and he spent a good portion of his time dodging as Chronos skillfully swung his katana at him. It nicked his cheek, sliced a piece of clothing, and narrowly missed slicing his head from his neck (which was rather disappointing).

It was bizarre to go through the motions of fighting without actually doing any of the thinking myself. My body moved, using everything I had learned in the past sixteen years, but I didn't have to exert the effort. I barely felt as my punches connected, barely felt as Hideki hit me in the jaw, kicked me in the chest, and punched me in the gut. He shattered the sword in my hand, it turned into tiny metallic shards, like a broken mirror and then scattered to the wind. That was when Hiei joined the fray.

My regular human eyesight might never have noticed, but with Chronos' enhanced abilities I could see his movements as if he were running at a regular speed. He pulled his katana and in a flurry of light and sound, slashed up the man's skin to ribbons. I half expected that when Hideki came to stop to assess his wounds that his body would just fall apart into a pile of flesh and innards.

For the first time since the fight had started, I risked breaking Chronos' concentration, "Ask about my sister."

"That isn't our purpose here; I must take back the other half of the talisman."

It wouldn't speak to me after that and the battle raged on. Without a sword Chronos began to use hand to hand combat techniques, ones I had learned what felt like ages ago. With Hiei tag teaming along with the god, Hideki didn't even stand a chance.

Or at least…that's what I had thought anyway.

And I was shortly proven how truly naïve I could be when the shards of Hideki's broken sword recollected, forming a new blade. Without even laying a hand on it he used what only I could describe as telekinesis to fling the newly formed weapon towards Hiei. I don't know if it was his injury slowing him down or just because it had all happened so quickly that he hadn't expected it, but the blade struck him. It slid straight through his left shoulder blade like butter. A loud gasp rose up in my throat, one that not even Chronos could suppress, and I had the sudden undeniable need to get to the fire demon's side.

I watched as Hiei pulled the blade from his body, blood splashing across the ground to paint the green grass red, and then tossed it aside. I tried to rush to him, to reach him and help him, but my body refused to move.

"Help him Chronos!"

"He does not need assistance; it will take much more to kill him. Do not underestimate the fire demon."

It was enough of an admonishment to shut me up…for now. However, Chronos had been correct, I couldn't deny that. I would have only hurt his pride if I were to help him, especially as I got the first glimpse of Hiei's powers in battle. There was no refuting the fact that the demon was a master swordsman, better than even I was with a blade, if I were to categorize him I would place him at a Hachi-dan (10th rank) with the title of han-shi (A master Kendoist) the highest of ranks in the world of Kendo. Add in his abilities of speed and fire and they created a literally volatile mixture that promised any who would challenge him an excruciating death.

With a feral battle cry, Hiei released a swirling mass of flames directly at Hideki. The man barely dodged as it singed his clothing forcing him to remove his hoodie and the t-shirt that lay underneath less they burn up while he was still inside them. Hiei's eyes had narrowed shrewdly as he circled the other warrior and then he came to a stop at Chronos' (my?) side.

"You realize what he is, yes?" Hiei asked.

And Chronos answered, "An astral projection. A very good one at that, I've never seen someone form one so corporeal before."

What did that mean? I was completely at a loss, I mean I'd heard of astral projection but like most things pertaining to the supernatural I thought it was nothing but codswallop.

I heard Hideki chuckle darkly as he came to rest several feet away from Hiei and Chronos, "You've figured me out, have you? That's too bad; I had hoped to keep the ruse going a little longer."

Chronos stretched a mocking smile over my lips, "That isn't the only thing I've one-upped you on."

My sister's necklace came to dangle in front of my eyes, hanging from the tips of my fingers. Hideki's mouth fell open in shock and then it twisted into a feral snarl. I was right there with him…when the hell had Chronos managed to snatch it back?

Chronos continued to mock him, "It must have taken centuries for you to perfect that projection, but it still isn't good enough to fight me. Where is your true body?"

Hideki huffed indignantly, "Where it has always been and this projection is plenty to take you on. I would estimate you have less than a quarter of your true power stuck in my lover's body the way you are."

Being called Hideki's lover made both Chronos and I cringe and a deep growl bubbled up over Hiei's lips shortly thereafter.

"Hmm, now isn't that interesting…" Chronos thought to itself as my eyes looked the fire demon up and down, as if the god was inspecting him for something.

"What is?"

"You'll see…someday."

I hated how cryptic Chronos liked to be, it was irritating and it left me with more questions than answers most of the time. I let my anger be known; allowing it to fester through my mind far enough so the god could feel it. Chronos chuckled inside my head, the sound reverberating against the barrenness I was currently encased in, obviously amused by my confusion.

"I can't tell you everything child, you must forge your own path."

I was about to retort, to beg or demand that the god tell me something, anything that could help direct me where I needed to be. Every step forward I took seemed to lead me somewhere that would put me two steps back. I couldn't keep doing this.

"Why don't you let Kasumi-chan back out? I'd like to play with her a bit more."

Chronos turned grim, ignoring me in favor of confronting Hideki once more, "I haven't seen the outside world in some time and I'm rather enjoying it even if your ugly face is marring its beauty."

Hideki's face turned stone cold, a glare settling in his eyes that did little to faze Chronos. The god laughed jovially, making the man a mockery, "Go back to your body, so I can find it and annihilate it."

This changed Hideki's demeanor completely, he did a complete 360 from angry to smiling, "It is where you placed it a thousand years ago Chronos, surely you remember?"

This changed everything; I could feel the god's denial, the shock at the words Hideki had just spoken. Even though I didn't understand why it mattered so much, apparently this had Chronos worried. Where was Hideki's body…if the person standing in front of me truly wasn't him?

"That's impossible," said Chronos.

He smirked, "Is it?"

I'd had enough of their bantering, of this useless line of questioning. The only thing that mattered to me was Hitomi; I couldn't care less about where Hideki's body was or how he had managed to separate his consciousness from said body. Chronos was not at all interested in the whereabouts of my sister, too wrapped up in what it had just been told, so I made an executive decision…one that I would regret.

"Give me my body back!"

Chronos gasped loudly and then growled, "Don't be a fool! The projection is nothing for me, but it will take little for it to kill you girl."

"You promised you'd give me back control if I asked, well I'm asking!"

Chronos was far from pleased, a rage so strong filtered through my mind that I almost wished I could crawl into some dark hole somewhere and hide for an eternity. No more words were spoken, just that same sensation of something shifting, changing and then I was outside again. I could move my hands and feet on my own and though I was disoriented it mattered little. I was just happy to have my body back.

I had a splitting headache and though I noticed Chronos had receded, not even bothering to stay and watch what happened next, I felt my skin begin to crack. Little cuts, slashes, and bruises appeared to mar the porcelain like quality of my flesh. Thick droplets of blood seeped from them, staining my clothing and causing a weakness unlike any other to spread through me. I fell onto bended knee, my hair sweeping forward to cover my face from view, which was probably a good thing considering I must look a wreck. I supposed this was what Genkai had warned me about…my body was unable to withstand Chronos and allowing the god access had been a fatal mistake.

"Kasumi!" Hiei was yelling my name, trying to warn me, but the call came far too late.

Hideki had taken the opportunity I had presented with my weakness, he came rushing towards me, giving me only the briefest of seconds to lift my head and witness my doom. He stretched out a hand, palm outwards and a pressure, a force unlike any other, pushed me fully onto the ground and left me unable to move. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the same happen to Hiei though he valiantly fought it. Using his blade, he pushed it into the earth in order to keep himself just barely upright, having also fallen to his knees. His face was strained, wild…angry. As for me, my cheek was pressed into the dirt and I felt like I had an anvil resting on my back. No amount of struggling made a difference – I couldn't budge even a single inch.

Hideki's boots came to rest within my direct line of sight and he crouched so I could better see him. With a smile, he plucked my sister's necklace from my desperately grasping fingers and placed it safely in his pocket. From there, he gripped the chain around my neck and with a sharp tug that stung my throat; he ripped mine from me as well. He laughed darkly afterwards, letting the pendant hang tauntingly in front of my face leaving me with a nasty feeling of frustrated rage. All I wanted to do was snatch it back, but the force he was using to pin me to the ground wouldn't allow it. How was I going to find Hitomi now?

Hideki leaned forward, kissed me on the cheek which caused revulsion to squirm in my belly, making me wish I could throw up on him, and then stood.

"I'm so glad we had the chance to see each other again, Kasumi-chan," he drawled, "Next time we meet, I will have your sister by my side."

I grimaced, trying with all my might to pick myself up from the ground and failing miserably. I needed to stop him, by any means; I had to do something before he got away.

A boot came down to smash the fingers of my left hand, ruining what little progress I had made in trying to force myself into at least a sitting position. I cried out in surprised pain but the boot only ground down harder.

"You shouldn't have put Chronos back in its cage you foolish girl."

With one final stomp, the boot left and Hideki walked away. I barely managed to turn my head, feeling the grit beneath me scrape at my skin, so I could see where he had gone to. Knowing I would be watching him, he turned to grin at me one last time, plucked something from his pocket and pressed a series of buttons on the device. Panic settled deep within my soul.

With an eruption so great, a sound so loud I knew my eardrums should have been blown out, my childhood home went up in a great ball of flames. The magnetic pressure Hideki had placed on me fled, allowing my body to be thrown through the air from the blast. I was sent flying straight through the wooden fencing to skid across the street and land in a broken heap in the middle of the road. I'd heard bone snap and could feel blood seeping through my clothing. I couldn't even explain the pain if I tried, it was unimaginable, absolutely excruciating. My vision was blurred, either because I was about to pass out or because my glasses were once again long gone, I couldn't tell. I was burned, bruised, battered, cut and broken – I might as well just be a sack of meat full of bone shards at this point.

As my sight began to turn black around the edges, I watched the brightly blazing yellow and orange flames of the fire that were swallowing up all I had ever known and loved. Trying to keep my breaths steady and failing, I felt like I could cry…so badly I wanted to but I had forgotten how. I couldn't rise from the ground, couldn't think…my body had gone numb, in too much shock for my brain to handle the multiple points of agony my entire being was in.

Just barely awake now, I saw as a blurry figure covered in black came strolling out of the front gate, the flames of hell acting as his backdrop. It was amazing and terrible all rolled into one.

The image of Hiei walking towards me, with my grandparent's home ablaze behind him, would stick with me until the day I died…

. . .

I fell in and out of consciousness; I had no concept of time or space. All I could see were blurry images, sometimes I thought they were people…other times I wasn't so sure. The only one that truly stood out was the man in black…the red eyes being a dead giveaway. Hiei must have rescued me…again. I owed this man more debts than I could ever possibly pay in one lifetime.

I could recall the feeling of the sharp sensation of what I guessed was Yukina-san's healing energy…it felt similar anyway – cold, tingly. Botan's was warmer…almost electric in quality.

It was all bits and pieces, broken up conversations, words I couldn't even begin to comprehend becoming muddled and disjointed within my failing brain.

Voices, so many different voices – Yusuke's cocky tone, Kurama's soft spoken words, Hiei's gruff baritone, and Kazuma's booming bass. There was also the tiny voice of Hiei's sister, the smoker's rasp of Genkai's, the worried like quality of Keiko's unmistakable alto, and the bubbly voice of Botan.

All the noise warped into one giant sound…a sound that caused a splitting headache and my eventual awakening. No one noticed at first, as I squinted up from the bed, the light streaming from a single window too much for my eyes to bear. I quickly closed them again and groaned.

"About time you woke up, Sleeping Ugly," said Yusuke from somewhere off to my left.

I managed to muster enough strength to lift an arm and give him the bird. He laughed, making my headache shoot a spear of pain through my skull.

Pushing my migraine aside as best I could, I assessed the rest of my body. It hurt just about everywhere. I could feel the scratchy, uncomfortable nuisances known as bandages wrapped in several different places – around my head, my chest, and my left thigh. I shifted, sat up and let the thin blanket that was lying over me pool into my lap. I had no clothes on and the only thing protecting my decency was the set of bandages bound around my breasts.

"Where…am I?" I asked…or tried to at least. The words came out broken, raspy. I cleared my throat; however it didn't make much of a difference.

Kazuma sat on the edge of the tiny bed, forcing me to scoot over so he would fit and I squinted at him, waiting for an answer as he handed over a cup of water. I gulped it down greedily, sighing in relief when my throat felt just the slightest bit better.

"We're at Genkai baa-san's temple. You've been out cold for three days."

This had me sitting up even straighter, agonizing as it was, "What do you mean 'three days'?!"

"Don't worry, I collected your assignments for you…and called Ren so he could sort things out at work."

Ren…I'd forgotten all about him. I'd left him all by himself asleep at my apartment the other morning. I shook my head in denial and then tried to rise from the bed. Kazuma placed both of his hands on each of my shoulders and held me down.

"You're in no shape to move yet, Kas."

"I'm fine!" I snapped and tried to shove him off me. All I ended up succeeding in was making my upper body hurt.

He held me back with one hand, took the empty cup from me probably in fear I would break it over his skull, and placed it out of my reach.

"Kasumi," Keiko's admonishing tone stopped my struggles as she came to stand beside the bed, "When Hiei-san brought you here you had a broken leg and fractured wrist."

"Not to mention all the other wounds, several burns, and a concussion," finished Kazuma.

How was that possible? Sure I was hurting…and I had been blown through a fence…and beat up…and almost murdered…

Okay…so maybe they were right. Even still, I had things to do. Three whole days had gone by while I struggled to survive, for all I knew Hideki could have already found Hitomi. I needed to get up; I needed to get those necklaces back. It was imperative and something I just couldn't ignore.

I looked around the room wildly, the blurred images of my friends unsettling but the one person I thought would be on my side was nowhere to be seen. Where was he? He'd been here…hadn't he? I could remember waking up…it was dark…and he'd been here, so where was he now?

I voiced the question out loud, not really meaning to, but unable to take it back, "Hiei…?"

Kazuma scratched the back of his head, mussing up his hair nervously, "Ah…yeah, he was here a couple of days ago."

A couple of days ago…? I tried to drag up the memory, it must have been on the first night I'd been brought here after the battle with Hideki and I was positive I must have been pretty out of it. I'd woken up for a short time…I could recall that readily enough. I gripped my head, frustrated that I couldn't remember because something told me it was important…come on, Kasumi, think!

As my migraine slowly faded bits and pieces of a rather distressing memory came back to me. The first night I had spent here at the temple…Yukina had started healing me immediately. The reason I had woken up at all was the excruciating pain said healing had put me through. Hiei had been there…he'd been forced to pin me down so Yukina could mend my broken leg…but it had formed back together incorrectly.

Poor Hiei, I thought, as I finally remembered why this particular scenario had been so horrifying. I would have to apologize to Yukina later for my rudeness as well…but something told me she would understand, considering the situation and the amount of agony I had been in.

After both Hiei and Yukina had realized my leg had reset incorrectly, the fire demon had turned…well, different, I guess. Normally he was so cold, gruff, unfeeling. This time however, he'd been so gentle…almost caring. Maybe that was just the pain talking as I'm sure I was slightly delusional at the time but it was nice to think of it that way anyway.

"…H-he broke my leg," I said, amazement clear in my voice. I didn't see the disgusted cringe cross over Kazuma's face, too lost in the memory to care.

In my memory Hiei had asked Yukina to leave the room, not wishing her to witness what he was about to do. His tone commanding, she hadn't even hesitated and left quickly with the promise she would return once he called for her. Through my pain filled haze I recalled bits and pieces of the words he spoke to me, "Take a deep breath and hold it. Don't look away from me."

I did as he told me to while he ran his hands soothingly down the expanse of my bare leg. He gripped each side of my shin firmly, his hands feverishly hot against my skin. He stared up at me with eyes that looked almost apologetic and then without any warning, no countdown, nothing, he twisted my leg and re-broke that bones. I released the breath in a tormented scream, staring into his ruby colored eyes was the only thing that had kept me grounded, otherwise I believe I would have floated away somewhere too far for anyone to reach. The pain was immense, but short lived. Heat pulsed through my leg, a soothing kind that took away some of the ache. I think I passed out again soon after that and Yukina must have returned to heal me.

Even now, as I sat in this unfamiliar bed, I could feel the ache of my broken bones, healed as they were. I was not foolish enough to think Yukina was all powerful and the fact she was not currently present led me to think she was probably resting herself. I felt guilty, though I didn't really understand why. I would need to profusely thank her later, for what she had done must have taken much out of her. My body might not be at a hundred percent but at least I wasn't on the brink of death anymore.

I shook my head in disbelief, stunned that I had managed to cheat death so many times now and it was all thanks to these people…this band of demons and humans. If I was to be honest, I was sick and tired of being saved. I hated owing anyone anything…and now I owed my life, the highest of prices, to all of them. Especially the fire demon, who had done nothing but rescue me again and again even though it was completely against his nature. It was high time I took my fate into my own hands.

I pushed the blanket off of myself, not caring in the least that I was almost completely nude. Kazuma and Kurama turned away politely, whereas Yusuke leered at me from across the room prompting Kazu to shoot up from the bed and smack him upside the head and Keiko to yell some sort of obscenity at him.

I took the opportunity to gather up the sheet and tore it from the bed so I could flee from the room. I couldn't see very well and didn't know my way around the temple in the slightest, but without the proper use of my sight my other senses compensated for the loss. With my mind's eye I could see the brightly glowing auras of the temple's occupants and I headed straight for the one that was a soft, pale yellow. I heard Keiko come rushing out of the room I had just left and she called my name but I didn't turn around. Eventually she caught up to me, which was easy considering I was limping down the hall thanks to my leg (which would forever ache whenever a big storm was coming) and practically tripping over the sheet I had wrapped around myself like some kind of toga.

My left leg ached something awful as I hauled my tired ass down the great expanse of hallway, coming ever closer to that aura I knew instinctually belonged to Yukina. There were several others nearby – a great electric blue just like Yusuke's, a horrible neon yellow, and one other…one I had studied every chance I had gotten. Hiei's multitude of colors, the bright gold, reds, blues, purples, blacks and greens – so many and so beautiful. His aura would never cease to mesmerize me. I knew from the bottom of my heart that I would never see another like it. I would never be able to mistake him, not even in a crowd.

With Keiko hot on my heels I made the dizzying journey towards a part of the temple I had not seen on my previous visit: the kitchens. I barged through a swinging door; causing the two women standing by what I assumed was the stove to gasp – Yukina and Botan, recognizable by their hair colors alone. Hiei sat at the farthest end of the kitchen table and while I had originally planned on thanking Yukina by kissing her feet I ended up doing a complete one-eighty and headed towards the fire demon instead.

I couldn't make out his features and without the ability to gauge his reaction I jumped in head first without thoughts on the consequences. In the few short weeks I had known him, this man had seen me at my worst and my best and all the areas in between. We had fought, made up, and fought again. He was frustrating, stubborn, and made me want to kill him on a daily basis all while being undeniably attractive, brave, and strong. I might wish I could hate him and he may very well despise me, but I had already made the decision to do everything within my power to repay him for all that he had done for me.

With the sheet wrapped around me like a shroud, I came to stand before him. He did not rise from his seat, only folded his arms across his chest and tilted his head to look up at me. My throat suddenly dry, I swallowed several times before I found the courage to speak.

What came out was not exactly what I had planned to say, "Train me."

I heard surprised gasps, a shouted "What!" that obviously belonged to Kazuma and the great guffaws of laughter that belonged to Urameshi Yusuke but my bravery had come back to me. I bowed, my hair falling forward to hide my face.

"Please, I know you can't stand me, but as I am now is not enough."

"Kasumi-chan, if you want to train I can help you!" Kazuma said, clearly stunned and put out that I would come to Hiei first instead of him.

I ignored him and continued to plead with the fire demon, "Please, I will do anything that you ask. I cannot save my sister as I am now."

Complete and utter silence, I remained bowing if only to delay having to face the inevitable. He was going to tell me no. I'd been a fool to even try, how embarrassing.

"Hn, it would be a waste of my time."

And there it was. Disappointment flooded through me even though I had been expecting that very answer. It made me angry, not because he had said no, but because he found me to be unworthy of his time. I rose from my bow, face carefully under control so it was a cold and unfeeling mask. Eyes shuttered in order to hide any emotion that may flash across them; I refused to look him directly in the face. I took a step back and then another, until I could turn and walk calmly back towards the door. Yusuke and Kazuma blocked my way, but I had other business to take care of anyway.

Still emotionless, I turned to Yukina and bowed once again, "I wish to thank you for taking care of me. I will forever be indebted to you."

"Please, there is no debt to be paid. I am always willing and happy to help those in need," was her kind reply.

I didn't want to argue with her; however I knew I would still be forever in her debt. I would do everything I could to try and repay it, whether she wanted it that way or not. I bowed lower, and then straightened to my full height (as little as it was). I couldn't stand the eyes on me a second longer, so to avoid further awkwardness I pushed my way through Kazuma and Yusuke, with my friend calling loudly after me but I didn't stop and they didn't come after me. Not even Keiko, who must have remained behind to discuss my current bout of stupidity along with everyone else.

I didn't know how to find my way back to the previous room and in the end I hadn't needed to. As I took a sharp corner down another hallway I came upon Genkai, who was leaning against the wall opposite me. I went to proceed by her but with my limited sight I never noticed when she stuck out one tiny foot. I landed face first into the floor and her evil cackle in the aftermath told me that was exactly what she was hoping would happen.

"You're a real asshole," I said into the floor.

"And you're pathetic, which is worse."

I rolled onto my back, my body once again aching thanks to the hard wood I had just face planted into, and tried to glare up at the woman. She was leaning over me, her short stature allowing her to get much closer to my face than I was particularly comfortable with, and the smell of cigarette smoke was strong on her breath. When I didn't immediately get up, she crouched so she could look me in the eye and I could see her better.

"You want to become stronger?"

"So you heard that lovely little conversation did you?" I sat up so I was leaning back on my hands, now directly eye level with the old woman.

"Why do you think I called you pathetic, baka?"

I rolled my eyes and looked away from her, sticking my nose up in the air. I wanted to snub her, get up and leave, but my leg was hurting enough to make me grind my teeth. I didn't even know if it would support my weight, which meant I would have to stick around for more abuse.

"Hiei won't train someone who won't present him with some kind of a challenge," she continued, "He's the kind of man who's always trying to become stronger himself."

"So he's not a teacher," I replied.

"No, he has the capabilities, but if there's nothing in it for him it's not worthy of his attention, understand?"

"And I have nothing he wants."

"Exactly," said Genkai.

"Way to be harsh," I said.

"It's just the truth, take it or leave it," she stood from her crouch, stretching out her spine and making her old bones pop loudly.

She offered me a hand up, which I took hesitantly and she lifted me from the floor with more strength than I thought she was capable of producing. She didn't let go of my hand once I made it to my feet and tugged me down so I was staring her in the eye once again, her light brown eyes narrowed shrewdly.

"Let me offer you some advice…" she began, "Your grandfather had many connections. Utilize that."

Then she released me and with her arms folded behind her back proceeded down the hallway. She never looked back at me and I was left with a hundred troubling thoughts running through my brain.

She was right, no one here would be willing to train me other than Kazuma and as much as I cared about him he wouldn't be able to make me stronger. My energy wasn't the same as his…and with the added issue of Chronos he wouldn't be able to handle training me. It would take only one time for me to release a little too much and nearly kill myself and he would be scarred for life. No, it would be a far better choice to find someone who could be indifferent about the situation, one who wasn't so emotionally invested in my wellbeing.

Master Genkai was right, Ojichan had known many other martial artists and I was willing to bet he knew of other's who could use Reiki just like the little old woman. It would take some research and a lot of hunting…but I wasn't a cop for nothing. I would use all my resources and soon…soon I would have Hitomi back at my side, just as it always should have been.

I didn't need Hiei's help and I had no loyalty to these people other than Keiko and Kazuma and they should understand considering they knew how much my sister meant to me. I had dedicated my entire life to her…and the past four years to finding her. Friendship paled in comparison.

It was time I took a journey…and I knew just who to ask to accompany me.

. . .

The next day I sat in class like nothing was wrong. I went through the motions of the day, put on an act for my friends and allowed them to escort me home like some kind of invalid that was incapable of taking care of themselves. Keiko went to cook dinner and I feigned being tired so I could go to my room in peace.

Ensconced in the silence of my rapidly darkening bedroom I pull my cell phone out of my pants' pocket and scrolled through the contacts list on the tiny screen. Finding the name I was looking for it took only a couple of button punches to make the call – one ring, two rings…three.

"This is Ren," his baritone filled my ears and I took a deep breath.

"Hey…it's me."

"Kasumi? How are you? Kuwabara-san told me you got into an accident," he was worried, his voice borderline frantic as he questioned me.

"Never mind that, Ren…do…do you remember anything from a few days ago?"

I had no doubts that Kurama was capable at whatever it was he did…so I had little hope that Ren would remember, but I had to try.

"You mean when I showed up at your apartment drunk and passed out in your bed?"

I sighed, "Is that…the only part you remember?"

He paused and it was long enough to make me nervous, "No…it isn't."

I swallowed hard, "What else?"

"I remember making a fool of myself, but not much else."

So he didn't remember anything about the fight…or my powers. I was thankful and disappointed all at once, but making sure his memory had been properly wiped wasn't the reason I had called.

I let a bit of truth slip with my next question, "You don't remember showing me your Reiki then?"

I heard a strangled gasp from his end and his breath had quickened, clearly mumbling to himself I heard him say, "How could I be so stupid…?"

"I'm like you Ren," not exactly, but that was neither here nor there, "And I need your help."

"What…do you mean, like me?"

"I have Reiki too…listen; can we meet somewhere and talk?"

"Uh…y-yeah, that's a good idea actually, where?" he sounded apprehensive, unsure whether he truly wanted to speak with me about this particular subject or not, I had no doubts.

"The hill, you know where I'm talking about."

"Of course, I'll meet you there soon."

I didn't bother saying goodbye; I just clicked my phone shut and ended the call. I stuffed it back into my pocket, took another deep, calming breath and then quietly snuck out of my room. Keiko was still in the kitchen preparing dinner, Yusuke was at work, and Kazuma had gone home to study. Now was the perfect time for an escape.

I moved silently through my home, collecting my gun, coat and bag without making a sound. I picked up my shoes on the way out the door, not putting them on until I had let it latch shut softly behind me. I left the building at a dead run and with my mind so lost in turmoil filled thoughts I never noticed I was being followed once again.

My lack of awareness would no doubt get me in a lot of trouble someday….let's just hope today wasn't that day.

. . .

A/N: Wow, I am so, so sorry for the lateness of this chapter! I'm going to try to make up for it by writing the next one as quick as I can. I haven't had a lot of time recently, work has been outrageously busy and I've had mostly weekends off and I can't write over the weekends for one reason or another. Anyway, the tension between Kasumi and Hiei is only going to continue to grow. Right now it seems bad but it will all work out in the end, no worries. Also, the bit about astral projection, in the manga Hiei is actually capable of projecting his consciousness outside of his body with the power of the Jagan. I haven't revealed even close to the extent of Hideki's power yet and now you know why, because he doesn't have full control over them without his body. It is also the reason why no one can kill him (pretty obvious, can't kill something that isn't physically there) and until they can find his body he can freely wreak havoc as he pleases. This means nothing good for Kasumi, I'm afraid. I'm so evil to my OCs.

I hope this chapter at least slightly made up for the last once, which I thought was bland and poorly written. It was just one I had a lot of trouble with. So, please let me know what you thought of this one! The reviews are always so greatly appreciated; they are the fuel that keeps me going! Thank you for reading!