Chapter 46 - Weaker Girl

A/N: I hope last chapter wasn't too horrible. I was really afraid to post it. I also apologize that this one isn't as action packed. Leave me some reviews to tell me if you hated last chapter or not!

. . .

I sat on the blood soaked stairs, sick to my stomach and cold straight to my bones. I shivered violently, wishing I could strip out of my dirty clothes. But I waited...watching through blurry eyes as Konstantin's victims scavenged what remained of his estate. I couldn't blame them. Nothing could replace what Konstantin had taken from them, but money was a start.

After Hiei and Yusuke had come for me, I'd heard a great shout erupt from within the keep. They'd come streaming out in droves, all the prisoners, the slaves, the servants. They'd felt when I'd snuffed out Konstantin's energy. His armorer, Mikail, had freed them all.

He'd come strutting out of the keep, pausing only to flash me a vicious smile. I hadn't noticed the day he'd fitted me with the armor...but his teeth looked like opals. They matched the whiteness of his skin. I wondered what kind of demon he was...but he was gone long before I thought to ask.

A warm hand on my shoulder startled me, but the gentle squeeze after told me it was just Yusuke. "We found your bag. Wanna get cleaned up?" he asked.

They'd gone back to find my things and search the building for anything useful. The people who had worked for Konstantin cared little for the loss of assets. He'd held everyone here captive in one way or another. I was glad I had killed him.

Except thinking of the repercussions it could potentially have on the timeline only made me feel more nauseous.

I didn't reply to Yusuke and instead slipped my eyes over to his companion. "Can you do something first…?"

His face remained expressionless. As it had since I'd thrown up all over his boots.

"Can you burn them first?"

"Burn who now?" Yusuke asked

"Idiot," Hiei shook his head. I thought he would refuse me. But after a breath he flickered off the steps. When Hiei began to place the bodies into a pile Yusuke caught on and ran off to help.

Soon enough they'd built one giant funeral pyre. It took minimal effort on Hiei's part to set it ablaze. The flames flickered in my vision, blurred and dry and tired. The smell of burning flesh pierced me and made my stomach roil, but I sat and watched. It was the least I could do for the lives lost. There was no one else to mourn them. Someone had to take their place.

The two men returned to my side, but still I did not move. I didn't move until the bodies were nothing but ash and embers and the world had begun to brighten.

But there would be no sunrise here. Just a lightening of the odd purple and red sky. But it too was beautiful in its own way.

I stood from the stairs with a stumble, shoving away the hand Yusuke offered me. My hip was on fire, my entire body felt like one giant bruise. And the blood…

God the smell of that drying blood that covered me. I nearly retched again.

They followed close behind as I dragged myself through the hole they'd blown in the courtyard doors. Outside, the street was deserted. Not far in the distance I could see a pier that lead down to a beach covered in brown sand. The dark colored water of the ocean beckoned.

When my feet hit the sand I began to shed my clothes, leaving a trail behind me. Just as my toes would have dipped into the water I was wrenched backwards.

"You have no idea what could be in there."

I stared at Hiei, face blank, too tired to give a shit. "I'll take my chances."

He dropped my arm with a snarl and said, "It's your death wish."

I stepped out of my plain undergarments and unraveled the bindings at my chest. Completely nude, I waded out into the water.

It was freezing...but I was already so numb I barely felt it. I picked up great fistfuls of sand and scrubbed until my skin was raw. I didn't stop until blood welled and even then I didn't feel clean.

I didn't count it as a blessing when nothing showed up to devour me.

I stood out in that water until my teeth felt like they'd crack from the chattering. My skin turned blue, my breaths came out in white puffs. Even then I probably could have stood there and just let a wave carry me off somewhere far, far away.

"That's enough. Come out now." Hiei stood at the edge of the water, hands in the pockets of his cloak.

I ignored him, letting the dark waves lap at my body, swaying me gently. I didn't know who I was anymore. I couldn't continue what we'd come here for. I had no purpose. No goal. No determination.

I heard Hiei's irritated sigh from behind me before an arm snaked around my waist. He tugged me from the water like some kind of rag doll. He flung me onto the beach, releasing a blast of heat to dry his clothes.

Yusuke rushed forward with some clothing from my bag. He didn't mind my nakedness, but the Yusuke I'd grown to care for wasn't here. Normally he would have leered at me. Instead he eyed all the fresh scars that marred me. He crouched in the sand, eyes widening at the ones on my thighs, my shoulder blades, my stomach. His power flared in anger, but not the bright blue I'd become accustomed to. No...this energy was a deep, almost burgundy red.

"Detective," Hiei hissed.

Yusuke put a clamp on it just as fast as it had appeared. "Aren't you pissed?" He asked Hiei, incredulous.

Hiei didn't say a word, just stepped away, back in the direction of the road.

But when I looked back at where he'd been standing...the sand had melted into glass.

. . .

We traveled as far as we could until nightfall. Hiei pushed to keep going, but Yusuke had taken one look at me and refused. We bought a room at an inn in the closest town. I hadn't brought any money with me, but it was obvious both Yusuke and Hiei had procured some at some point.

We ate a meager dinner of some sort of meat I didn't ask about, nor did I want to know. It at least tasted marginally better than anything else I'd eaten recently. And then headed up to our room. I paid no attention to the fact it only housed two small beds, and fell face first into the nearest one.

Yusuke flopped bonelessly into the one beside me. Out of the corner of my eye I watched Hiei take up a spot in the corner, closest to the door...and me.

He removed three swords from his person, his own, the one I had given him...and Takahiro's newest gift. I turned fully in the bed to stare at him then and he tossed it. I caught it out of midair and laid it in the bed beside me.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Yusuke asked on a yawn.

"I don't have any bits between my legs to worry about chopping off," I replied.

He guffawed, before blowing out the candle on the nightstand between the beds. "Night Kas...Hiei."

Hiei grunted in reply and I answered with a goodnight of my own. He was snoring in a matter of minutes, dead to the world.

And even though I was so tired...I could not sleep.

So many thoughts raced through my brain unbidden, torturing me, making me hate myself. What I wouldn't give for enough alcohol to make me black out. If I was desperate enough I could probably raid Yusuke's pockets and hit up the inn's tavern.

But I couldn't move from the bed. I didn't have the energy or the willpower. In fact, I wished a giant black hole would form beneath me and suck me up.

"You did what was necessary for your survival," came a voice, quiet so as not to wake Yusuke.

"Get out of my head," I groaned.

"I plan to, if all you are going to do is whine."

"Fuck you, Hiei."

I heard him chuckle once, dark and full of self loathing. "Go to sleep," he said.

I didn't. "Why did you come looking for me?"

I received silence as my only reply. He could pretend he was asleep if he wanted, but I knew better. Hiei didn't sleep around anyone. He only acted as if he did.

I stumbled up from the bed, shuffling in the general direction I thought his corner was. The room was pitch black, with no window to speak of. The least he could do was talk so I knew he was still there.

Next thing I knew I was on my back on the floor, a pair of glowing red eyes hovering a few inches away from my face.

I heard Yusuke roll over at the noise and mumble in his sleep, "Get some...Hiei."

A hand threaded through my hair, gripping, pulling, exposing the hollow of my throat. In a whispered snarl he said, "I came for you to protect the only people that matter."

That stung more than I thought it would. I was only good for the closing of purgatory. I'd known that for a long time now...but to hear it from his lips.

I couldn't blame him. Not after what I'd done.

With the thought of Ren...the past three weeks...the man I loved hating me...the floodgates opened.

I laid there, flat on my back, Hiei above me, and sobbed into the darkness. Tears pooled to the floorboards beneath me, I cried until I was out of breath. I cried until I could no longer keep my swollen eyes open.

I drifted off to sleep. I didn't even realize when Hiei's rough hold on my hair had turned to his fingers carding through the strands, lulling me into slumber.

For the first time in a long time, I slept feeling warm and protected. Although I was broken...this small amount of comfort did wonders.

The next morning I awoke feeling not so rabid - just a little bit more human than the day before. I was in bed and knowing Hiei had placed me there made me never want to leave.

But the booming voice of Urameshi Yusuke was having none of that. "Wakey, wakey, eggs and baccy!"

"Fuck off," I moaned and buried my face into the mattress.

A bare foot kicked me in the back, making me tumble out of the bed and onto the floor. I glared up at the grinning detective's face, flipping him the bird.

"We need to make tracks. Hiei's already waiting."

Of course he was, I thought.

I gathered my things quickly and sprinted after Yusuke. True to his word, the fire demon was outside the inn, leaning against the sky was only just lightening.

Where I was normally a morning person...today was not one of those days.

Yusuke paused beside me, slapping a hand to my shoulder. "Can you run?"

My hip was still tender...and the rest of me wasn't fairing much better. But I didn't want to outright admit to my weakness. So I just nodded.

Both men took off like shots from a gun and I stared after them with my mouth hanging open. If they thought I stood a chance of keeping up they were high on something.

I took off after them as fast as my battered body would allow. They stayed ahead of me, but slow enough I could still see them. It didn't take long for my hip to give out on me. It was Yusuke that skidded to a stop, without even looking behind him, knowing I couldn't run any longer.

He jogged back towards me. "Sorry Kas, too much?"

I nodded, hating myself. But Yusuke only grinned, before turning his back to me and crouching. "Up with you then," he said.

"I can't...I'll only slow you down."

He laughed, "No you won't. Now come on, I don't have all day."

I could see Hiei in the distance, arms crossed over his chest, his patience waning. "Right," I said. And climbed onto Yusuke's back.

As soon as I was secure, he took off after the fire demon. "Where are we going anyway?" I called over the wind rushing around me.

"Alaric," he replied. Like I knew where the hell that was.

I trusted Yusuke to make it there without a problem, so I hung my arms loosely around his neck and buried my face in his back. I felt a chuckle rumble through him.

I closed my eyes and did my best to forget all that had happened these past weeks. I needed to come up with a solution concerning Caius. For now, I didn't have the faintest idea where he'd fled to. And I hoped to keep it that way. So far, I'd done well keeping that tidbit about his heritage far from the forefront of my mind. Perhaps it was time I began to learn to build mental fortifications.

Hiei had no business being in there anyway…

The boys ran until nightfall, they did not stop even for a minute. But when the two moons in the Makai's sky rose to their peak, they found a spot to hunker down. I could tell Hiei was annoyed with this the instant Yusuke had suggested it. I could feel the glare that he shot my way burn into the side of my face.

Yes...the weak, pathetic little human was only good for slowing them down. I had never felt so worthless in my life.

They walked for a little longer, entering into a mountainous range. They picked a spot to stop beneath a large outcropping. It would protect from both weather and prying eyes. But it did nothing for the howling wind that flowed around the jutting mountain tops.

That wind made it unbearably cold. I thanked the gods above that the bedroll I'd strapped to my pack was still there. There was no possible way to start a fire in these conditions, so I wrapped the heavy blanket around my shoulders and hunkered down. I doubted I would gain an ounce of sleep that night.

"Lemme grab some of that," Yusuke shouted over the wind.

"What?" I hollered back.

He didn't bother answering me. He just sidled up beside me and stole half my warmth. I squawked indignantly but he didn't care. If anything, he scooted in closer, pulling the blanket around the both of us tighter.

"Whose bright idea was this?" I shouted. Yusuke jerked his head towards the fire demon, who sat as far from us as he could without leaving the protection of the outcropping.

I wondered if he was cold, as the wind whipped his hair and cloak about him. But he did not flinch. He sat, as if immobilized, watching the horizon. I didn't understand why he'd chosen such a spot for us to camp out. But as with anything, I was sure Hiei had his reasons. It just annoyed me he never chose to voice those reasons to the rest of us.

"Here," I said. I tossed the rest of the bedroll to Yusuke who stared at me incredulously.

I kept close to the side of the mountain and sidled my way over to Hiei. A look back at Yusuke caught him shaking his head at me, a wry smile on his lips. I chose to ignore him. It was best to pretend he wasn't even there if I was to ruck up enough courage to do this.

I plopped down beside the fire demon. He didn't even turn in my direction. I'd expected this treatment, so I wouldn't be disheartened just yet. I hadn't seen him in so long and tomorrow was uncertain. This could be my last chance to speak with him. To hear the rasp of his baritone. To watch as his lips formed each syllable of every word he spoke. To look into those unfathomable eyes.

Even over the scream of the wind I knew he'd hear me. There was no need to raise my voice. So I said, quite pathetically, "So, how've you been?"

No response. It was as if I was invisible to him. So, just to be sure, I said a little louder, "How are you?"

"I heard you the first time, fool."

Okay...telepathy it was then.

"Were you planning on answering me?"

His eyes flicked towards me. "Go back to Yusuke," he said. And then turned back to stare at the red and blue Makai moons.

I didn't obey. I should have known better than to try and engage Hiei into small talk. I had questions that needed answers. And I refused to dwell on the fact that I had missed him. I had no right to feel that way.

To break the awkward impasse we'd fallen into I told him something that had weighed heavily on me for days. "Ren's dead."

This drew a reaction, if subtle. His jaw had tightened, his shoulders stiffened. For a beat he didn't even breathe, as if the words would be blown away if he did.

"How?" he asked.

I knew he was both asking the way of it and how I even knew. So I told him the truth. "Chronos told me. And he died protecting my sister from King Enma."

"Hn," he grunted.

I stared at him, eyebrows raised to my hairline. "Is that all you have to say?"

"Did you think I'd mourn for him?" He said, tone cold, unforgiving.

I looked away from him then, down towards my scrunched up knees. I scourged the picture of his jawline - the set of his lips, the shape of eyes - from my mind. Let him go, let him go, I repeated like a mantra inside my mind.

I took a breath and said, "No. I just thought you should know."

I once again received no reply and with that I gave up. It was obvious he did not want or need my company. I rose, intent on shuffling my way back towards Yusuke. When he spoke, I almost missed it.

"I'm glad he's dead. I only regret it was not by my hand."

The way he'd said it sent chills up my spine. Pure hate resided within those words. I hadn't realized the true damage I'd done. My tryst with Ren had cost me Hiei's trust. And I had a feeling that was something I might never get back. If I'd ever had it at all to begin with.

I nodded to his back, knowing he couldn't see, but needing to do something. When I returned to Yusuke he gave me a questioning look but I just shook my head.

I didn't sleep that night. Even with Yusuke's heat beside me. I could do nothing but stare at the fire demon's back and pray for morning to come swiftly.

. . .

"Where the hell are we?"

Yusuke laughed, making fun of what I was sure must be a pathetic sight. I was rough, covered in dirt and dragging my sorry ass along beside them. They'd slowed down for me, begrudgingly. We'd traveled another full twenty-four hours, stopping only to rest for a few hours at night. We'd passed through the mountain range with only a bit of difficulty.

The treacherous terrain aside we'd been attacked by some of the creatures that called it home. They'd been dispatched with efficiency, but the sheer number of them had caused us pause. Afterwards, Hiei had butchered and preserved the meat from one of the less mutilated beasts. I hated to think about the fact I'd probably be eating that later.

I guess I could always choose to starve. I'm sure Hiei wouldn't give a damn one way or the other.

I'd made a second attempt last night to get him to talk to me and it had failed worse than the first. Yusuke had picked up on the tension between us and he'd grilled me about it all morning. I felt like I was going crazy. And Yusuke's constant questions weren't helping.

"We just crossed the border into Alaric," Yusuke replied.

Alaric was like night and day compared to where we had come from - which I'd learned was Gandara. The air was not bitingly cold or stifling hot. Here, there was actual vegetation...but the colors were wrong. The greens were yellows or browns or rust colored reds. The trees bore leaves of mustard yellow and the grasses looked dry. But as I bent to run a hand through the field we were standing in I learned they were anything but.

"Careful, those edges can be sharp," said Yusuke.

I drew my hand back with care. I stamped out the temptation to pluck a deep purple wild flower, wary now.

The place was...interesting. I wouldn't call it beautiful, it wasn't even close, but the muted colors weren't exactly ugly either. They were just...off. Or I should say, I just wasn't used to them. To Hiei - and even Yusuke - this was normal. Hiei had spent his whole life living amongst these colors, touching these plants, and residing under the red and purple sky. The smell of the place probably didn't even effect him. Not like it did me. As the days had waned on the rotting air had made me feel sick. I kept a tight cap on this, certain it was just my stomach disagreeing with it. But now I wasn't so certain.

"Hey, you seem kind of out of it. You okay?"

I rose from my crouch and shot Yusuke a fake smile. "Yeah, I'm just peachy."

"Let's move." Interrupted a rather irritated fire demon.

"Jeez, someone's grouchy!"

Hiei growled at Yusuke and took off ahead, as he'd done most of the trek here.

"Why are we in Alaric anyway?"

"A lead," Yusuke answered.

"Oh?" I didn't like that. Could they have found Caius so quickly? I forced the thought from my mind, ever afraid that Hiei would catch wind of what I knew.

I followed behind at a slower pace, having chosen to walk on my own since the night on the mountain. I didn't deny that I was still aching. I'd bandaged the worst of the damage Konstantin had done, thankful for my first aid kit. But I was still running on minimal rest. I'd eaten only bites here and there. And I'd been harboring the fact I now felt like I was coming down with the flu. I'd wanted to prove my usefulness. I was sure doing a bang up job of it.

"Yeah, we heard a rumor while we were chasing after you."

I sighed in relief, garnering a strange look from Yusuke. It couldn't have been about Caius then, not if they'd heard it before finding me. I should be ashamed for thinking that way. I should want to find the heart. I should...but I didn't. Not anymore.

Yusuke darted off to catch up with Hiei. I lagged behind, sweat dripping down my brow. I coughed, throat dry. My body was burning. But I kept my mouth shut and pushed myself ahead. My pride might kill me someday, but I couldn't show anymore weakness in front of them. Hiei already considered me a liability.

I knew why his positive outlook on me was so important. I denied it over and over. I didn't need his approval. I didn't need to bend and break for him.

But those feelings I'd been harboring for him - the ones I kept locked in a tight little box near my heart - they made me irrational. They made me wish for things I couldn't have. No manner of stubbornness on my part would get him to see me in a different light.

I was fighting a losing battle.

But I just wasn't ready to give up. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Once again, I thought about how stupid I was. After all my years of fooling around and pushing people away I was now stuck in the same boat.

Karma was truly a cold hearted mistress. And I'd become her bitch.

. . .

It was late, the two moons had risen long ago. We had stopped for the night, making camp in a relatively hidden clearing amongst a forest. It was eerily silent here. It made chills run up and down my spine. I would not get any rest this night either, it would seem.

So I offered to take first watch. Yusuke had protested at first but I'd promised to scream like a banshee if anything seemed off. Hiei hadn't said a word, just flickered off to settle into some tree.

Now here I was, sitting at the edge of camp. I was curled into a ball, arms wrapped around my knees.

Even though the weather during the day had been mild...it had grown cold as the night had waned. It sucked that my warmer clothes had been destroyed. I would have to "procure" some if given the chance. Because the tank, jeans, and boots I was wearing weren't going to cut it.

I coughed, doing my best to muffle it with my knees.

It had started to worsen as the day drew on. I was definitely sick, there was no pretending otherwise at this point. I knew my shivers had less to do with the chill in the air and more with the fever I was sporting. The cough was raw and ragged. My stomach hadn't stopped twisting since that morning.

I'd hidden it from the other two, for the most part. But now I was alone and had nothing to keep my mind off the ache in my body.

"You're ill."

The sudden sound of his voice made me stiffen. I hadn't heard him come up behind me. Hell, I hadn't even heard him jump down from his branch above camp.

A cough rose up my throat again. I clamped my mouth shut, refusing to give myself away. It made my shoulders shake and I was sure I looked like an utter moron. But I didn't want him to see. I didn't want him to think any less of me.

I heard him growl in annoyance, "Woman, there is no point hiding it."

I cleared my throat and curled in on myself further. "Oh, now you want to talk to me?"

A hand wrenched my shoulder backwards, forcing me to turn and look at him. Those red eyes assessed, quickly, efficiently. His lips pursed into a thin line. "You're burning up."

I laughed. "I guess you'd know, wouldn't you."

"Why did you hide it so long?"

I wrenched away from him and stood to my full height. I stumbled but righted myself before he'd have the chance to help me. I hated being so weak in front of him.

I had never doubted my strength or doubted myself more ever in my life. But then he came. He walked into my life - into my very soul - and messed everything up. It was never meant to be this way.

"Answer me, woman!"

"Stop calling me that!" I said through clenched teeth. I was angry. But I didn't want Yusuke involved in this. The less he knew the better.

I swayed on my feet and Hiei took a step towards me, but I sliced an arm through the air between us. Even with my contacts in my vision had begun to blur around the edges. I didn't have the energy to fight with Hiei right now. I needed to conserve the little I had left for tomorrow.

"You're being a fool," he said.

"What else is new, " I snapped back. I shuffled further away from him, looking in the opposite direction. "I think I heard a stream nearby. Think I'll go take a bath."

I began to wander further into the forest, away from camp. But the fire demon was hot on my heels. I found the riverbank easily enough, but the water was less than desirable. It was murky and an odd greenish color. I began to strip out of my clothes anyway, my chills replaced with an unbearable heat.

"Stop." Hiei had grabbed my arm as I went to shuck my pants. "Enter that water you'll come out sicker than before."

"Why do you care?"

"I do not wish to drag your carcass around afterwards."

I'd never wanted to hit him more than in that moment. Why? Why was he always so cold? He didn't like to associate with his affinity for ice, but it was there. It was there in the set of his face and the chill to his words and the ice in his eyes. He was every bit as much an ice apparition as he was a fire demon, even if he refused to see it.

My train of thought was derailed when he wrenched me forward, away from the water. He kept one hand wrapped tight around my arm so I couldn't flee. The other ripped the bandages from my shoulder, where Konstantin had torn out a chunk of my flesh.

The bite of the air made the wound flare to life with a searing pain. And then came the smell. It was not so much different from the air around us...but fresher. The smell of infection - of rot. I gagged, turning my face away.

"How did you not notice this?" Hiei snarled.

I'd had too much on my mind. And I'd paid for it in spades. I had tended to the wound as best as I was able, but it hadn't been good enough. I hadn't even changed the bandages in days. I cursed myself, studiously ignoring the incredulous look Hiei was giving me.

"You've done nothing but slow us down," he continued, each word slicing me straight to the bone.

"I never meant to…" I said on a pathetic whisper.

He sighed, his eyes shielded, and said, "I know."

Then he tugged at my arm, pulling me away from the river but not back towards camp. "Come," he said.

I stumbled along behind him, doing my best not to trip over tree roots or get tangled up in underbrush. It only took a few minutes to reach his destination, but to me it had seemed like hours. I was glad I hadn't eaten much these past few days. I would surely have upchucked it all by then.

Hiei dropped my arm and crouched amongst the grass and wild things. He plucked and pulled at different specimens, until he had a handful of greenery. Then he rose and turned to me, holding his fist out. "Eat it."

I curled my lip at him, "No."

"Do as I say, or that infection is going to kill you."

I didn't feel that sick. I was sure he had to be exaggerating...but left untreated, there was the chance that it could. If it traveled to my bloodstream I'd be screwed. No amount of plants would save me then.

So I took the herbs begrudgingly, picking at the muted purples and greens and yellows. I felt Hiei's glare warm the side of my face. With a great sigh I shoved as much as I could fit at once into my mouth.

Of course I choked, like an idiot. Which caused a coughing fit. Which in turn made me spit out most of it.

I knew the fire demon's patience was on a short leash. But he collected more of the herbs anyway, and offered them to me again.

This time I ate them without issue. I made faces the entire time at their awful taste, but I chewed and swallowed without complaint.

"Good," he said. He pulled a skein of water from beneath his cloak and held it out. I took it, eyeing him as if he'd grown two heads.

He wasn't exactly being nice...but he wasn't being cruel either. So I drank my fill and then handed the skein back, half-full. He nodded in approval before turning back to pick more of the heinous greens.

"Oh god, don't make me eat more."

"Not tonight," he replied. But it was left unsaid that tomorrow - and probably the next day - I would have to.

I cringed at the thought, but was thankful for his help. I would never have known what was safe to eat here and what wasn't. Let alone how to make a mixture that worked similar to an antibiotic.

Hiei once again grabbed my arm and pulled me back towards the river, where the two moons were brightest, the canopy of trees not so thick.

He forced me to sit at the riverbank and then left me there. He was gone only a moment and had returned with two flat rocks, one larger than the other. He used these to crush up more of the herbs, added sand and water to the mixture, creating a paste. He pulled the strap of my tank away from my shoulder and smeared a thick layer over Konstantin's bite.

I couldn't help the blush that rose up my freckled chest to bloom across my cheeks. Hiei took notice of it as well, eyes traveling up my chest to my face, making me blush all the harder.

He said nothing, only pulled a roll of bandages from his pocket. He proceeded to wrap the wound, making the bandages tight but not painfully so. When he was finished his fingers lingered just a bit longer than they needed to, before falling away.

There was a beat of silence...and then, "Go back to camp. Rest."

"But - "

"Do as I say!"

I bit my tongue. It was against my nature not to fight back, but I did, if just this once. He'd helped me. I at least could give him the courtesy of keeping my mouth shut.

I rose from the ground, whispering a thank you to him before leaving.

"Kasumi." The sound of my name spilling from his lips made my eyes dip closed. I was glad I had my back to him. "Do not hide things...anymore," he finished.

I swallowed hard, a lump having formed in my throat. I nodded stiffly and then began my trek back to camp.

I had no idea what to do with Jaganshi Hiei. And as I curled into my bedroll - having woken Yusuke for second watch - I knew I never would. He threw me for a loop every encounter we had.

I think it was high time I started doing the same for him.

. . .

A/N: Sorry this is mostly filler, but I needed these Hiei/Kas scenes to start building on their relationship once again. I never had it planned for them to just suddenly fall madly in love. Hiei doesn't work that way and neither does Kas. Even though she's aware of her feelings she's also aware Hiei would not find her a worthy mate. She needs to be stronger - mentally and physically - before he'd consider something like that. She isn't as dumb as she acts. Anyway, thank you for reading!