Last Time on Spoils of War: Mîra executes her part of the plan but lands in a necromancer's trap. With Kuwabara's help, the trap is disarmed and she realizes she does not like the person she has become. Mîra vows to change herself and resolves to protect and forgive Minoru, like the rest of his family.

In this third part, both groups reunite and finish thier quest to find Minoru.

Chapter 52: House of the Rising Sun

Part 3: Homecoming

As Hiei ran to the bunker, Ryuji guided him along, disarming any traps along the way, and giving him a status update on what was going on outside.

Ryuji let out a low whistle into the comms. "The entire left side of the building is on fire. Like massive fire. This building should be thick enough that it doesn't matter but still, Ba-chan did a number on them."

Hiei pressed the device in his ear as he continued along the corridor. "Any sign of Mîra?"

"Not yet, but it's hard to see the tree line along the west side with the fire. But I'm keeping watch, don't worry," Ryuji assured him. When Hiei reached the bunker, the laser turrets in the top corners of the hallway were still on.

"Don't worry, those are under my control. Let me just—oh. Uh, opening the door is going to take a second, hang on."

Hiei darted in front of the large thick doors and leaned against the wall, waiting. He didn't see any reason why Koku couldn't just blast through. What was the point of sneaking around anyway? While he waited, Hiei once again opened his Jagan, searching for Mîra. The thick white mist clouded his vision. Hiei pushed himself harder to try and see through the mist, but it was to no avail. Hiei was seriously beginning to worry. If the mist was clouding his vision, then what was it hiding in the forest?

"Okay, I'm getting the door open," Ryuji said in his ear. As he spoke, the metal frame began to groan as the large doors slowly began to move. Hiei slipped through the doors before they were fully open and descended the staircase. The bunker didn't seem to far beneath the ground and soon, Hiei was in front of a door.

He pressed the ear piece. "Can you hear me?"

"There's some static, but, yeah, I can hear you. I'm digging through some old files now trying to see if there's any information from a year ago in here."

"And Mîra?" Hiei asked apprehensively.

"Nothing yet. But it's getting close to her rendezvous time."

Hiei didn't respond. Mîra was capable of handling herself just fine, there was no need to worry about her. He needed to focus on Minoru who was either behind this door or gone. Hiei did a quick scan with the Jagan and he didn't see or sense any traps, so he opened the door.

The door led to a smaller room that had a kitchen, living room, and a hallway that led to a back area Hiei could not see. There was another set of large metal doors on the far side of the room. Sitting on the couch was a familiar tall, thin demon with thick tan skin and long, shaggy brown hair. He sat lazily, his arms propped up on the top of the couch and his legs were crossed on the coffee table. He was watching a drama on the television, and he was the only being in the room. The lack of Minoru's presence was unsettling.

"So, you're finally here," the demon drawled. He turned his head towards Hiei, his cat like eyes glinting.

"Yasuo, where's Minoru?" Hiei demanded. He didn't particularly like Minoru's second in command. He always felt the demon was weak and an annoyance to his nephew. But the two of them started running the streets together and so when Minoru rose to prominence in Tokyo's underground, so did Yasuo. But Yasuo was nothing more than some trash D class demon. At least, he was the last time Hiei checked.

"Tch, as if I know or care. He up and left with Mei Lin and so I took over," he responded breezily, still focused on the television in front of him.

It was a lie, of course. Hiei didn't say anything and he swept the room again with his Jagan. There was an odd presence, in the far corner. It was familiar in a way, but it had been a long time since he felt anything like it—the sensation of something there, but not there. Something that belonged and stood out at the same time.

Hiei shifted his gaze back to Yasuo, who was now eying him lazily. It was a pretense, Hiei could sense Yasuo's increasing fear with each minute that passed. Hiei thought back to Boton's report on the high turnover within the gang. Then, things seemed to click into place.

Hiei narrowed his eyes and asked, "How long have you been in charge?"

Yasuo smirked at him and it took all of Hiei's will power not to slice his head off right then and there. "A year, or more. I was starting to think you would never figure it out." He got to his feet and tucked his hands into his pockets, walking around the couch and putting distance between the two of them. He stopped near a table.

"Is Minoru dead?" Hiei asked.

Yasuo's appeared laziness didn't falter, but he did seem annoyed as he spoke. "I told you, he just up and disappeared. I wanted to kill him, to make sure there would be no interference with me taking command." He shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't matter though. I've already told Kitigaya that you're here. He'll launch an assault on your pathetic home and you won't be there to defend it."

Hiei's fists clenched at his side. So, it was coup. Hiei suspected this was a possibility based on Boton's findings. The timing made sense. Minoru disappeared and Yasuo removed any of Minoru's supporters, replacing them with his own men. "You were companions, partners, and you betrayed him," Hiei said in a low growl.

Yasuo laughed bitterly, and his eyes glinted darkly. "Betrayed him? He's the one who started to refuse my ideas and humiliate me when I tried to grow our sphere of influence. He didn't want anything to do with the demon realm. Then, of course, he stole Mei Lin from me, despite Mei Lin being a demon herself! But no, that wasn't it. The final straw is when we were offered the opportunity of a lifetime—to partner with the next demon king in exchange for providing resources to feed his army. Minoru shot it down in an instant, embarrassing all of us, tarnishing our own name." His nostrils flared as he growled, "Minoru was weak. He was easy to lure here, and it was easy to take everything from him."

Jealousy over his pitiful existence. Hiei knew his nephew was far superior to this trash, but, for the moment, he was interested in something else Yasuo said. "Who was the idiot who promised he was going to be the next king? Kitigaya?"

Yasuo glared at Hiei. "All he had to do was assassinate the elf bitch claiming to be queen. According to the rules, he would automatically become king after her death because he was stronger than her."

Hiei let out a dark laugh. "You're more than a fool than I thought. You don't know anything about how the kings rule because you haven't been home in a long time. Assassinated kings are avenged, their killers hunted and put to death. Then the tournament is held again to pick a new king." Yasuo looked panicked now and he took a step back as Hiei's eyes glinted at him malevolently. "Kitigaya would never become king. If his assassination attempt succeeded, I would have made sure to rip him from limb to limb after I grew tired of him being sufficiently tortured. Then Yusuke, Kurama, and myself would have come here and killed you for working with him in the first place."

Yasuo tried to steel himself and pretend he was unaffected by Hiei's words, but Hiei saw through him easily. "So you say," Yasuo barked. "But even though Kitigaya's attempt failed, mine won't."

Hiei smirked at him. "Oh? And what kind of half-baked plan could you possibly have that would kill my Queen? You're so weak, she can destroy you with a mere glance."

But Yasuo only gained confidence in his words as he smirked back at Hiei and replied, "Who said anything about me killing her directly?

A chill went down Hiei's spine. The forest covered in mist, where Hiei's Jagan could not see. That must be Yasuo's handiwork. At seeing Hiei's change in demeanor, Yasuo laughed. Then he began making motions with his hand. Mist began to form next to him and a figure began to form. No, not just any figure. Hiei stared as Mîra's form began to shape in front of him.

She seemed to be unconscious but she was hurt. Thick ropes tied her bare forearms above her head and her white hair hung about her limply. Silver blood streaked down her cheek and Hiei followed the trail down her body. The black blouse was tattered and ripped so her breasts were partially exposed. The fabric of her pants was ripped and torn in several places and her feet were bare and looking raw, as if her feet were dragged along the floor.

Yasuo approached her and took her chin in his hands roughly, jerking her to look at him. Her eyes opened slowly and then darted around the room frantically. Landing on Hiei, they went wide.

Through the comm device in his ear, Hiei heard Ryuji crackle in through static. "- Ba-ch-!"

"Hiei! Help me!" she whimpered.

Yasuo tightened his grip and she whimpered in pain. "He can't help you. You're mine and I'm going to kill you."

"Hiei, please!" she begged and Yasuo backhanded her across the face.

"Insolent wench!" Yasuo spat as she began to cry.

Ryuji crackled in his ear again. "—Ba-chan—leave—help her—"

Scowling, Hiei grabbed the device out of his ear and tossed it aside. He didn't need Ryuji's babbling interfering with the situation. While Ryuji was able to view the bunker through the monitor, he wasn't able to see what Hiei was able to see.

Yasuo picked something up from the table and Hiei recognized it as a tablet. "You think you have control of my defenses," he said coolly. He made a few taps on the screen. "Well now I have them back." He tossed the tablet on the table without looking and drew a dagger from his belt. Holding it up to Mîra's neck Yasuo grinned gleefully at him.

Up above there was a loud rumbling noise, but Yasuo took no notice. "I know you're lying about the rules. Once I kill your precious mate, I'll be king. I've already handled your nephew. Aren't you going to stop me from touching your mate?"

Another rumbling sounded above them. Frowning, Hiei glanced up. Then he looked over in the corner at the anomaly. The gears kicked into place in Hiei's mind. Of course, everything made perfect sense now. All he had to do was wait for Mîra. She undoubtedly would be cross with him if he eliminated Yasuo before getting the chance to talk to him herself.

Hiei merely crossed his arms and said, "Do it. I don't care."

Yasuo balked at him. "What?!" he demanded. He pressed the knife harder into her neck and she cried out.

"Hiei, please, you love me! I thought we were going to be together!" she implored.

"You heard me," Hiei smirked, ignoring the woman's pleas. "Slit her throat. Do it." Yasuo just stared at him baffled, and Hiei wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness and weakness of his opponent.

Even if Hiei wasn't able to see through the obvious illusion, which he did, his Vesse would never speak to him that way. Even if she was imprisoned or captured, Mîra would either taunt her captors, reminding them of their inevitable demise, or simply smirk at Hiei and tell him she didn't need his help. She was too strong and prideful to simply beg him for help and to simper like a damsel.

The area above him began to shake as another loud boom sounded from above. Hiei began to casually move to the side, knowing what was about to come. He needed to keep Yasuo distracted until his real mate appeared.

"You said Minoru was weak. Seems like you're the weak one to me. Minoru always followed through on his threats," Hiei taunted.

Yasuo began to sputter more empty threats and nonsense but it didn't matter. The ceiling shook one last time and Hiei darted to the far side of the room just in time as the ceiling of the bunker busted open. Debris and concrete chunks fell to the ground and created a brief cloud of dust. Hiei glanced over at Yasuo and noted that the image of fake-Mîra was now gone, and Yasuo was cowering behind the table.

It didn't take long for the dust to settle and relief spread through him as he watched Ryuji jump down into the bunker, with Mîra right behind him.

It was clear that Mîra was fighting from her various scrapes and scratches, but it was the glowing confidence of her visage that made Hiei stop in his tracks, mesmerized. He recalled the first time she appeared this way to him, full of pride and backed by her strength and ruthlessness. That first time was when the team set out to take care of Hideki and ran into another elf. The way her arrogance and confidence radiated from her was, at the time, frustratingly attractive.

He didn't think it was possible to experience that first-time reaction again, the shocking yet resolute emotions unwinding in him as, this time, he recognized the feeling and the moment. He needed her to look at him that way, haughty and arrogant so he could push on her pride while she pushed back. He needed their tug of war, to push and pull back and forth until the lines were blurred and all that was left was them intertwined together.

Smirking, Hiei spoke as he approached them. "Took you long enough. Didn't I advise you not to have too much fun?" he quipped lightly.

Mîra's eyes glinted at him. "You know me, I love to make an entrance."

"It was awesome!" Ryuji exclaimed. "The best part was smacking that guard with a wall of dirt!"

Mîra's smirked, amused. "Well, while I was quite incredible, as always, it was your idea to just keep digging for the bunker top. It turned out to be much shallower than we expected, and going straight down was much faster than running all the way around, especially since the automated defenses turned back on."

Ryuji gave her a lopsided grin. "Yeah, but you're the one who blast through it!"

"Tch, so she can blast through walls but I can't?" Hiei huffed.

"Yeah, well, by this point the stealth game is up," Ryuji shrugged. "Not like you would have known anyway, since you didn't respond when I told you Ba-chan appeared out of the woods and I was going to go help her kick ass."

Oh, so he hadn't been commenting on the illusion. Mîra's attractive gaze lingered on Hiei for a moment before turning to the cowering Yasuo in the corner.

"That doesn't look like your nephew. Why haven't you killed him?"

"I was waiting for you," Hiei responded fluidly. "He tried to conjure a poor impression of you. It was pitiful, whimpering like a coward, as if that was enough to fool me," Hiei snorted disgustedly.

"Well, I would not expect you to fall for such a debased trick," Mîra replied haughtily, her lavender eye catching his. Their gazes locked and Hiei felt the old, familiar, and welcome spell wash over him that caused his breath to stop and desire to flow through him.

"Hey, is that Yasuo?" Ryuji asked quietly, pulling Hiei out of the moment. His relaxed demeanor was gone, replaced with a seriousness that Hiei had only experienced a handful of times.

"Yes, he-"

"He betrayed Minoru. Launched a coup. The whole thing was recorded," He said calmly.

"He is also in league with Kitigaya, who was behind the assassination attempt," Hiei added. He turned to Mîra. "I thought you may want to speak with him before he cut his head off."

Mîra's expression darkened but it was Ryuji who stepped forward. "I think I'm going to handle this, if you don't mind." Mîra frowned and looked at Hiei, but he ignored her. He nodded at Ryuji and the boy nodded back solemnly. "Thanks."

Mîra turned to Hiei concerned but he gave her a warning glance. She didn't know the history between the boys. While Ryuji wasn't close to Yasuo, he did know him well enough that this was a serious grievance. Ryuji always acted like an older brother to Kuwabara's children, Minoru most of all.

Ryuji walked up slowly to Yasuo, who scrambled to his feet. "I always had a bad feeling about you. I knew you would eventually betray Minoru. He was far better than you, could see much further than you, and I knew you hated him for it, even though he treated you like a brother!"

Before Yasuo could respond, the young Urameshi darted towards the demon and socked him in the jaw with a mean right hook. Yasuo went flying into the wall and made a dent, but it wasn't enough to knock out the demon.

Yasuo spat out blood. "You know nothing. You're just a weak half-bred like Minoru! Demons will rule this land, one way or another. Kitigaya will see to it!" He made a motion with his hands and white mist began forming around him. Ryuji started towards him, ignoring the mist.

"The necromancer!" Mîra seethed. "He has defiled my ancestors!" her hands clenched into fists but she made no move towards Yasuo. "Though apparently this is not my battle to fight," she snarled.

Hiei frowned. "This was the same mist I saw when trying to locate you with the Jagan," he pressed.

"Yes, I dealt with this in the forest," she snapped. "There were reanimated ghosts and skeletons, but I was able to handle it." She paused and her visage relaxed as she gave him a small smile. "With some help."

"Whose?" Hiei demanded, but Mîra shook her head. Evidently, she was going to keep what happened in the forest a secret, for now, anyway.

Meanwhile Ryuji was enveloped by the fog and Mîra tensed beside Hiei, but then the mist was billowed away, revealing Ryuji encased in a spiritual aura. Yasuo screamed and tried to attack him but Ryuji simply landed another punch. Then another and another until purple blood began spouting from Yasuo's nose.

Ryuji paused for a moment, his purple-bloodied fist raised. In the pause Yasuo must have said something quietly so that only Ryuji could hear, because it pissed off Ryuji enough that the final punch knocked out the demon cold. Ryuji stood over the unconscious body breathing heavily, his fists clenched and glowing with Reiki.

Mîra stood next to Hiei closely, her eyes narrowed in concern. "He cannot continue," she whispered quietly. "It's not in his nature."

"He won't," Hiei replied. He hoped. He watched as Ryuji inhaled deeply and his hands slowly unclenched. He then made quick work of the demon by using spirit energy to bind his hands and feet. He gave Yasuo one last look and then turned back towards Hiei and Mîra.

"Well, I took out the trash. Koenma can deal with his ass. Now what?" He tried to joke lightheartedly, but it came out forced.

"Indeed," Mîra said, unamused. "How are we supposed to find Minoru now?"

"I already found him," Hiei said, his Jagan opening.

Hiei turned and marched towards the anomaly in the back. Mîra hung back, frowning. "I don't like this. It feels like…" her voice trailed so Hiei filled it in for her.

"The portal between our worlds."

"Oh!" Ryuji exclaimed, the realization hitting him. "Minoru hid in another dimension!"

On cue, a wooden door materialized into existence. The three of them stared at it for a long moment before Hiei approached the door. Carefully, he placed his hand on the knob, turned it, and flung the door open.

Minoru Kuwabara's face greeted Hiei as soon as the door swung open. His face had a gaunt, sunken appearance and it seemed like he was barely clinging to life itself. But there he was, tall and standing, with a black neko demon in his arms.

"It's about damn time," Minoru said gruffly. He stepped out of the dimension and as soon as the door closed behind him, Minoru's eyes closed and he sunk to the ground. Hiei caught him easily and Ryuji ran over, prying Mei Lin from Minoru's arms.

At last, it was over.

~*0*~

One of the things that Hiei enjoyed about working for Mukuro is that she despised pomp and circumstance. When there was an altercation, Hiei provided a verbal report and that was it. He didn't understand why Mîra needed to call a meeting in Gandara to repeat why the siege occurred, what happened at the siege, and what happened in the aftermath of the siege. Hiei knows what happened: the siege was progressing slowly despite Juuni slipping soldiers through the Windy Spirits, and once Hiei and Mîra showed up after rescuing Minoru, they helped break the line and snowball the fight ending in Kitigaya's death. Then Mîra, Yomi, and Mukuro cleaned up the mess. See? Done. Hiei didn't really care about the aftermath anyway, as long as everything was stable. He spent that time attending to Minoru with Yukina anyway. The month passed quickly as others visited the temple as well, and it was only Mîra's summons that brought him back to Gandara.

As Mîra began to drone on about rewards and titles, giving Juuni Kitigaya's compound as a reward of service, Hiei's thoughts wandered to the woman sitting next to him, specifically her hands. They were folded neatly on the conference table and he was still surprised to see them exposed, her gloves and her vanity cast away. The scars from the severe burns reminded Hiei of his failings but now they also reminded him of other things. On her left hand, she bore only one ring—the royal signet of Alyatavar. On her right hand were two rings. One was a silver band with multicolored stones that glimmered and gave off an ethereal aura around the band, but he didn't care about that one. He cared about the other, and it was his mother's teal hiruseki on her right hand that had his attention.

Mîra was wearing his ring. Their ring. He remembered when she asked him permission to set the jewel: "Such a lovely gem should not be hidden away. If this is the token of our marriage from you to me, let me show it to everyone proudly and declare that I am yours." When it arrived, he didn't think it would be a big deal to just slip it on her finger. But it was. He could feel the burden of the past and the weight of their unknown future and yet, he didn't care. She was his. A sensation of longing came over him as he wished her hands were under the table so he could reach out and touch them, feel her cool rough skin.

After a month of separation, Hiei still hadn't found a moment to be alone with Mîra. It was probably a good thing considering that Hiei still hadn't thought of a way to explain his feelings to Mîra. On his arrival, Hiei thought that he was out of time when he arrived to Gandara, but he was wrong. Mîra seemed different now. He couldn't tell exactly, but when she walked, body seemed lighter, less burdened. When she greeted him, it was genuinely warm, as if their conversation in the temple had never happened. Then there was the fact that she wasn't wearing her gloves. Hiei didn't know what to make of this shift, but he didn't have time to think about it anyway. Well, except now, during this boring waste of time.

He shifted as Mîra continued to talk next to him, knowing that sitting next to the Demon Queen and falling asleep at her meeting was a bad idea. Staring at the teal stone, his thoughts drifted towards possible romantic gestures. Maybe a picnic with some sparring? No, wait. Spar first, then picnic. With wine or Yoshi's ale. But where?

Mîra's hands flattened on the table and then pulled back, causing Hiei to glance up at her. She was staring at him expectantly, as if waiting for a reply. Hiei cast a quick glance across the room and realized that everyone was staring at him, noting the jaw slacked shock in Ryuji's face.

"You weren't paying attention. You have no idea what I just asked," Mîra said crossly, her lips pursing together.

Hiei sat up in his seat slowly. "No," he replied without looking at her.

"I said," Mîra started, her voice tinted with annoyance, "I am abdicating as Queen of the Makai and as the second runner up in the Tournament that it is only right that you succeed me as king."

Hiei turned to her, shocked, but her lavender eyes stared firmly back at him. Abdicate? Mîra mentioned that during their argument at the temple before they set out to save Minoru, but he forgot about it completely.

Abdicate… that meant she was free to do as she pleased. Suddenly, Hiei knew exactly what romantic gesture he wanted to give her. One appropriate for them, together.

"No," he said firmly. "I refuse."

Mîra drew back, visibly shocked as the table erupted into chaos. Roka and Juuni were on their feet yelling about something while Kirin argued with them. Shura began stating something about elves which prompted Ryuji to counter back loudly. Other demons began to stand and shout, pointing claws and youki escalating.

Mîra looked at Hiei, almost hurt, before turning her attention to the display in front of her. "That's enough!" she yelled, standing and slamming her hands on the table. The room quieted suddenly and all eyes went back to the elfin queen. She breathed deeply before speaking firmly. "It's clear that there's no protocol for this situation. The ideal scenario would be to hold another tournament but with the last one so close, most serious contenders are not prepared. I will accept suggestions for alternative solutions."

She lowered herself into her seat and stared expectantly at the table. After a silence, Ryuji spoke up. "We could elect someone. You know, vote?"

Mîra considered this for a moment. "Who would vote and when?"

Ryuji swallowed, clearly not expecting Mîra to like his idea. "Uh, well, now, right? I mean, someone has to be in charge and we're all here."

"I don't like this idea," Yomi stated. "It sets a poor precedent."

"I agree. What if this demon does not uphold the tournament rules?" Hokushin added.

"I am not opposed to a vote; however, this is a valid concern," Mîra said. "If we proceed with a vote, those nominated must be trustworthy enough to hold the tournament as planned in two years."

"If I may," Enki interrupted, "I think we can unanimously agree to those terms with one person. I think Yusuke should be king."

Yusuke blinked and frowned. "What?"

"I agree," Mîra said. "If you are in favor of installing Yusuke Urameshi as King of the Demon Realm-"

Yusuke shot up from his seat angrily. "Woah, woah, woah time out! Don't I get a say in this?"

"Of course," Mîra said smoothly, "but realize that if you reject then we will have to find another alternative which will likely be a rather lengthy and time-consuming process."

"Or you could just not give up being queen," Yusuke retorted.

"It's not giving up. It's common sense. Most demons hate me, even more so as their ruler. I know you wouldn't have experience in this but it is incredibly difficult to rule over a nation that despises you," she replied frankly. Despite her calm and unfazed demeanor, Hiei knew those words hit her harder than she let on.

Yusuke pondered, or likely pretended to ponder, the situation for a minute before he grinned mischievously. "Alight, I'll do it. But I'm not really king material, so I'm going to need a helper. Someone I get to choose no questions asked or arguments. Cool?"

"I suppose that's fair," Mîra said slowly. "Any objections?" At the long, silent pause, Mîra then continued, "That settles it then. All in favor of installing Yusuke as King?" Hiei raised his hand along everyone else in the room. "All opposed?" No hands raised. "That settles it. Yusuke you are officially King of the Demon Realm."

"Great!" he grinned. "This meeting is done. Jeeze, these are so boring."

"Your assistant? Who is that going to be?" Mîra asked quickly before too many demons could stand.

"Oh! Yeah, I'm picking you," Yusuke said, pointing at Mîra.

Mîra stared at him speechless. Only Yusuke could pull something like this and make it utterly amusing.

"Me? But the whole point of this was to-"

"Hey didn't everyone hear me? I said we're done!" Yusuke stated, grinning. Demons began to shuffle up and around. Mîra looked at Hiei as if he could offer an explanation when Yusuke began walking around the table towards them.

Looking like a child who outwitted his parents, Yusuke began, "Alright so here's what I need. There's a bunch of stuff that the king has to do that I don't want to do. So, you're going to do those things for me."

"Yusuke, I really don't-"

"Nope! I got to pick whoever I wanted, remember?" He grinned widely and Mîra's face fell into a controlled neutral look, but her eyes screamed how much she would have loved to hit him at that moment.

"Okay, fine. What kinds of things should I do?"

"I don't know. All of it I guess. Unless it's something REALLY important. Oh, and I'll help plan the tournament."

Mîra frowned. "All of it? You won't be doing anything?"

"Nope! Not if I can help it."

"So, I'm effectively you're regent. I'm ruling in your stead."

"That sounds perfect. Regent. Love it. Great, with that done, I promised Kaneko I'd take her out tonight so see ya later!" With that Yusuke, darted out the room before Mîra could even begin to protest.

"No, Yusuke, wait! I- regent- this is- this is ridiculous!" She exclaimed to Hiei. "What in the world is he thinking?"

"He probably isn't thinking," Hiei replied.

"Ugh, I know!" She looked around the room frantically. "Okay, I need to find Hokushin, there he is!" Turning to Hiei she suddenly reached out and grasped his hands. He sucked in a breath at the sudden cool touch against the heat of his hands. "Listen, I need to talk to you, privately, so wait for me, okay? I need to sort this mess out first."

"I'll wait," Hiei said and she looked relieved before walking over to Hokushin shaking her head. Hiei stared at her as she waved her hands, exacerbate, rolled her eyes many times, and finally resigned to her role, letting out a heavy sigh.

Hiei noted Ryuji coming up behind him but didn't move as he slung his arm around his shoulder. "Wow my dad is an asshole, hah! Figured out what you're going to do?"

"This role will be good for her. She needs to feel important, keep her hands busy," Hiei replied. "And yes, I do know. Do you?"

Ryuji sucked in a breath. "I think so. Maybe. I need to make sure she's not mad at me, you know?"

Suddenly Mîra turned to them. "Ryuji, come here," she snapped.

"What? Why? We're not in the-" Ryuji cut off as Mîra gave him a commanding, intimidating look.

"Yes, my lady, right away," he amended quickly and rushed to grab her tablet off the table and over to her.

Hiei turned as Kurama sat next to him. "She's taken him under his wing. That's good. What are your plans now?"

"I will return to the temple for a short while. Minoru needs me. In the meantime, I need your help finding a place," Hiei replied, turning to his friend.

"What kind of place?" Kurama asked, curious.

Hiei cast a glance at his wife, who, in her acceptance, resumed her confident, authoritative air. "It's in the human realm."

Kurama raised his eyebrow, unsure, but then smiled. "I see. Tell me more."

Wow I can't believe I haven't updated this story since January! I'm so sorry! I have spent a lot of time thinking about this chapter and the next, final chapter of this story. I literally imagined and played out 4-5 different endings for Hiei and Mîra but I think I have for sure settled on one that I hope works.

Additionally, since I will be starting my PhD in a week and a half, I really want to finish this story before schools starts. Unfortunately that means that some of the Extras I wanted to add won't make it, since I haven't finished all the drafts yet. Specifically, I wanted one from Shizuru's POV where she looks back on her relationship with Mîra as she's watching the live feed from the compound. Also, I really wanted to write the moment where she does indeed punch Kuwabara from the Spirit World to the forest to help Mîra. It seems like something she would do.

SOW Trivia: The original draft of SOW started with Mîra running away from home to escape an arranged marriage and was about her seeking refuge in Hiei's fortress. At the time, Shana, Maria, and Claudia were also characters within that story. Then, randomly, I thought "what if they hated each other? how would that relationship develop?" And that's how this version of SOW came to be.

SOW Trivia: In any AU scenario where Hiei is in Mîra's world, they never find their happy ending, and are always in opposition to each other since the demon and elven realms are never in alliance with each other. It's a painful, sadder love story because Mîra will never give up her throne to be with Hiei. In all real-world AU versions, they always breakup for a long period of time. This is usually resulting from the class disparity between them, as Mîra is incredibly wealthy and Hiei grew up on the streets. Despite their passion for each other, the other aspects of their relationship takes much longer for them to sort out, especially since Mîra as a warrior doesn't come into play.