Hiei cut down an apparition with his sword while Sayomi reaped another. They stood back-to-back with their weapons raised, waiting for another ambush. Hiei's Evil Eye was open and glowing. Though he was cut in several places, he didn't seem bothered.

Sayomi had switched to the infrared spectrum to spot the demons through the dim lighting. She saw a few up in the "branches" of the pillars. There were more hiding at ground level.

Hiei's just been using his sword. Sayomi spun the chain of her weapon in slow circles. Her sickle was in her other hand, ready to cut down any demon who came too close. I understand how fast he is, but is it really a good idea to not use his flames?

Stop worrying about me and focus on yourself. Hiei scolded her telepathically. You should be focused on your techniques rather than my condition.

We're supposed to work as a team. How can I not worry about you? Sayomi glared over her shoulder at Hiei. I know what you're trying to do, but that doesn't mean you need to hold back because of me.

"Now!" A dozen demons leapt at them from random directions.

They snapped out of their private exchange and dashed.

Hiei cut through eight of the demons with his sword. He sliced through each of them multiple times, then continued through the rest of his side of the room.

Sayomi twirled her sickle in a figure-eight motion to cut through two demons. She followed through with a vertical swing to take out the third. The fourth demon slipped through and tried to pierce her with his spear.

She used her aura to make her body incorporeal and his weapon passed through her harmlessly. Then she cut off his head with her sickle. If we can work together, then we can take care of this faster.

You need to master yourself before you even consider tag teams. He dashed behind pillars, cutting through more demons with his sword. Besides, these weaklings aren't worthy of flames if they can't handle this.

Sayomi scowled at the swordsman as she let her aura flow around her body. Fine. I'll use my aura. I just hope I can control it.

She turned her back on Hiei and stalked towards the demons in her side of the room. She pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and let her sickle hang down by her legs. Tails of shadow followed behind every swing. She glared under her bangs, her eyes turning just a little darker.

An ogre with a mace grunted and lifted his weapon. "Hunh! Insolent girl! Do you think you intimidate me?!"

Sayomi's step didn't falter.

The ogre growled and charged towards her with his mace raised to strike. Sayomi vanished in wisps of shadow. The ogre yelled, "Graaagh! Show yourself!"

Sayomi manifested below him and jumped up, cutting through him with her sickle. She quickly dashed out of the way as arrows struck the ground where she stood. She looked up and spotted a demon archer in one of the branches. Her eyes narrowed.

Another demon attacked her with a large halberd. She quickly dashed out of the way of his swing and used her chain to tangle his legs. Then she tugged the chain, pulling his feet out from under him. She cut the demon's throat and freed her chain.

She felt a sharp pain on her arm and checked to see that she was bleeding. She glared up at the archer. He pulled another arrow from the quiver on his back and notched it into his bow.

Before he could pull back and aim, Sayomi used her cloak to teleport behind the demon. The archer froze when he felt the cold steel across his throat. His breathing became shallow as sweat trickled down his skin. Before he could utter a word, she decapitated the demon and watched his body fall down to the floor. This shouldn't be necessary...

Hiei cut down three more demons then turned to check on Sayomi's progress. He watched her kill a demon archer and stare after its falling corpse. His eyes narrowed when he noticed her expression. He turned when a demon tried to attack him.

"Pay attention!" The demon ran towards him with green-tipped claws.

Hiei narrowed his eyes and cut off the demon's hands before slicing through the rest of his body. Before the body hit the floor, four more demons took his place.

"Dammit." He scowled as he got stuck fighting instead of checking on her.

Sayomi jumped down to the floor and landed with a roll. As she got back to her feet, she cut through a demon's legs, then pierced through his heart.

"Get her!" A demon shouted, pointing at her.

Sayomi let out a heavy sigh and jumped. She spun in the air, swinging her sickle around with her. A ring of darkness cut through the demons that tried to surround her.

When she landed in a crouch, she dashed from demon to demon. She used her sickle to cut down every demon in her way. As she moved, she left a trail of shadows and blood. Why do I have to kill them? What's the point?

As she cut down the last demon within immediate range, she looked around at the bodies littering the floor. Then her eyes wandered to her own bloody hands and weapon. Is this what it really takes to get stronger?

Hiei looked back to check on Sayomi and his eyes narrowed. The room looked much darker around her than it did on his side. "What is she doing?"

"You should worry about yourself, runt!" A demon appeared in front of him and kicked him in the stomach. "Ha ha ha! You didn't even see that coming!"

Hiei spat on the ground and smirked. "Heh. Is that all you got?"

"Oh, I was holding back." The demon raised his hand and beckoned Hiei forward. "You think you can keep up with my speed?"

"I guess we'll find out." Hiei dashed.

The demon chased after him.

As they ran, Hiei cut down other demons that stood in the way. The speed demon smirked and caught up to Hiei. As he kicked, Hiei's after-image disappeared. Before he could comprehend what happened, Hiei cut him down with his sword.

Hiei flicked the blood off his sword and was about to move on until he heard a chuckle behind him.

"Heh heh... You thought it'd be that easy?" The demon's wound quickly healed and he smirked at Hiei. "I'm not that easy to kill."

"Well then..." Hiei clenched his fist and ignited it with his aura. "It seems one of you gets to die by flame after all."

The demon grinned and ran through a horde of other demons. Hiei smirked and chased after him. As the other demons tried to get in his way, he cut them down with his sword or scorched them with his fist.

Eventually, Hiei dashed ahead of the demon and smirked. The demon's eyes widened as Hiei covered his sword in dark flames and struck him down. He scoffed at the burning body and extinguished the flame in his sword.

"Heh heh heh..."

Hiei turned when he heard sadistic laughter behind him. His eyes widened when he saw her laughing. "Sayomi?"

"Heh heh heh heh..." Sayomi licked the blood from her weapon and smirked under her hood. "This isn't so bad."

"Uh... guys. Maybe we should retreat," A gargoyle-like demon suggested.

Sayomi turned her wicked smirk on the demon and rested her sickle against her shoulder. She stalked towards him, in no hurry to kill him.

The gargoyle flinched at the look in her eye. As he tried to get away, his limbs were tangled in black chains. "Gah! What the hell is this?"

"Heh..." Sayomi vanished in her cloak.

"Where did she go?!" The gargoyle tried to break the chains with his strength, but they only constricted tighter. "Dammit!"

Sayomi appeared above him. She spun on her way down, swinging the sickle through his throat. "Too easy."

"Die!" A demon shot out a beam of light from his sword.

Sayomi smirked and spun the chain of her weapon to shield herself. As the ray of light clashed with her shady shield, she disappeared in the fog of darkness that was slowly consuming the whole room.

The demon ground his teeth and called out to the shadows. "Show yourself or I'll force you out of hiding!"

Sayomi stayed hidden as she swung her sickle in sweeping arcs. Black crescents of aura were released from all over the room. The demon swung his sword and met her shadows with his light.

"Ha! Is that all you got?" The demon smirked and raised his sword. "You don't stand a chance against the light, do you?"

Sayomi narrowed her eyes and melded together with the darkness. As she manifested behind him, she stepped on his shadow and froze him in place. "You can't use your sword if you can't move."

"Maybe not..." The demon started to glow with a bright aura. "But I don't need my sword to shed light."

Sayomi glared and wrapped her chain around his throat. The demon's airway was cut off abruptly and he started choking. "Ah! Hack!"

Sayomi's glare became a sadistic smirk as his light started to die out. "Just a little bit more..."

Then a flaming fist pierced through the demon's chest, killing him instantly. Sayomi's eyes narrowed as the body fell to the floor, revealing the one who stole her kill.

Hiei glared at her over the corpse. His eyes narrowed when he noticed her eyes were pitch black. "You need to calm down. It's just training."

"Heh..." Sayomi smirked. "So, this is the infamous thief, huh?"

"Hm?" Hiei watched her carefully.

"Heh heh heh..." Sayomi melded with the shadows. Her voice echoed around the fire demon. "My host has grown quite fond of you, thief. I guess it beats being scared, doesn't it?"

Hiei glared straight ahead, though his Evil Eye searched for her location. "So you're that thing she talks to in her meditations. I thought you were gone."

"Oh no." Sayomi smirked. "Quite the opposite actually."

"Explain," Hiei demanded.

"We're one and the same," Sayomi answered. "I just exist as a manifestation of her darker self. Sure, I was sealed away for a while, but now I'm free to take over when the host can't handle it."

"So you didn't fade." Hiei clenched his fist, his knuckles popping under the strain. "Who unsealed you?"

"The host." Sayomi appeared behind Hiei on silent feet. "When big brother Yusuke died, she couldn't handle the loss. She was overwhelmed with guilt and depression. That's when I took over."

Hiei turned to throw a flaming punch and hit nothing but air.

"Heh heh... Too slow, thief."

Hiei growled low in his throat. Then both of his fists ignited with bright flames, banishing the shadows around him. "So if I defeat you, she'll come back."

"Who knows?" Sayomi perched up high in a branch. She smirked down at Hiei and said, "She'll come out when she's ready to. I'm just doing what she can't."

Hiei smirked and licked his lips. Then he dashed up behind her and latched onto her wrists, burning them.

"Aaarrgh!" Sayomi tried to get free, but Hiei only tightened his grip. She growled and pushed into him, forcing both of them to fall to the floor. She landed on top of him with her knee in his abdomen, then got away.

Hiei coughed and rolled to his knees to catch his breath. He spat at the floor as he got to his feet. "You won't get a second hit."

Sayomi narrowed her eyes at him from afar. He's quicker than before. How did he find me? She noticed a dim violet glow that faded in and out of the darkness. Right. Forgot about that eye of his.

When he disappeared again, she instantly became shadow. Hiei passed straight through where she was standing. Heh... He can't touch me.

She solidified behind the thief and swung her sickle to decapitate him. She smirked. Then she gasped when she got pulled into a hold from behind. She was about to become shadow until Hiei used his flames.

"Grraaaugh!" Sayomi struggled to get free, but he only applied more pressure and heat. "Nnngh!" She ground her teeth and glared over her shoulder at him. "You bastard..."

Hiei matched her glare. "You've lost. Now return control to Sayomi."

"Tch. Weren't you listening?" Despite the pain, she smirked. "She'll come out when she's ready. Until then, you're stuck with me."

"Is that so?" Hiei's eyes narrowed as he smirked. He manipulated her arms until he was able to keep her in place with one hand.

"What are you doing?" Sayomi growled threateningly.

"She'll come, whether she wants to or not." Hiei put out the fire in his free hand and tugged the back of her hair, making her wince.

"Let me go, you bast—Ah!"

Hiei cut her off when he bit her ear.

Her eyes widened in shock. She tried to move away, but he growled and bit down harder. When she stopped struggling, he licked her ear.

Once certain she wasn't going to try anything, he leaned down to gently bite her neck. He smirked when she shivered. He tugged her hair again and came up to claim her lips.

Sayomi's eyes widened, the black fading back to normal. When she realized Hiei was kissing her, she closed her eyes and kissed him back.

Hiei growled. He put out his flame and let her arms go. He slid his arm around her waist and held her close as he deepened the kiss. Then he pulled away to let her turn in his arms and face him. He smirked when he saw her flustered expression.

"Um..." Sayomi blinked and averted her gaze. Her eyes widened when she saw the floor littered with bodies. "They're all dead?"

"You don't remember," Hiei observed. "Your Shade took over your body."

"What?" Her gaze snapped up to him. "But... my Shade is..."

"It said it was sealed away. Apparently, you broke the seal when Yusuke died. It took over back then, too."

"A seal?" Sayomi arched a brow in confusion. "I don't know about any seals. Yasuhiro said it was normal for my Shade to fade away as I got stronger."

"You probably don't remember," Hiei suggested. "As for your brother, his word is meaningless. Even you feel there's something wrong with him."

Sayomi let out a heavy sigh. "I guess you're right. I just wish..."

"You're not alone if that's what you're worried about," Hiei said. He stared down at her seriously. "And as for your Shade, you'll need to get over your sensitivity."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sayomi asked.

Hiei scowled at her ignorance. "Your sensitivity to death. Everything dies. It's part of the cycle."

"I get that, but..." Sayomi looked bit her lip as she tried to think of the right words. "I understand natural death, but I just can't handle actually killing so many just to get stronger."

"If you don't get over it, your Shade will keep taking over until it has complete control." He let her go and walked away to retrieve his discarded cloak. "You can't disassociate from yourself forever. You'll end up as broken as Sensui."

Sayomi scowled and glared down at the floor. Then she noticed her blood-stained clothes and weapon. Her eyes narrowed. I really did this? She clenched her fist as she took in slow breaths. If I don't do something about this soon, then how long will I last?

Hiei noticed her look and said, "They knew what they were getting into. If you didn't kill them, then they would've killed you."

"Maybe..." Sayomi stowed her weapon and crossed her arms. "Can we leave yet? I need to clean up."

As if on cue, the door creaked open. Mukuro walked in alone and glanced around the chamber. "I see you both survived this round."

"Finally," Sayomi muttered under her breath.

Hiei glared at the demon king and said, "If we're done here, then we'll be on our way."

"Leaving so soon?" Mukuro tilted his head. "I thought you enjoyed battle."

"How many demons did you sick on us this time?" Sayomi asked.

"You weren't counting?" Mukuro asked.

Sayomi glared. "I lost track."

"It was 250 A-Class demons," Hiei answered.

"250?!" Sayomi looked around at all of the bodies. How many did I kill?

"Though I didn't expect you to fight each other," Mukuro commented. "A lovers' quarrel?"

Before Sayomi could retort, Hiei said, "We spar each other regularly. It's not so unusual."

"Is that so?" Mukuro looked at Sayomi. "If you still have energy to fight each other, then maybe I'm being too lenient. I'll keep this in mind next time."

"We still get our three days to rest, right?" Sayomi asked.

"That was the agreement," Mukuro answered. "Did you want to continue straight to training?"

"Hell no. I need a shower." Sayomi scowled as she walked by Mukuro. "The sooner I wash up the sooner I can rest."

As Hiei was about to follow her, Mukuro said, "She's a keeper."

Hiei paused to glare at the tyrant. He was watching Sayomi leave.

"Though I wonder how much she can handle before she snaps under the pressure."

"Hn." Hiei closed his eyes and smirked. "It's nothing we can't handle."

Mukuro stared down at the swordsman. "You sound confident."

"I am." Hiei slipped his hands into his cloak pockets and walked out of the room. "Don't bother us for the next three days."

When Hiei got to their room, he heard the shower running in the bathroom. He removed his cloak and put his sword away. As he took off his shirt, the water shut off.

A minute later, Sayomi opened the door and stepped out in a towel. She froze when she realized Hiei was in the room. Then she blushed and averted her eyes. "Don't stare. I just forgot my spare clothes."

She quickly made her way to the chest to grab her clothes. Before she could make it back to the restroom, Hiei grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms. She blushed as they locked eyes. Without a word, Hiei leaned in and kissed her.

Sayomi dropped her clothes and wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss back. He held her closer and licked her lips, asking for entry. She parted her lips and he slipped in to tangle his tongue with hers. Then he let her go so he could use the shower.

Sayomi held onto her towel until she heard the water start. She took in a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. I don't know if I can get used to his spontaneity. And he always looks so serious when he does it.

Before she got too distracted, she quickly got dressed. "It'd be awkward if he came out and I was still indecent."

Once dressed, she picked up the towel and ran it over her head to dry it. If my Shade is really back, then why isn't she in my meditations? Is it the same for Yasuhiro? Did his Shade take over back then?

Questions raced through her mind and she gradually stopped drying her hair. Does it still take over now? Is that why he's so protective? Or does he even realize what's happening?

When Hiei stepped out of the restroom, he found Sayomi sitting on the bed with the towel over her head. He walked up to her and pulled it off.

Sayomi blinked and looked up. Hiei stared down at her with a towel draped around his neck. He smirked and said, "Messy wet hair suits you."

Sayomi scowled and tried to fix her hair. Hiei caught her wrist to stop her. He lifted her hand and turned it so her palm faced him. Then he leaned in to kiss her wrist, staring at her through his bangs. "What's wrong?"

Sayomi blushed, but she couldn't look away from his eyes. "I was just thinking... What if Yasuhiro is getting possessed by his Shade?"

"He has one, too?" Hiei asked. He sat beside her on the bed, but held on to her hand.

Sayomi nodded. "So did our mother. Though, everyone's personal Shade is different. It would make sense if he really doesn't remember, but..."

"When was the last time you meditated?" Hiei asked.

"It's actually been a while. I think before we came back to the Demon Plane."

"You should meditate for the next few days. Try to make contact with it."

Sayomi remembered the bodies in the chamber and the blood on her hands. "I don't know if I want to meet it after what happened."

"Hn." Hiei laid down on the bed and pulled her down with him. Then he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her from behind. "You need to claim dominance over yourself if you don't want to end up like your brother. I'll be monitoring you, so nothing will happen."

"Yeah... I know." Sayomi settled into his embrace and closed her eyes. I'm just not looking forward to it.