A quick chapter about her day to day life rather than the over-arching plot line. I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for all of the support and for reading this story! :)

Kazuma's incessant chattering was just a tad more irritating than it normally would have been. My mind was focused solely on the house of four dimensions and the boys inside. They would kidnap Yusuke to get them to the house and then Kazuma would be taken and replaced with Yana to test Yusuke. I was a little disappointed in the lack of creativity the boys were coming up with, but Genkai was a genius with how she turned the simplicity of their ideas into reality, made them tangible so that the team would never guess the ulterior motives.

"Ella?"

"Hm?"

"Are you even listening to me?" Kazuma demanded, turning to glower at me.

"I'm sorry Kazuma. I was lost in thought." I sighed, shifting my grip on my backpack. It was going to be difficult getting through an entire day of school when everything was happening in just a few short hours.

"You're always spacing out and crabby lately. What's going on?" He put his arm out to stop me and crossed his arms, inspecting me. "Are you not sleeping again?"

"Not well." I confessed. "The energy is so strange lately, it's just been keeping me on edge. I'll be fine." He didn't look convinced, narrowing his eyes at me again. I touched his shoulder and rubbed it lightly. "I promise, Kazuma. Now come on, I have to get to school for a meeting with my dance instructor."

"I have to meet Urameshi anyway. Gotta talk to him." He shrugged, trying to act manly and tough. He didn't usually puff his chest around me. The fact that his powers had receded to strengthen for the upcoming battle was taking its toll on his self esteem. I sighed, nudging him with my shoulder and slinging my arm around his waist, smirking when he stiffened like he always did when someone touched him.

"Everything is going to be alright, cous. You'll see." I promised him leaning into him and refusing to let go until he wrapped a reluctant arm around my shoulders and cleared his throat. There was little else that made me feel better than to make my silly cousin feel uncomfortable.

When Kazuma dropped me off at the front gates like usual, I made my way immediately to the gymnasium. Mrs. Tanaka had come from Meiou to start preparations on the gymnasium for our 'competition' with a few of the other schools. Because we weren't the competitive team, our competitions were unofficial and mostly for the potential of additional funding that usually went to Tomioka and Yoko Oginome apparently, with a few other contenders in the mix.

We chatted for a few minutes about where we should set up for practice and where the judges would be, as well as the audience. Competitions here were different than in Italy. I utilized the rest of my free time writing to my mother, telling her all about school and how I was practicing martial arts while I was here. I was as honest as I could be without telling her everything and beyond. When I got home I would add the pictures I had taken recently of everyone together, so she could have names to all of the faces.

I raised my head from my paper, staring at the wall. With so much going on and so little free time in the last few months, I hadn't realized how much I missed her. I thought of her every day, wrote her letters every week and tried to call as often as I could, but it hadn't dawned on me just how much I truly, honestly missed her presence, her smell, her laugh.

I wiped a stray tear from my eye and looked up at the sudden presence next to me. "Hey Hiei."

"Why are you crying?" He demanded, eyes narrowed and inspecting me for injuries that would cause my tears. I smiled despite myself, tucking my letter back into my bag and crossing my legs at the ankle.

"I'm just thinking about my mom." I confessed. "I wish she could come to our rehearsal to see how much we've improved, but she can't just fly to another continent every time one of her children has an event. She would never get off the plane."

"I never had parents." He sneered, tucking his hands into his pocket. "I was thrown off a cliff when I was a baby. I willed myself to live only to sate my thirst for vengeance."

I stared at him. Blinked. Opened my mouth. Closed my mouth. There was NO way I heard that right.

"I'm sorry, did you just say you were thrown over a cliff?"

"Hn." He turned his head, staring off into the distance. I glowered at him. I hated when he would give me snippets of his life like this to shut me out.

"Well, there are a lot of questions I'm going to need answered at some point, but I didn't mean to insinuate that my life was horrible or anything. I was just answering your question."

"Life is full of hardships, and pain comes in many forms. You need to learn to beat it before it consumes you." He paused, and said so quietly that I almost missed it completely, "As it did me."

I bit my lip, conflicted on how this all made me feel. He disappeared before I could say anything, and I was left sitting there to ponder his words. I was torn between annoyance and burning curiosity. It felt like he was trying to open up, but he couldn't find the ability to completely open that door, and it felt impossible in moments like this to make him know that I wanted to know everything about his past, his life. But it was too 'human' to expect with the way he acted.

I closed my eyes, reminding myself that Hiei wasn't human. He didn't know what to expect, or how to hold a reasonable conversation, or how to react to things I thought were obvious points of getting to know one another. I knew he wouldn't get personal like this with most other people, so I needed to continue to be patient. This would pass. I just needed everyone to get through this alive, and Hiei and I would have a lifetime to figure this out.

Until then, I would just have to deal with everything as it came.

The bell rang, and I threw my bag over my shoulder, hopping down to my classes. It felt like I was losing my mind by the time I was allowed to leave, and I had to intentionally avoid my teachers so I could get to the gymnasium for some practice before I headed out to the house with Genkai and her new protégé's. My heart wasn't in it, which was a huge problem, but luckily I could get away with fixing problems with the routine. I was so impressed, so proud, of how far we had come. I wasn't sure we would win by any means, but I was so happy with the progress we had made. They couldn't do basic footwork or balance on a beam when I met them, and now?

"Ella, you want to come with us to get some food?" Aoi wondered, pulling on her cardigan in the locker room.

"I actually have to help some friends tonight, but I would love to next time." I politely declined, grinning at the idea that I was actually being invited to something. Everything really was changing.

Maybe this was a sign that not every change to come would be so negative.