Don't get me wrong," Hiei said as we walked to the hospital. "I'm not doing this completely for you. I have some conditions in fact."

"Is that so, sir?" I asked warily, "and they are…?"

"You will answer any question I ask you truthfully to the best of your knowledge. And, after we're done visiting your brother, you will subject yourself to a small test of your abilities under my direction." Sheesh. The bloke didn't leave much room for argument. But, what could he do to me if I refused? Well, I didn't particularly wish to find out.

"Fine, fine, very well. You have yourself an accord, sir."

"First of all, why do you keeping calling me sir? It's annoying."

I laughed, "Well, if you find that irritating, you're just going to have to get over it. It's a habit I've had since before I can remember. I don't even realize when I'm doing it anymore."

"Fine. Well, it can't get any more annoying than Kuwabara, so I think I can handle it. Next, only the bodies of your mother, sister, and the demon were found in the ruins of your house." I flinched when he brought up the very subject I'd been rather hoping he'd avoid. But, I can't say I didn't expect it. "So, where's your father?"

I brought my left hand across my stomach to rest on my right side, where the scar was. "Well," I started, clearing my throat a little, "I'm sure you saw me in all my naked glory sometime when I was unconscious, right?" Hiei nodded. "You remember the scar here?" Another nod. "Well, two years ago, I was being driven back from the movies by my father. It was late at night, and we were both eager to get home. We were hit by a drunk driver that my dad didn't manage to avoid in time. I remember waking up days later, in a hospital, with this massive wound on my side. For the next few months, I don't remember much because they had to keep me mostly under anesthetics because of my injury. I do remember hearing someone say that my father was dead and that it was a miracle I wasn't dead as well. After I healed, my family was already mostly done with mourning. But they had to stay strong for me anyway. Or so my mother says. My father's job had paid so well that my mother had been able to be a stay-at-home mom. But now that he was gone, we had no income. My mother had been looking for a job when I was in the hospital, but to no avail. I had always been good with computers, so I taught myself hacking and became the bread-winner for my family."

Hiei took all this in patiently and with seeming interest. "Your life has been hard," he remarked simply.

"Can't be worse than what you've probably dealt with, sir." I said quite without thinking. Hiei gave me his amused, yet annoying superior look.

"You think that just because I'm a demon, my life has to be difficult?"

I flushed and stammered, ""That's not what I meant…" I stopping when I realized Hiei was laughing slightly.

"But it is the truth. My…Sister and I have had a rough life. I have had to continue to get stronger to protect her and her innocence, even though she didn't know I existed until a few years ago. And I'm not about to let anything break me." I was surprised that he had opened up so much. It was very uncharacteristic of him.

"You have a sister? Will I ever get to meet her?"

"If you hang around us long enough." His brow furrowed. "You know, I've never willingly told anyone so much about myself. I hate doing that. But for some reason, you're different. It's…Odd." He shook his head in confusion.

I was secretly joyful. It was obvious that Hiei didn't get close to people. I had never had any friends in school, so to have someone feel that way about me was really special. I know this sounded corny, but I could feel a bond between us growing strong, even if we had only known each other for a few days.

We walked along in silence for a minute or two, but I could tell Hiei was growing impatient. Suddenly -

"Brace yourself." Hiei said. Before I could react, he had swept me up into his arms and began to run, jump. But not at a normal speed. At the speed of light.

I cried out and clung tighter to Hiei. Although I didn't hear it, I felt a chuckle rumble through his chest. He was laughing at me!

"I want to show you something," Hiei called above the rush of the wind, "but it will be painful for you."

Seconds later, we stopped at a place I knew very well. The sidewalk in front of my house.

Except there wasn't a house there anymore, just like I'd suspected. It was a closed off lot full of charred rubble. Hiei and I ducked under the yellow Crime Scene tape to wander amongst the debris. I'm sure most of it had already been cleared away, but there was still quite a bit of it left.

I picked up a board of burnt wood. "How…Did this happen?" I had expected the house to have been torn apart by the demon, but not look like it had been burnt down.

"I think we have you to thank for that." I looked back at him in utter shock. "You remember those powers Kurama told you you were supposed to have?"

"You mean…I have the power of fire?" Hard to accept that I had done this.

"No. I have the power of fire. What I'm thinking you have is probably closer to home. Think, now. What has the capability of doing this that you are very familiar with?"

I paused, trying to figure that out. "Electricity?"

Hiei nodded. "Exactly. A strong enough electrical charge could blow apart a house like matchsticks."

"How do I use my powers the right way?"

Hiei shrugged casually. "Well I assume it's a lot like the power of fire. So I can teach you. Are you ready to leave?"

I nodded and a second later Hiei had picked me up and we were speeding off to the hospital.

Hospitals. After having spent months in one following the accident, I wasn't too fond of them. Still…

"Room 118, please," the desk receptionist said

…If it helped Tomosuke, then I couldn't really complain that much.

"Look," Hiei whispered to me, "try to avoid going to hospitals, especially if you're unconscious."

Expected rather a lot, didn't he? How could I avoid going to a hospital if I was unconscious? I wouldn't really have a choice. "Why?"

"Well," Hiei dropped his voice even lower as a nurse passed us, "you're not exactly human anymore, are you? And demons' bodies are a lot different than humans. Different enough that even someone with no medical knowledge whatsoever will notice. And then you might get sent off to be dissected by the government if anyone finds you out."

I swallowed nervously. "O-oh, sir? How so?

"Check your heart rate, for instance."

I frowned and pushed two of my fingers lightly into my neck under my chin, a place where I would be able to feel the pulsing of the blood through an artery. My frown deepened and I pushed a little harder. There was no heartbeat!

"I don't have a heartbe-" I stopped when I felt a strong thump underneath my fingers. I waited for a few seconds, but it didn't come again.

"The hearts of demons beat a lot slower than human hearts do. And with things like elements, where I have the power of fire and my sister, for example, who has the power of ice, our body temperatures correspond to that. Both of us could be considered clinically dead if a doctor took our body temperatures. Mine's far too hot. And my sister's is far too cold. Irregularities like heart rate and body temperature can be controlled by a demon after a lot of practice, but you can only control it if you're conscious. And it might be in vain if a doctor chose to take a closer look. The demon body is far too different from the human body."

We had reached the room. Hiei stretched out a hand towards the door handle, but the door opened before he could touch it. We both took a step back.

Yusuke and Kuwabara exited the room.

"Oh, hey guys," Yusuke said. "You didn't bring Kurama along?"

"Hn." Hiei snorted. His cold, slightly rude demeanor was back. I guess he could only bear to show his kind, gentle side to me and our redheaded housemate.

"How are you, Aya?" Kuwabara asked.

"Well, as good as anyone can be when they lose their sister and mother, have their brother in a coma, and somehow turned into something very inhuman, all in a couple of days." All three of the boys simply stared at me. I hadn't meant to make it sound so mean, but I didn't know what else to say.

"Anyways, we have other things to do, so if ya don't mind," Hiei strode past the other two boys. I hurriedly muttered a thanks, a goodbye, and followed Hiei.

Tomosuke didn't look so good. He was pale, and covered with bruises and scratches. He even had a few slight burns, probably a courtesy from me. He was hooked up to several different machines, all of which were beeping quietly in the background. Aside from all that, he looked just like he was sleeping.

He didn't respond when I carefully took his hand. "Tomo," I muttered, "I'm so sorry." I kissed him on the cheek. I was the only family he had left now. And he was mine. Or blood related, at least.

Hiei and I stayed in the hospital room a few minutes longer, Hiei waited patiently while I gently stroked the back of Tomosuke's small hand with my thumb. Finally, I let go of his hand and turned to Hiei, wiping my eyes.

"Shall we leave?" Hiei nodded and led the way out of the hospital.