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Chapter Two
Just Doing His Job

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Kurama lay the sleeping Rhys on his living room couch and covered her with a thick blanket. The group settled into the numerous chairs around the room: Kurama next to Rhys's feet, Yukina in a chair next to the couch, Hiei in an overstuffed chair, looking strangely at the sleeping girl, Yusuke and Kuwabara in the kitchen, and Botan nestling into a sagging Laz-E-Boy.

Kuwabara and Yusuke sauntered in slowly, looking depressed. "Can we order a pizza or something? I'm starved," complained Kuwabara.

"Look in the fridge, there might be something there," suggested Kurama.

Yusuke looked guilty. "We already did, and there's nothing."

Botan looked horrified. "Yusuke, you don't just walk into someone's house and raid their kitchen! Where are your manners!"

"It's ok, Botan," said Kurama, quietly amused. "My mother left on a business trip, so there's nothing to eat. You can order a pizza."

When the pizza arrived and every one had grabbed a slice, Yusuke took a giant bite or his pepperoni pizza and asked, "Showud'ya thingwe'sh oodoo wiher?"

"What was that?" asked Botan through hers and everyone elses giggles.

Yusuke reddened, swallowed, and then asked again, "So what do you think we should do with her?"

Everyone but Hiei glanced at the couch. "Get her another blanket, first of all. She's looks so cold," commented Botan. Kurama pulled another blanket from the closet and Yukina helped him cover Rhys again.

After a silence, Kuwabara said, "If the demons wanted her powers so badly, why were they sleeping?"

"We can only guess," said Kurama, looking at the girl's face. "Hiei, are you sure the demons were just sleeping?"

Hiei continued staring out the window into the dark night and replied, "Yes."

There was a sudden noise from the kitchen and Kurama looked up. "What was that?" asked Yukina fearfully.

"Don't worry, my love, I'll protect you!" said Kuwabara, as he, Kurama, and Yusuke hurried into the kitchen. Hiei just rolled his eyes. After a few moment's silence there was a cry, some thuds, then more silence. Yukina looked pleadingly at Hiei, who grudgingly got up and sauntered into the kitchen. He could immediately see the detective, teen, and kitsune unconscious on the floor.

His brow wrinkled in an uncharacteristic and rare show of his confusion until the creaking of the table caused him to look there. Sitting Indian-style was a red-eyed girl demon wearing black pants and a dark blue tank top ending at her mid-drift. "What, have you come to try and stop me, too?" she smirked devilishly and played with a lock of her brown hair.

'You're going to end up just like your friends,' she thought to a startled Hiei.

'How did you know...?' he thought.

'Why else would you wear a bandana?' She stretched out on the table. 'It's been much too long since I last talked to a Jaganshi. It's too bad I had to kill the last one.'

Hiei's hand, which had been resting on his sword hilt, twitched. 'What have you done to them,' he thought, looking at Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara.

Her eyes narrowed. 'They tried to attack me. I was just defending myself.'

'Who are you?'

'Your downfall,' was her last thought as she nimbly leapt off the table and behind Hiei.

He only had time to jump out of sight as she almost succeeded in being true to her word. The girl-demon waited until Hiei appeared again, looking around the room cautiously, ready to attack. As she was looking to her right, Hiei appeared to her left and slashed his sword through her stomach, then pulled it out again.

She glared at Hiei as she fell, thinking, 'It is not over yet,' and sinking to the floor in a pool of blood. Hiei waited a moment, making sure she was really dead, before starting to walk towards his three fallen friends.

As he stepped over the demon's legs, one of them shot up, causing Hiei to trip and land, crying out with pain, with his sword pierced through his stomach. He was cursing himself for falling for such a trap when he heard glass break and distant screaming over the ringing in his ears. He managed to raise himself halfway and look behind himself. There was a strange, golden light now engulfing the room, and Hiei wondered if he had died. 'But then why would there be golden light..?'

The source of light was coming from the doorway, but the pain from his wound wouldn't let him turn anymore. As the light neared him, he gasped audibly when he realized it was Rhys - her hair streaming behind her from an invisible wind and her skin glowing a bright gold. Her eyes were wide open, but Hiei couldn't tell for sure if she was awake or not - or maybe she was in a trance.

There was a thin line of light streaming from her eyes to the girl demon who had been about to kill Hiei. The demon's red eyes were wide with horror and she struggled to escape the light, but couldn't. Rhys stepped closer to the demon and with each step the light got whiter and whiter, until Rhys took the last step. The light became a blinding white and Hiei couldn't take the pain of turning around anymore. He lay flat on his stomach and closed his eyes.

He came to moments later, groggily rubbing his eyes and sitting up. His sword lay on the floor next to him and there was no wound in his stomach. 'What just happened? Did Rhys just save my life?' He had no more time to think, though, because Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were now stirring.

Hiei leapt up, lest they see him on the floor and think he was almost killed by a lower class demon...he shuddered involuntarily. When all four of them were conscious again, Kuwabara's eye's suddenly widened. "YUKINA!" he cried, and sped into the living room, the others following quickly behind.

In the living room, Rhys was sleeping soundly again. Yukina was standing watch at her side and Botan was cleaning up the remains of a shattered window. Both looked white and were rather shaky. "What happened in here?" asked Kurama quietly.

Yukina replied, "After you went into the kitchen, we were trying to listen in and see what was going on...then another demon crashed in through the window and we all screamed - " Hiei remembered hearing the breaking glass and screaming, " - but then Rhys, she started glowing, and she shot a...well, I-I don't know what it was...but they were thin golden beams or something out of her eyes...and she picked the demon up with them... ."

Botan continued, "There was this really bright white light, and we both shielded our eyes. When we opened them again they - Rhys and the demon - were both gone...and we heard a cry from the kitchen -" 'It was probably me' thought Hiei, feeling horribly weak, "- and then we saw the same bright light... We had to cover our eyes again, because even from here it was really bright. I'm guessing what happened here happened in the kitchen too. But then when we opened our eyes again she was sleeping, just as she had been before. The blankets hadn't even been moved...I've never seen anything like that... ." Yukina put a comforting arm around her. Hiei glanced at the strange sleeping demon girl.

"Hiei, you were there after we blacked out, right?" asked Yusuke, bringing the fire youkai back to reality.

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"I fought the demon."

"Did you see Rhys at any time?"

"I was about to kill the demon when Rhys came. She finished the job for me," he said, carefully leaving out the part where Rhys saved his life.

"Did you see how she did it?"

"No, I had to look away. It was too bright." At least that was the truth.

"I guess Koenma was right, then," Yusuke said thoughtfully.

"About what, that demons would be attacking or that she would babysit us?" asked Kurama with a small grin, knowing both were true. He then glanced at the clock, which showed that it was 11:49. "Before we all fall asleep, I suggest we set up a watch."

"I'll keep watch the whole night, you can count on me!" declared Kuwabara, staring at Yukina.

"I don't think we should be that foolish," sneered Hiei, "We'll do it in shifts."

Kuwabara glared at Hiei. "I'll take the first shift, then!"

"I'll be second," offered Kurama.

Yusuke said guiltily, "I wish I could, but I didn't get a lotta sleep last night, so I'd probably fall asleep..."

There was a pause. "I guess I-I can do it, if no one else can," offered Yukina, to everyone's surprise. She looked terrified at the idea. 'I can't let her do that...' thought Hiei. He couldn't think of what could happen to her if she took the shift.

Luckily, Kurama spoke up, "I don't know if that's such a good idea. We don't want you getting kidnapped again, along with Rhys." Yukina nodded nervously, remembering the last time she had been kidnapped.

"I'll do it," Hiei spoke up.

"Okay, so it's Kuwabara, then me, and then Hiei. Shall we make it three hours each?" The two others nodded in agreement.

"Where are we sleeping?" asked Botan. Kurama thought for a moment. "I guess we can all sleep down here, since it's the biggest room in the house." No one commented, and he continued, "Then I'll go get some pillows and blankets."

"I'll help you," offered Botan, following Kurama quietly up the stairs.

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Rain tinkled softly on the roof as everyone settled warmly into their blankets. Kuwabara had somehow managed to grab a spot next to Yukina, much to Hiei's dismay. He reminded himself to keep a watch on them as well while on guard. Rhys hadn't moved from the couch, Kurama nearest to her on the floor with Botan. Yusuke slept by Botan and Kurama's feet. Hiei got a spot next to the window, where he could clearly see Rhys in the moonlight streaming in through the window blinds.

Good night's were called throughout the room and one by one, everyone except Kuwabara fell asleep. When three hour's time had gone by Kuwabara silently woke Kurama. Kuwabara instantly fell asleep next to Yukina and Kurama moved to the chair next to Rhys so that he would not be tempted to fall back asleep. Through the night he could hear the slightest sound and hear everyone's breathing. Keeping his ears alert for the slightest abnormal sound, he tried not to look at Rhys.

His eyes swept the room, but through the minutes his gaze slowly drifted back to her. He absentmindedly reached out and brushed a few wandering golden strands out of her face. Her skin looked even paler in the dim light, her lips redder and her eyes darker. Before he knew what he was doing, he had reached out and touched her cheek. It was cold, and she started to shiver at his touch.

Three hours passed and the chiming of the clock brought Kurama from his thoughts. His cheeks reddened when he realized that instead of watching for potential kidnappers, he had been watching Rhys. His eyes suddenly felt very heavy as he made his way to wake up Hiei. He hadn't realized he was this tired.

Hiei woke up with one shake of his shoulder, then gave Kurama a glare that clearly meant: 'Don't touch me.' Kurama shrugged it off and fell lazily into his now cold blankets, falling instantly asleep.

Hiei sat with his head resting against the wall opposite the window. The night was beginning to come to an end, the stars slowly disappearing. He glared at the remaining cluster of stars, cursing Kurama. He had been watching Kuwabara and Kurama while they were on guard - he wasn't fool enough to let Kuwabara keep watch himself. He hadn't been able to sleep, after all, and had mainly watched the stars. Then when it had been Kurama's shift...

Hiei was surprised at himself. 'Why am I so worried if Kurama likes Rhys or not? I don't know anything about her...' he thought. His brow wrinkled in confusion. He didn't know what to think anymore. He looked at her, and wondered how much longer she would sleep. The more he looked at her it seemed the scratches on her arms looked deeper and her bruises harsher. He flashed to her side, gently touching a particularly wide bruise on her arm causing a sleepy frown. Hiei tensed and pulled his hand away, the clock ringing the end of his second hour of watch.

He sat against the wall and stared at the pink clouds , watched as the first feeble rays of morning crossed the earth and brought warmth. Birds sang hellos to each other and the crisp, fresh scent of dew and the wet earth floated in the broken window. Hiei inhaled deeply and glanced casually at Kuwabara and Yukina.

As if on cue, Kuwabara's hand fell onto Yukina's as he moved onto his back. Pent up anger, at the teen and Kurama and something he couldn't name, swelled inside of him and he got up to kick Kuwabara's hand away - cut it off, if he had to. He stepped over Yukina and pushed Kuwabara's hand away with his foot. As he was walking back to the wall, he let his sheathed sword carelessly crash into the Spirit Detective's head, which was so thick he didn't notice a thing.

He tensed, sensing a demon nearby. Sure enough, one crept silently into the room and started for the couch. Hiei unsheathed his sword and quickly jumped next to him, killing him with a couple fast flash of his sword.

Something red-hot grazed his ear. He turned to find another demon summoning and tossing fireballs at him. Hiei disappeared in a flash, jumping behind the unsuspecting demon.

Thinking Hiei had gone, the attacking demon bent down to pick up Rhys when he heard 'Leave her alone' in a cold voice somewhere in his head. While he was confused, Hiei slashed his sword through the demon's heart and pulled it out again in mid-air, falling at the foot of the couch where Rhys' feet lay. The demon fell onto the couch, splattering blood everywhere.

Hiei wiped the blood off his sword and sheathed it, then turned quickly when he heard a startled gasp from behind him. Rhys sat upright on the couch, looking fearfully at the now dead demon laying on top of her.

When she saw Hiei she sank further into the couch, a scared and confused look in her bright orange eyes. Hiei silently moved towards her and she tucked her legs under herself and wrapped her arms around them. He drew closer and she shook with fear, wondering what he could want with her.

Her eyes followed him as he effortlessly lifted the demon and dropped it roughly atop the other dead demon, creating a pile. When he was finished he resumed his position against the wall. Rhys glanced around at the sleeping people, not sure of what to do.

Him staring at her didn't make her any more comfortable, either. She wanted to be alone. "Could I take a walk?"

"I'd have to go with you."

"Why?"

"I was told not to let you out of my sight."

"Oh." She sat on the cold floor and hugged her knees to herself. "Who was that demon that you killed?" Hiei merely shrugged. "Why did you kill him?"

"He was going to kidnap you."

Rhys was taken aback. He killed a demon? For her safety? Things like this only happened in her dreams. Maybe she was dreaming. She looked at the short demon. He certainly was attractive...

But before she could think anymore, he shattered her hopes. "It was my job," he stated simply, eyes now closed.

Rhys didn't know what to say and an awkward silence filled the room, broken only by the breathing of the people sleeping. "Is this someone's house?"

"Kurama's. He's the red-head." Rhys glanced at the sleeping form and smiled to herself. The blue haired girl sleeping next to him had moved very close to him in her sleep, and his arm was draped over her side.

Rhys glanced at Hiei, wondering if he had even slept that night. He didn't look tired, but bored. She searched her mind for something interesting to say, but came up with nothing. The minutes ticked by, neither finding anything to say to each other.

Hiei recalled something she had said earlier. 'I...had nowhere else. They took me in.' She must have been pretty desperate to have taken refuge with scum like that. He wanted to ask her about it, but glancing at her, he saw she had already curled up on the floor and fallen asleep again.

He wondered how much one person could sleep, but then remembered how weak she had been. She needed to gain back her strength. The least he could do was give her a comfortable place to rest. He picked her up the same way he had before and moved her back to the couch.

He had just made it back to the wall and closed his eyes when last minute in his shift ended and the clock rung seven times.

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