I didn't think people still read this, so I was very surprised when I saw a review asking me to update (thanks Kagome395477). I'm uploading the final three chapters (that's including this one), and that will be this story's end.
I'm dedicating this chapter to you, the reader. Without your occasional nudgings, this would never have gotten done. Thank you!

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Chapter Eight
Alone With You

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After the older woman left the room, Rhys drifted into a dreamless yet peaceful sleep.

The next time she awoke, she found herself to be in the same room, in the same spot in the middle of the floor. Now, though, the room was veiled in darkness, the moon's pale glow giving just enough light to cast the dullest shadows on the wood floor.

She sat up, letting the blankets fall carelessly around her waist and hugged her knees to her chest. Scenes from her dream floated to her mind and she closed her eyes as if watching a movie inside her head. She came to the scene where she had met her father.

A happiness like no other she had ever experienced quickly swept through her entire being, a smile curving her lips when she remembered the graceful way she had killed him.

The next second though, guilt and sadness had consumed her euphoria of just moments before. He was her father, after all.

'But he wanted me dead, and it was either me or him,' she told herself, trying to justify her actions and erase the negative feelings.

But the thoughts didn't leave her and a familiar - though nasty - voice spoke from the far reaches of her mind. 'What kind of daughter would even think about killing her own father, let alone actually do it,'' it spat out, disgust clear in its tone.

'Only the worst.'

Tears brimmed in her orange eyes as the voice continued tauntingly.

'That's why your mother left, she couldn't stand knowing she raised a daughter like you.'

Before her tears could spill over, a hand gently touched her arm and a voice accompanied it.

"What's on your mind?" it asked.

Rhys looked at the hand, then raised her eyes to meet Kurama's concerned green ones. He smiled a happy, friendly smile. A smile she couldn't return. "It's nothing," she replied, shaking her head to prove her point.

Kurama withdrew his hand from her arm and sat back on his knees, giving her a knowing look. "Are you sure?" Her gaze left him and explored the darkness surrounding them.

"I had a dream..." she started, continuing to tell him her dream in its entirety. Why she was telling him everything she didn't know, but he was an easy person to talk to and an excellent listener. He listened to her, never interrupting, only nodding occasionally to show he was still paying attention.

Only when she finished telling the dream would she look at him again, and was surprised to see Kurama staring at her intently. The moment their eyes met, both looked away immediately and Rhys felt a red tinge creep into her cheeks.

Kurama broke the awkward silence with his uncanny ability to know what was bothering a person. "You didn't kill your father," he stated simply.

That caught her attention and she looked at him sharply. "You mean he's still alive?" A hint of fear made her voice sound panicked while her eyes widened with apprehension.

"No, no, he's dead," he assured her as she let out a breath. "Hiei made sure of that."

The statement lingered in the air and it took the kiyone a moment to comprehend what he was saying. 'Does that mean he - no, he was just doing his job...wasn't he?' "What do you mean?" she asked finally, eyes on the kitsune's face.

His eyes seemed to sparkle mischievously, but before he could say a word, the sound of a sword being unsheathed echoed between the walls of the small room and Kurama could feel the cold blade press into his back.

"Don't say another word, kitsune, or this blade goes through your heart," Hiei threatened, applying more pressure to the blade to emphasize his point.

Rhys' eyes widened in shock, seeing the fire demon's eyes glowing a deadly crimson and hearing his threat clearly. She had thought Kurama and Hiei were friends - but friends don't threaten each other so seriously.

Kurama, however, sat unfazed. "Hello, Hiei," he greeted his friend normally, as if he didn't have a katana sticking in his back threatening to pierce his heart.

"I'd prefer people didn't talk about me when I'm not there," the fire demon said dangerously, tightening his grip on the sword.

"Well now that you're here, you can join our conversation," Kurama said calmly.

Hiei sheathed his katana. "Or you could leave it."

A silent panic swept through Rhys - she REALLY didn't want to be left alone with Hiei. If he was threatening his own friends, who knows what he'd do to her?

But Kurama only smiled nonchalantly and stood while Hiei sat, facing Rhys, cross-legged on the floor. The two watched the kitsune leave, Rhys trying to catch his eye to beg him not to go, but it almost seemed as if he was trying not to look at her. Kurama slid the door closed and a tense silence filled the room.

Rhys felt her heart beat quicken when she realized just how close Hiei had sat next to her. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, so she instead stared uneasily at her hands.

"I'm sorry," she said, breaking the silence.

Curiosity lifted a corner of his usual mask and he couldn't help but ask, "For what?"

"For making you think I was talking about you behind your back," she said, quiet as ever. The fire youkai was left speechless, having been expecting an argument and not an apology. She was only half surprised by his silence and even felt a hint of triumph at catching him off his guard.

But he recovered quickly and replied with a frown, "You should be." At this a flash of anger warmed her blood and she glared at him, eyes flashing.

"You don't have any reason to be angry with me, Hiei. I didn't do anything to you," she said hotly.

"You never did tell me where those cuts came from," he countered coolly, freezing her glare with a look of a coldness so intense she was forced to look away.

"My father. He used to hit me," she answered matter-of-factly. 'At least that's not a lie,' she thought to herself, knowing he wouldn't accept that answer.

And he didn't.

"When I found you, your father was nowhere near you."

"I...ran away from home," she explained weakly, looking at him again. He just stared at her, his deep crimson eyes boring past her eyes, into her soul...and the revelation unfolded itself to her like a silent awakening.

He knew.

He had known everything all along and was just trying to get her to admit to it. How had she been so blind to the truth?

A faint smirk curled his lip when he saw the realization in her eyes. Without even thinking, her hand reached up and she slapped him hard across the cheek.

Or she would have, but he caught her just before she could make contact with his face. She recoiled at his touch, though his grip was not nearly as tight as the last time he had surprised her.

Forcing her hand away from him, he leant close to her and said through clenched teeth, "Don't blame me for your mistakes." Her hand dropped limply to floor as he sped out the door, not looking back.

Once out of the kiyone's room, Hiei didn't stop and sped down the stairs that led into the miles of lush greenery surrounding Genkai's temple. The highest tree within a mile's radius was his destination and it came into view in seconds.

He nestled himself into the highest branches that would support him, thinking furiously and breathing hard. He didn't believe the young girl's audacity - she had tried to slap him! No one had ever dared lay an unwelcome hand on him and lived.

But then his mind flashed him an image of himself and Rhys on a tree branch. Their arms were around each other, frozen in that moment of time. He shook the thought out of his head.

One thing was for sure: He had to get away from the girl for a while. If he didn't stop himself soon, she would become a weakness, one he wouldn't want to lose...

...One he loved.

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Rhys had almost lost her balance as Hiei sped away from her. She couldn't stop thinking of the remark the fire demon had left her with. 'Don't blame me for your mistakes.'

What did he think he was talking about? Did he actually think she would do that? Was it because she had tried to hit him? He did seem more than a little angry about that...

But she couldn't just let him walk free after discovering his motive. He would have let her dangle on his thread, be his puppet, watch her squirm away from the truth when he knew it all along. In her heart she felt the truth of it all stabbing her.

He hated her.

Really hated her.

What other reason did he have to make her suffer as so?

She stumbled to her feet and weakly pushed the door open, the fresh night's scent breaking over her like a wave of reality. The moon was almost full tonight, its light partially obscured by dark clouds drifting near it. Stars dotted their existence where they could between the clouds in small bursts, illuminating the night sky. Rhys looked out to see the outline of a forest, trees swaying in a gentle, warm wind.

The night's beauty somewhat calmed her and she stepped out of the temple and into the forest. As she walked along what seemed to be a path, the only noise she heard was the soft whispering of branches swaying in the breeze and the chirping music of small insects. She glanced about her as she continued on, gazing at the trees and delicate plants surrounding her.

Her attention was suddenly directed to a large bush when she heard it move uncharacteristically. Her pace quickened instinctively as she traveled deeper into the dark forest, the sky obscured by dense foliage.

She glanced behind her, her feeling of being followed multiplied when a shiver ran down her back. She wrapped her arms around herself, the night's once warm and inviting air suddenly seeming cold and unfriendly.

A part of her brain - the sensible part - commanded her to go back to Genkai's temple, while the other part told her she had nothing to fear, that she could trust the night. Her brain argued with itself until she finally told herself to shut up and concentrate on where she was going.

She gave a small gasp when an owl hooted down to her from the lower branches of a nearby tree. She finally caved in to the sensible half of her mind and turned back on the path.

Her attention was diverted behind her when she heard uneven footsteps following her. She had never really been afraid of the night at this level before. But then again, she had never been followed at night either.

Now at a slight jog, she forced her attention away from outside sounds and on the path she was taking. It was quite an easy task, as the path was visible even through the dim light allowed through the thick leaves covering the night sky.

A sharp growl met her ears and she spun around, almost falling over in her haste. What met her sight was a beast with taut earth colored skin and beady black eyes carrying a hungry look.

Rhys gave a small scream before scrambling the rest of the way down the path, the beast not far behind. Because of its size it lumbered along at a far slower pace than hers, but its long legs also gave it longer strides than hers. At the end of the forest she turned back to see the thing not far behind. A shiver passed through her when it roared menacingly at her.

She found she couldn't use her legs and realized she was completely defenseless, without even a knife. All she could do was watch the beast approach her and hope not to scream to much while it was ripping her apart.

Suddenly a short, older woman ran in front of the kiyone and sank into a fighting position. With a couple blasts of blue spirit energy the beast was down and not moving on the forest floor. The blasts had been enough to shake Rhys' shock and she breathed deeply.

The old woman turned to her, a harsh glimmer in her eye. "This forest if full of dangerous creatures. Next time, don't go out alone," she said, her tone impatient and condescending.

Rhys nodded in both understanding and apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. Next time I won't."

The woman seemed satisfied and motioned for Rhys to follow her up the stairs and into the temple. Rhys followed her into a room similar to the one she had slept in but with different furnishings. Here there was a table set with many places and a picture of a god on the wall. One look at the painting and Rhys felt uneasy - its eyes seemed to follow her around. The kiyone turned from it when the old woman spoke.

"Everyone should be up soon. Once we eat I would like to begin your training."

"Training? For what?"

"Koenma asked me to train you to defend yourself against attackers. There's not always going to someone around to save you."

"Thank you," she said, bowing her head to the woman.

"Good morning, Yukina," said the woman, turning her attention to the doorway. A kimono clad girl with aqua colored hair entered the room, bowing excitedly to both Rhys and the woman.

"Good morning, Genkai," she said, her voice light and sweet, and then turned to the kiyone. "Rhys, I'm so happy you're finally up! We were all so worried about you. How are you feeling?"

Rhys couldn't help but smile at the innocently sweet girl. "I'm feeling a lot better, thank you." Yukina gave a broad smile in return.

As the sun's rays swam over the earth bringing day, Kuwabara, Yusuke, Keiko, Kurama, and Botan separately and sleepily entered the room. Breakfast was served, after which Rhys followed Genkai, Yusuke, and Kuwabara to yet another part of the temple.

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