Shi: Hey, everyone! What's new while y'all were waiting for this chapter? I've been busy with my new job...! XD I'm a tour guide at Sequoyah Caverns, and I really enjoy that. I got $18.00 in tips alone today, so... HA!
Kit: Shi's promised to try and make this chapter pretty long.
Shi: -nods- Yepp yepp yepp! I'll do my definite best!
Aki: Well, what are you waiting for cave-woman! Let's get this show rolling!
Shi: -laughs- Alright, here's the chapter!

The Slyest Thieves
Chapter 30

"Gr," an anime vein pulsed on the girls' foreheads, and all three glared at Hiei, who put on his best glare to face them. "You left the stupid iron on! How irresponsible are you!" Aki shouted angrily. "This is Genkai's temple! How could you just leave an iron on and burn the place down!"

"Aki, let me handle this," Mizuki muttered with a sweet smile then turned to Hiei, her eyes flashing angrily, her face hardening into a rock-hard glower. "How could you DO something like that! Honestly..! I'm embarrassed to be your trainee! How would you like it if someone burnt your house down! I have a mind to make you rebuild the whole temple by yourself! But, Genkai needs it rebuilt, so... STILL! That was so reckless of you! You're getting a timeout!" the wolf yelled angrily. With that, she grabbed hold of Hiei's right ear and began tugging him off to a place in the woods, still screaming and yelling at him all the way.

Takara and Aki burst into laughter at the sight of Hiei wincing and whining at Mizuki, then they turned to Genkai, Yusuke, Sesshoumaru, and Kurama. The firefighters had left a few minutes before, so the rest of the group was arranging where everyone would stay. Takara was to stay with Kurama at his human mother's house, Genkai would stay with Yusuke, Aki would go back in time with Sesshoumaru while Mizuki would go to Makai with Hiei. They would all meet up again in a couple of months, when the temple would be complete.

A few minutes later, Mizuki stomped back into sight with a scowl on her face, her arms crossed moodily over her chest, and Hiei came out behind her, glaring daggers at her, as if hoping he could kill her with a look. "Gr... stupid, maniacal wolf," he grumbled.

"What was that!" Mizuki snapped and whipped around to glare at the demon.

"Nothing," Hiei muttered and avoided her gaze and walked right past her.

"That's what I thought," Mizuki sniffed haughtily and suddenly turned very cheerful. "Okay! So, see you guys in a couple of months, ne?" she asked.

"Yepp," Takara replied with a big smile.

They said their good byes and parted ways... Hiei and Mizuki glared at one another and headed off into the forest for a portal that would take them to Reikai, where they could then get to Makai. Aki and Sesshoumaru headed another way to get to the Bone Eater's well that they would travel to the past in, and Takara, Kurama, Yusuke, and Genkai all started off for town, where they would later split.

"I still can't believe you, Hiei," Mizuki mumbled darkly.

Hiei sighed, "Not this again... Can't you just drop it already!"

"Yes, it IS this again! I will NOT drop it! I would've expected something like this from Yusuke, but from you! Don't you know how embarrassing that is for me! My sensei is the one resposible for burning down a temple, and it was Genkai's temple for Pete's sake!" She ranted.

"Who's Pete?" Hiei asked suspiciously and watched the wolf closely out of the corner of his eye. He didn't like the sound of this Pete guy.

Mizuki blinked and came to a stop in her walking, and when Hiei stopped and looked back at her confused, she cracked up, bursting into a giggle fit. "It's an expression, Hiei; nothing more, I promise. Why do you ask? Might'n you be," she let out a fake gasp and put on a fake surprised face, "jealous?"

Hiei snorted, "Dream on." His voice was like ice, and Mizuki only laughed some more and walked on. The two fell into silence as they made it to Reikai.

"Oh, look Hiei! They'e giving tours of Reikai! Come on, let's go!" Mizuki exclaimed brightly and begun dragging the unwilling demon over to a small booth.

"What's there to see?" Hiei grouched, "Things die, and their souls come here for the afterlife; what more do you want?"

"Oh come on... Aren't you the least bit curious?" She asked and began talking to the ogre behind the register. "Oh.. darn, it's only for people who're dead... What a bummer," Mizuki sighed and started off for the portal to Makai.

Hiei rolled his eyes and followed after her. She's such a baka onna...

"Excuse me?" Mizuki asked in a forced calm tone and stopped in the middle of the hallway.

Hiei, who wasn't paying attention, ran right into her and jumped slightly, a hand automatically reaching up to the hilt of his sword because of his defensive reflexes. "What?" he asked dumbly after realizing it was only Mizuki and forced his hand away from his sword.

"I can read minds, remember?" Mizuki snapped then hmphed and stormed away. "Pesky, know-it-all... ooooh, guys get on my nerves SO bad sometimes," she muttered to herself under her breath.

Hiei blinked then scowled and took after the angry wolf. Wonder what's got her fur in a bunch... She's so irritable today.. he pondered, and again, when he wasn't paying attention, ran straight into Mizuki, who had stopped with an anime vein pulsating on her forehead, her hands clenched into fists. Hiei was surprised to run into her again, and, he had to admit, it was getting annoying.

She snapped around to glare at him like there was no tomorrow. "You..!" she started but clamped her mouth shut, afraid she may say something she might later regret. "GUYS..." she fumed to herself and started off down the hall again.

"This is getting really annoying," Hiei stated irritably as he resumed walking again as well. And, you guessed it, Mizuki came to another halt to scowl a death look at him. She didn't say anything but hmphed and turned herself around again to start down the hallway. He could sense the rage in her aura and sighed, figuring he should let everything go until the wolf was calmed down and thinking and acting rationally.

Without looking back to see if Hiei was still following, Mizuki hopped right on into the portal and landed somewhere in a Makaian forest. She glanced around some then started off through the brush as Hiei came out of the portal.

"Wait up, Onna. You don't even know where we're staying," Hiei growled and had to run to catch up with her.

"You live about... 5 miles away in a tree house. Really, a tree house? Come on," she muttered and shook her head with a sigh.

"How'd you..?" Hiei was officially confused then it clicked right as Mizuki started to irritably explain.

"I. Can. Read. Minds. How many times do I have to tell you!" Mizuki snarled, and her aura flared again.

Hiei was very annoyed by this point, and he growled and pinned Mizuki to a closeby tree. "What is your problem, wolf! You've done nothing but bite my head off this whole time!"

Mizuki struggled some in his grip but couldn't get out of his grasp. "I'm having a bad day!" she rebuked in defense and glowered at the boy, "Now, lemme go!" She thrashed around and yelled at the demon, his grip kept hold on her shirt collar pretty good. "Just let me go..." she uttered.

"No. Not until you tell me why you are so irritable today," Hiei stated coolly and kept his tight hold on the wolf, but his grip fell loose some when he heard her let out a choked sob. "What? Why're you crying, Onna?" he asked suspiciously, thinking she was just acting so he would leave her alone. A tear trickled from her eyes.

She snapped her gaze up to glare at him. "I don't feel good! I'm relly sensitive when I get sick! And right now, I have a huge migraine, and when I'm sick, anything can easily set me off! I don't feel good..." she repeated herself again and was suddenly really angry. "Now, lemme go! Please..."

Hiei was speechless, and he finally took notice of her flushed cheeks. Experimentally, he raised a hand and set it on her forehead to feel that she had a pretty high fever. He sighed, "Fine, don't get so huffy. When we arrive, you can go rest," he muttered and released her, adding in, "And don't cry. It's pathetic." But in his mind, there was a different thought that Mizuki caught.It's not that it's pathetic... I just hate to see girls cry. Stupid heart, it's supposed to not feel such things as this, he pondered moodily.

Mizuki sniffled and wiped a hand across her eyes to wipe away the tears. Then, she followed silently behind Hiei and tried to keep up with him. About three miles from the tree house, she began to get really dizzy, and her head felt like someone rammed it into a brick wall. "Woah..." she muttered as she swayed more to the right. Before it could really register, she was falling unconscious, and before she started to collapse to the ground, she mumbled, "Hiei... mind doing me a small favor?"

Hiei turned around to ask her what that favor may be, then he noticed that she was collapsing. He mentally cursed and dashed forward, catching the now unconscious wolf before she hit the ground. He gave an irritated sigh and hoisted her up into his arms bridal style. He was fairly sure whatever was wrong with her would be gone within a day or two's time, but when he got her to the tree house at about sundown, he set her on the bed and took care of her until she woke up the next afternoon.

"Mm... Hm?" Mizuki groaned and sat up, looking around cautiously, "Where am I?" she added thoughtfully.

Just then, Hiei entered into the room with some food on a small tray. "Mizuki," he muttered, and the wolf could tell he was thankful to see her awake. "You should lie back down and rest, wolf. I swear," he grumbled and made his way over to the bed, setting the tray to the side, then carefully pushed Mizuki back down onto her back, "you have the worst physical endurance I've ever seen. We'll have to work on that..."

"Guess we will," Mizuki whispered more to herself. Her stomach suddenly growled loudly, demanding food, and the wolf blushed lightly. "Uh.. oops. Guess my stomach's kind of hungry," she chuckled with a sweatdrop rolling down her forehead.

"It HAS been about 24 hours since you last ate," Hiei shrugged, "Here's some food. You need to eat all of it," he ordered stiffly and set the tray on her lap as she slowly sat up.

"Right-o, sensei," Mizuki giggled.

Hiei sent her a quick glare then started to leave the room, but when he heard Mizuki go, "Uhm...", he sighed and turned around. "What is it?" he snapped irrately.

"Well, I.. I can't get comfortable... I have to sit up to eat, but this bark cuts into my back when I lean on it, and all that's in here is this futon, so..." Mizuki babbled on and on until Hiei, with a pulsing vein on his forehead, asked her what she wanted him to do about it, and she gave him a sheepish grin. "Could you be like.. my cushion? Since you're always so used to leaning on tree bark and all..."

Hiei was sure he must've heard wrong.. Surely, but when asked to repeat herself, Mizuki said the same thing. He blinked then walked over to her cautiously and sat behind her crosslegged against the wall. "Like this?" he asked with a frown.

"Yeah!" Mizuki chirped, "thanks!" With that, she leaned her back against his chest and moved around so she was kind of sitting in his lap. "Ah, much better... Thank you, Hiei!"

Hiei blushed slightly but forced the flushed feeling away and muttered, "Hn." He didn't know what to do with his arms as they sat on the floor on either side of him. He faintly wondered what the wolf would say if he wrapped his arms around her torso and rest them there. There was only one way to find out.. The worst she could do was slap him or yell at him, ne?

Mizuki froze when she felt his arms snake around her torso and glanced down quickly to see his arms hesitantly set themselves on her waist. "Nowhere else to rest my arms," he whispered anxiously in her ear, "Does it bother you or anything?"

Mizuki smiled. "Not at all," she replied. Okay, so I had been lying to myself... I'm falling just like Takara, but it feels so right... It feels good to be like this, she abently thought to herself and ate everylast bit of food like Hiei told her to.

Shi: Okay, how about that? Personally, I like this chapter.

Kit:Yay! You finished it!

Aki: Kind of fluffy there at the end, ne?

Shi: Yeah, I felt fluffy at that time. XD

Kit: We don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Sesshoumaru...

Aki: I thought I got Sesshy for my bday!

Shi: Nope.

Aki: Darn...
Kit: Please review on your way out!

Aki, Shi, & Kit: Bye!