White Rose Fox: thank you, I try. You just made all the tweaking worth it.

perfect-piscies: I like to think that if Hiei continued a little longer, and had someone around who knew EXACTLY when he was pulling some kind of emotional bs, he'd be a terrible flirt. ;-) and welcome to my awesome reviewers list!

howling wolf mika: dude! Thank you! Btw, your review came in right as I was finishing this chapter. Thanks for joining my reviewers club!

by the way, I've already got a sequel in the works... I told y'all, I have this completely written out. Now, I wouldn't normally update this fast, but 26 hits and two reviews on the first day makes me jazzed up to write! (and the day's not even over yet!) {as I type, number three came in, I am so jazzed!}

The move to Japan was pushed up a couple of days, as the lovely temple keepers managed to finish preparations early. One small problem, I never got a passport. Never needed one. So, to keep to his own schedule, Koenma opened a portal for Hiei, Kurama and I to take. Yusuke and Kuwabara had to stay behind a day or two, to pack up what we'd need for the rest of the year in Japan. By that, I really mean all of the clothing and toiletry items in the house.

The portal dumped us out in a very lovely wooded clearing.

"The spoiled brat would dump us out on the other side of the old woman's forest." Hiei grumbled.

"Come now, Hiei, its not as bad as it could be. At least we're in the woods, and we can run there. He could have dumped us in the middle of Tokyo, and force us to use the train again." Kurama laughed.

"Really, Kurama? You'd run off and leave me to get hopelessly lost in the woods while crippled?" I huffed.

Hiei seemed amused by Kurama's sudden blush. "My apologies."

"Hn, I'll race you to the temple, fox. And win, while carrying m... this onna." Hiei said, a little shifty eyed at the slip. He lifted me in a fireman's carry.

Kurama took my crutches even as I voiced a protest. "Lets make it more interesting, Hiei. If I beat you, you'll have to kiss her... REALLY kiss her."

Hiei nodded. 'Hold tight, onna.'

His mental voice was the only warning I had before we took off. The only time I'd ever moved that fast was when I was strapped into the seat of a car.

Kurama was standing on the steps waiting for us. A laugh danced in his eyes, barely restrained.

Hiei placed set me on my feet. " You cheated."

I clung to Hiei's shoulder and gave Kurama a look to get my crutches back. I did not get them, so I glared at the smug fox demon.

Kurama let out the chuckle he'd been holding in. "I believe you lost on your own, Hiei. And a bet is a bet."

I started to lean away from my dragon protector. This whole kiss thing was making me just a little nervous. That peck on the forehead at the hospital was one thing, but this...

Hiei pulled me around to face him. One hand at my hip and one at my neck held me up, and brought me in close. When our lips met it came as a small surprize and I jumped.

For a fire demon, his lips were very soft.

Yukina was the first inhabitant of the temple we met. She was a petite thing with seafoam hair and very familiar red eyes. Her voice was just as soft and melodic as Kuwabara said it would be. "Please, come in. The tea has just been brewed. Did Kazuma come with you?"

"He and Yusuke will be following tomorrow." Kurama replied.

I silently thanked all the gods of all the pantheons I'd ever studied for my sudden bout of good choices that day, as I'd put on clogs instead of my normal tennis shoes. I didn't even have to sit down to remove my shoes.

Sitting down to tea, on the other hand, was an exercise in keeping the stuff in my head, in my head and not cussing in front of the ladies. I had a feeling that the old woman would smack me for it. I was rather proud of myself for only wincing once in the process.

Hiei noticed. The little dark demon had been watching me like a hawk since the incident, so all of my winces and mumbles of pain were probably added to the list in his head of things he had to beat himself up for.

The demon in question rose as soon as was polite (I knew he had some kind of manners) and asked Yukina to take a walk with him.

"He watches her as if she'd disappear if he blinks." a girl with blue hair commented once the door shut behind the two demons.

"He thinks he failed his job as my protector." I said softly. Now that the worry wart was out of the room, I shifted and stretched my leg out to ease the pain.

"She was injured during a battle, though we'd put her out of sight. Botan, you should have seen him this month." Kurama grinned at the girl.

The old woman hmphed. "About time that boy opened up."

I drifted off into my thoughts about the past few weeks with Hiei. I knew I intrigued him, the little ningen onna who can actually keep him out of her head without trying too hard. But since the incident, it seemed like more than intrigue or misplaced guilt.

I came back to the conversation when I heard Kurama say, "He actually shed tears when her blood hit his cheek. Her scream triggered the fastest, most deadly Mortal Flame attack I have ever witnessed from Hiei."

"Oh dear, did his tears turn into hiruseki stones like Yukina's?" Botan asked. Her pink eyes threatened to spill tears of her own.

Kurama pulled a pair of perfectly round red and black stones from his pocket. Each was strung on a silver chain. "Two did. The two that mingled with her blood."

I touched them gently. "They're beautiful. Almost perfect yin yang symbols."

He returned one of the stones to his pocket, then moved to put the other around my neck. "Its only fitting that you wear the tear he cried for you."

"He said something about toying with the scum too long, was he still fighting?" I asked.

"Fighting and pretending to lose quite well, actually. Niroth didn't even know what hit him when Hiei snapped." Kurama chuckled.

"Our Hiei? The little black clad demon with a superiority complex? He actually cares for a human?" Botan's face was the epitome of a shocked look.

"I'm not just any mere human. I can, without any training whatsoever, keep him out of my mind completely. It made him so mad." I winked at the blue haired girl.

Yukina raced in at that very moment. "Hiei just told me! He's my brother! I knew it, but he actually told me!"

the lightbulb clicked on in my head. "That's why you two have the same eyes!" I exclaimed. I started to get up to hug her with Botan, but caught myself in time.

Hiei followed her in. 'Are you proud of me?' His eyes caught and held mine. He actually wanted my opinion.

'Very.' I smiled up at him. "Help me up please, Hiei? I wanna hug your sister to celebrate." I held up my hands.

He took them and hauled me to my feet. "Will you be hugging me as well?"

My only response was to hug him.

Bandage time came all too soon for my tastes. He tried very hard to be gentle, but it always hurt. This time he brought in his sister.

"Wow, you must have some skills, Kina, he never lets anyone help with my bandages." I giggled.

She gave me a look. "Only Kazuma has ever called me Kina."

"May I? Nicknames are my way of letting my special peeps know they're my special peeps. I mean, I don't call just anyone by a nickname, it has to be earned..." I trailed off, suddenly embarrassed.

"Of course you may! Just don't be surprised if Kazuma gets mad about it." she giggled behind her hand politely.

I glanced at Hiei. The surge of happiness I felt from him only barely registered in his eyes.

Yukina knelt beside my leg and began to unwrap the bindings. "So, what do you call my brother?"

"I call him Oni-san. But only when he's being a jerk." I winked over at Hiei. "Called him honey and sweetie a few times too."

Hiei drew closer to take discarded bandages from his sister. "The sweetie doesn't count, we were pretending for that ridiculous cover story you thought up on the way to the hospital."

I hissed as a stab of pain tore through my leg. "You rather liked it, shut up." I turned my head toward Yukina. "I told the EMT's he was my fiancee so that he could ride with me to the hospital."

Her musical giggle was cut short by a gasp of shock. "This is a demon infection. We, I must get Botan and Kurama, I can't heal this."

I bit the fleshy part of my hand, just below the thumb, to keep in the scream of pain trying to get out as she prodded my leg.

Hiei helped me into a more comfortable position as she took off running. "You are in a lot of pain."

"Thank you captain obvious." I managed to growl through my teeth.

"The three of them should be able to figure out what to do. You won't die on my watch." He seemed to be talking to me, but I couldn't tell who he was trying to reassure with his words.

The fox and Yukina entered the room together. "Hiei, you should have let me see this days ago." Kurama said. He touched my leg gently.

"Please do not poke me more than absolutely necessary." I gritted my teeth more. That didn't help, so I bit my hand again.

"I have to shift, so that I can summon a makai plant."

"Whatever is necessary, fox, just do it." Hiei commanded.

When he fully transformed, Yoko leaned down to look me in the eye. "Pretty little girl, tell me exactly what the weapon looked like. If it is too hard to speak, you may let down your mental barriers, I'm sure Hiei can keep your pain from reaching the other women."

I shook my head. "I won't. I can handle it."

'Baka onna, stop being so noble and let us help you.' Hiei's mental voice held all the worry and annoyance he felt towards me.

"Sorry." I whispered to the two demons and let down my shields.

Yoko took a knee, and his form shimmered for a moment. "Now then, tell me what the weapon looked like."

I hated having to do that to them, and the tears started to fall. "It looked like a giant bug stinger, or mandible. Definitely not any kind of metal I've ever seen."

Yoko hmmed a response and pulled a seed from his hair. He gave me a genuinely apologetic look. "I have to plant this directly into your wound. It is the only flower in all of the makai that will heal a bite from the bug those imps took their weapons from. It will hurt more than anything you have ever felt before, so, brace yourself."

I screamed as a new level of pain took over my senses. The gods took pity on me, and I blacked out moments after it had begun.

I woke to a warm smoke scented embrace, and a soft song in a language I'd never heard before. I looked up and saw that Hiei was the owner of the soft singing voice. "When were you gonna tell me you could sing?"

He jumped at the sound of my voice. "Don't scare me like that again."

"Um, sorry? Did the plant work?"

"Over a day ago. After that, it was a simple task for my sister to heal you, and the ferrygirl to remove your stitches."

"Do I have a scar? And how much more than a day ago?"

"Yes, you have a scar. And you've been out for a day and a half."

I sat up and stretched. "Damn. But at least I'm not dead."

He laughed, but I could feel the nervousness anyway. "Kurama gave me the other hiruseki stone before he left."

"They are beautiful, but please, no more." I gave him a sad smile.

"Kurama threatened me. Said he'd kick my forbidden ass if he found another one while cleaning up after a battle." Hiei grinned at me.

"Empty threat. But the faster I get trained, the sooner you won't have to worry about my breakable ningen ass anymore." I laughed.

Here is a good place to stop... a scene change. Anyways, if anyone knows how to spell hiruseki properly, please let me know, so I can fix it if I flubbed it.

REVIEWS MAKE ME TYPE MORE! (honestly, I wasn't gonna type this much, but then the third review came in, so here ya go.)