People stared at us as we walked through the streets of Tokyo. I hated the attention, but I also thought it was well deserved. Both of us were covered in soot, dirt, and blood, with our clothes in pieces. I was only thankful that Hiei still had enough cloak to cover up his sword. I was worried enough that someone would call the cops on us without that problem.

And for once, I was thankful for Hiei's extreme antisocial-ness. He had taken to glaring at anyone who stared at us, which made them turn away rather quickly. But still, it felt like it was taking an eternity and a half to reach my house…

"Don't they have anything better to do then stare?!" Hiei snarled angrily, the suddenness of his comment causing me to jump.

"Apparently not, sir." I sighed. "But in their defense, you did just destroy a train."

"They don't know that." He said, before continuing his angry glaring.

"Aya! Hiei!"

My heart leapt into my chest when someone yelled our names. Hiei's hand flashed out to clutch the hilt of his sword. I laughed in joy when I recognized the voice.

"Yusuke!" I ran to him, and threw my arms around him. After letting go of me, he ruffled my hair.

"Mouse! Shorty! Long time, no see!" Kuwabara said, running up behind Yusuke.

Hiei growled. "Not long enough." He begin to walk off again, not even looking back to see if we were following.

Hiei began to follow the familiar path to the Minamino house, where he, Kurama, and I lived. My heart beat harder with each step I took. Kurama…Oh, if I could run…

Hiei seemed to pick up on my thoughts. With no words, he scooped me up and began to run. Yusuke and Kuwabara picked up the pace behind us, no questions asked. Now even more people were staring, but I was too excited to care.

My house loomed into sight. I tapped Hiei's arm, telling him he could let me down. We slowed the pace, and walked up the sidewalk to the front door.

I hesitated, wondering if Kurama was going to be super pissed when he saw me. I touched my hand to the doorknob, but before I could twist it, the door flew open.

I jumped back in surprise, partly from the shock, and partly from seeing Kurama. I'd forgotten just how gorgeous he was. I smiled warily.

"Honey," I said, "I'm ho-" I was cut off as Kurama threw his arms around me, and my mouth was eclipsed by his lips.

"Aya," he gasped, clutching me so tight that between him and the baby, I really was uncomfortable.

"The lack of air is really becoming an issue, sir," I hissed. Kurama let go of me, slightly embarrassed. Especially when Yusuke and Kuwabara began to laugh.

"Shut up," I snapped at them. I had a sudden, burning desire to be alone with Kurama right now.

Kurama glanced past me at them, and his expression became puzzled. "Isn't Hiei with you?"

Startled, I looked around. Hiei had indeed vanished. I had been so concentrated on Kurama that I hadn't noticed his disappearance. I felt a momentary sadness, but he might have only left to get away from me. We had almost never left each other's side for a week, and too much Aya isn't good for you.

The four of us went in the house, and Yusuke, Kuwabara and I sat down in the living room while Kurama fetched us tea. I scooted myself to the front of the couch so I could reach the table that my laptop was resting on. I ran my fingers over the cold keyboard, feeling like I was a child that had just found my long lost doll.

The computer whirred to life as Kurama set two cups on the table before seating himself beside me. His leg brushed against mine, sending a shock of pleasure through my nerves. It was all I could to restrain myself from taking him down and doing naughty things to him right on the sofa.

I tried to concentrate on the screen, typing in the name 'Seto Otome.' As I thought, there was no record of a doctor or a demon by that name ever existing. But there was a human…

"Seto Otome," I read aloud, "was a seventeenth century exorcist."

"Seventeenth century?!" Yusuke gasped. "Man, he must be ancient!"

"He ages well," I muttered, skimming through the rest of the information on the webpage. Helped people, blah blah blah…Became famous, blah blah blah…

"Ah!" I exclaimed when I came across something interesting. "'The changing point in Otome's life was when he was called to treat the daughter of the bishop. None of the priests or holy men the bishop called upon could expel the demon from his daughter's body. Otome accepted the call, and attempted to treat the girl. As he found out, the girl had started off being possessed, but eventually, the demon had taken over the girl's body, and she herself had become the demon. She was pregnant, and the baby was going to be born the ultimate evil. The girl prepared to consume Otome, for sustenance. But, Otome proved to be more than the demon could handle, and the girl's body gave out, transferring the demon to Otome. In the years to come, Otome grew in power, only by consuming girls that had been in the bishop's daughter's physical state, at the peak of their ripeness."

A silence followed my reading.

"Well, at least we know who the 'big bad' is." Kurama said, trying to sound reassuring.

"Ripeness…?" Yusuke asked in confusion.

"I don't want to know," I said. "At least we know the who and what now."

Kurama put his arm around my shoulders, and I snuggled into his warmth. "It would be a lot more helpful if we had Hiei here to help." he commented.

I felt bothered by Hiei's disappearance. Had I done something wrong? Hiei was known to be very cold and affront, but not to me…I thought he would hang around to make sure everything was okay. I made up my mind to go searching for him in the morning.

It was already getting dark, and I felt extremely tired. There wasn't much else we could do for the day, so Yusuke and Kuwabara went home. After a quick meal, Kurama and I went to bed.