Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, YYH, or the characters. Just my OCs.

Kaiya found Vegeta sitting the kitchen the next morning while Yukina was still asleep. He was waiting for her, and she knew why. "Morning, brother," she greeted casually before walking to the fridge to get something to eat. She could practically feel his eyes on her demanding an explanation for the previous night. Sighing, she turned to face him. She had some explaining to do.

"What do you want to know?" she asked him.

"What is with that telepathic ability of yours?" he asked. "And what is it doing to me?"

Kaiya shook her head. Unfortunately, she didn't have all the answers for him. She barely knew anything about this ability other than she had it and received it from an ancestor. "Well, I can read minds and hold conversations with others through a mental link, but it also allows me to see the future on occasion. The only problem is that it's hard to tell if something is a dream or a vision. That's really all I know."

"Why do I keep having these nightmares?" he interrogated more forcefully. "They don't make sense."

"Well…the nightmare the other night about Frieza was from my mind," Kaiya told him. "I can assure you, that was definitely a dream. I had been talking to my cousin back in America and she started asking me questions about my abduction now that I remembered. It was on my mind before I went to bed. Sorry about that."

"Whatever," Vegeta grumbled making her mentally giggle. He sounded like Hiei when he did that. "Last night?"

That's when Kaiya frowned. "Last night, I didn't have the premonition," she told. "Somehow you did, and my mind showed it to me after you were awake."

Vegeta looked at her not revealing any emotion to her, but she could hear his thoughts raging with confusion and irritation. She was really going to have to teach him about blocking out his thoughts. He was an open book if he didn't. "How?" he finally asked after minutes of assumed silence.

"I don't know."

That was pretty much all she could say. Her theory couldn't be proved. If she had to guess, she would have assumed that her mind created a link with his when their minds were being scanned. At first it showed them each other's memories, then it became muted and they could no longer see the memories, and now they were showing each other dreams and Vegeta was now having premonitions. The one person she could probably ask was Hiei, but she had a different conversation to have with him that day and all of this would have to wait.

Bulma walked into the kitchen, oblivious to the anxiety between the two siblings before she grabbed and apple and put the coffee maker to use. She went to reading the newspaper. Then she noticed two pairs of eyes on her and looked up. "Good morning?" she greeted questioningly. Kaiya just nodded at her while Vegeta looked like he wanted to rip her to shreds. "What?"

"What did your blasted machine do?" Vegeta growled. He was completely enraged. He had never wanted to be part of her experiment. Yes, he was happy about finding his sister, but he had not want Ed to be a lab rat and now there were unanticipated side effects to deal with.

Bulma rolled her eyes, not understanding what was going on. "What do you mean, Vegeta?" she questioned, letting out an aggravated sigh when his eyes narrowed at her.

"What my brother means is," Kaiya said a little more gently, "when we were in the mind scanners and my telepathy linked out minds…what exactly happened? Like, what did you see?"

"Didn't the guys tell you what happened?" she asked.

Kaiya shook her head. "No, because I had gotten my memories back and seen Vegeta's. I don't know what they saw."

Vegeta continued to bore his eyes into Bulma when she answered, "I saw your memories, Kaiya. I heard your voice and heard what you thought of everything going on. I could only see Vegeta, but they were not his thoughts. My father said that your friends reported the exact same thing. They didn't see your memories. They saw more about what Vegeta was dealing with than anything else."

Kaiya looked surprised, but instead of freaking out or responding to Bulma, she turned to Vegeta. "Vegeta, try initiating a conversation with me in our minds."

He didn't know if his sister was serious or losing her mind. Starting a conversation, in their minds? What kind of an order was that? "Just do it," she ordered a little more forcefully.

HOW? Vegeta's voice shouted in her head. Kaiya had to cover her ears and lean against the table.

"I didn't say 'scream' in my head," she muttered, shaking off the shock from his booming voice.

Now his face displayed his perplexed attitude. He hadn't tried to do that. He was more yelling at himself because he had no idea what he was doing. "No wonder Hiei said our mental blocks were weak," she stated. "We've been connected this whole time."

"How do we stop it?" Vegeta asked. He didn't need another distraction, especially one that gave him visions of the future and invaded his sister's thoughts.

Kaiya looked over to Bulma, hoping she'd have a suggestion, but seeing as she had no information on telepathy, she shook her head. She couldn't help the two siblings. The female Saiyan sighed and leaned her head on the table. "I guess the only thing we can do is talk to Hiei and see if Genkai knows anything about it," Kaiya mumbled into the table. "They're our best bet. If not we have to go to Koenma, and he's an idiot I don't want to deal with, and even he might not know what to do. Unfortunately, that means we're more exposed than we wanted to be and at risk of sharing things we don't want to. Sorry about that…again."

Vegeta just grunted a reply. Of course he accepted her apology, but he was annoyed that things were going to be more difficult for both of them. There were many thoughts of hers that he could not see, obviously due to her training with this type of ability. Like she said, though, his mind was an open book to her. It made him wonder what she would see or what she had seen. She never really talked to him about it before, instead focusing on making new memories with her brother on Earth. Despite being an alien with strange abilities, his sister's abilities were confusing and strange to him, more so than what he had seen in the galaxy.

"Sorry I couldn't offer more to help," Bulma stated. "But this ability of yours sounds complicated."

"It is," Kaiya muttered. "It started back before Jiro showed up. Genkai has said time and time again that sometimes our spiritual energy prepares itself for stronger enemies to come and gives us new abilities when we need them, but honestly, this ability is too much of a hassle. What good is seeing the future if you can't prevent the visions?"

Both Bulma and Vegeta didn't know how to answer that. This was new territory for both of them. Kaiya's irritation quickly disappeared from her face, and a smile replaced it. "Um, sorry," she said. "I normally don't vent about my abilities like that."

"It's okay," Bulma replied with a smile before she heard soft footsteps descending the stairs. "Who else is here? Hiei?"

"No," Kaiya replied. "He stayed over at the temple last night to train. His sister is here, though."

"I haven't met her," Bulma replied.

"I know," Kaiya said, still smiling when Yukina entered the kitchen. "Good morning, Yukina."

"Good morning, Kaiya," the ice maiden replied. She then noticed Vegeta and Bulma in the kitchen. "Oh, good morning to both of you as well." She gave a small bow to show respect and thanks for her being able to stay there.

Bulma just chuckled slightly and said, "Like I told Kaiya, no reason to be so formal. I'm Bulma, Yukina, and it's really nice to meet you."

Yukina only smiled before taking a seat at the table next to Vegeta. Kaiya said down across from her. The two of them remained silent as Bulma programmed the cooking bots to prepare breakfast for them. She then disappeared to her lab while the three of them sat at the table, waiting. Vegeta hadn't really been around Yukina that much, and all he knew of her was that Hiei cared deeply for her and that he hated women crying because the girl's tears could crystalize and she was kidnapped because of it.

Yukina started fidgeting a bit with a fork that was on the table. Vegeta noticed her lower arms that were normally covered by the kimono she wore and saw burn scars. Yukina noticed him looking and quickly put her arms down, blushing slightly and looking away shamefully.

Kaiya noticed the interaction and worried about Yukina's attitude towards anyone seeing her scars. She had a few herself, and she knew Vegeta had plenty. To show Yukina that scars didn't really matter to Saiyan warriors, she herself moved her hair from her left shoulder revealing a deeper burn scar that neither the ice maiden nor her brother had seen. Her hair or clothes usually kept it covered but in was still there.

"How did that-?" Yukina started to ask before covering her mouth. "I'm sorry; that was rude of me."

"Not at all, Yukina," Kaiya assured her. "Scars are just reminders of battle we've fought and challenges we've overcome. I don't really mind it. This came from Kiense."

"Your…sister's boyfriend?" Yukina questioned.

"Not exactly," Kaiya answered.

"What do you mean 'not exactly?'" Vegeta asked bitterly.

"It wasn't him exactly," Kaiya explained. Vegeta instantly remembered Hiei mentioning that when he spoke of his feelings toward Mayonaka. "It was actually my first mission with Spirit World. There was this demon who was trapped in Spirit World jail that they lost track of and he was trying to destroy the spirit detective team. He had gathered a large following of human psychics to help him who assumed demons were evil and they had no idea what he was trying to do."

"Is that the guy you were talking about yesterday with Koenma?" Kaiya looked to Yukina and nodded. "Didn't you say Jiro had something to do with him?"

"Yeah," Kaiya muttered. "Maya left a note saying that there was another psychic that worked for Kiense back in the day, but he broke away from the group. She hadn't met him, just heard of him. The real Kiense was not about death and destruction at all, and obviously being a demon made him believe that not all demons were evil. Jiro obviously did not like that ideology and formed a group of psychic demon hunters instead."

Vegeta growled. This whole situation was starting to irritate him. For someone who was connected to his sister's mind, he sure couldn't pick out her point any quicker. And why couldn't he see anything from her memories about past fights she had been in with? He knew nothing of her fight with Mayonaka, nor this Kiense demon, and certainly not when Jiro attacked her. He only saw flashes of the battle they had with him after. Similarly, she didn't see all the defining moments of his fights either, like when he fought Kakarot or Frieza. She knew of the things he did, but not much about it. This power obviously had its limits.

"How was there this other Kiense?" Yukina asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"There was a teenaged girl working for him named Suze," Kaiya explained. "And she had an ability that allowed her to replace alternate versions of the person she used the ability on. Kiense was very passive, but he knew he needed more aggression to go against Spirit World. He ended up replaced with a more sinister and sadistic version of himself, and that's why Maya was against us at first. She was trying to protect her actual boyfriend who was trapped in another universe. Anyway, the guy we had to deal with decided to attack me when Hiei and I found him. Kiense is a fire demon, so there was a small rivalry going on between the three of us. This scar if from the severe burn he left. He seemed to know that my left hand was my dominant hand. Hiei wasn't happy about it."

"I didn't know any of that," Yukina said sadly. "No one tells me these things. I've learned more this past day about stuff with Spirit World than the whole time I knew the guys."

"Yukina, don't worry," Kaiya told her. "Honestly, the stuff we weren't there for, we had to blackmail the guys into telling us. The rest we've experienced. If you don't have to experience it, we'd rather you not. You've seen enough in your life." Kaiya gestured to Yukina's covered arms, reminding Yukina that she had scars of her own. Her not knowing everything going on was a way to protect her. She already knew a lot more ever since Hiei admitted he was her brother.

"You're right, Kaiya," she said sweetly. "Thank you."

"No problem," Kaiya told her as the bots brought food over to the table. "Now, let's eat. I'm starving."

Vegeta saw a side of Kaiya that day that he hadn't seen before. She lived true to her nature; she could be upset one minute and then happy the next, not letting what she was upset about affect her. She acknowledged her past scars with pride and dignity and refused to let another be ashamed of their own. When she smiled at him, he realized that she was taking pages from his book. He too was never concerned with such superficial appearances and took pride in both his past successes and failures (although his failures left him more angered). He was still irritated by this whole telepathy thing, but it was mitigated slightly by the respect he held for his sister. All she needed now was to train herself and develop a new style and she would be a Saiyan warrior worth contending.

"We don't know what time we'll be back," Alexia told Kuronue. "Kaiya wanted Mayonaka and me to meet her at Genkai's."

Kuronue had returned home in the morning to check on the girls. He was not happy when the two of them were suggesting that he stay there and let them run to Genkai's. He shook his head and crossed his arms in reply. There was no way he was letting the girls go there alone, especially when he would still be training there. "Please, Kuronue," Alexia pleaded. "It's important."

"The only reason I allowed you to stay on your own last night was because you were protected by Kurama's plants and staying in one spot," he stated. "There is nothing you can do or say that will cause me to let you go gallivanting to Genkai's temple alone, especially when I need to go back there."

"Fine," Alexia sighed, "but can you at least take training into the forest or something. Kaiya said that it's a private discussion."

"I can do that," Kuronue said with a nod. Alexia looked away from him for a moment, the bat demon growing concerned at her behavior. "Alexia, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," she lied. "Kaiya just has something she needs mine and Mayonaka's help on."

Kuronue didn't buy it, but it was obvious that Alexia didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering her. He knew from the past that pushing her would not lead her to open up, but to become more closed off, especially considering his thieving past and her current spy profession. The fact that she had allowed herself to get closer to him within the last year was a giant leap forward. He wasn't going to ruin what little trust she was putting in him.

"I'll take you two there now."

"Hey, Bulma," Yamcha greeted awkwardly. He found her outside by the pool and decided now would be as good a time as any to apologize for their fight. "Look, I didn't mean to blow up on you, especially on something as petty as two Saiyans staying her." Bulma didn't respond to him, just stared at him waiting for him to continue. "I don't want them to come between us and I guess I just felt a little left out since your attention was mostly on them."

Bulma shook her head. "Are you done?" she asked him. When Yamcha nodded, she let out a bitter chuckle. "That was so not an apology, Yamcha."

Yamcha sighed in frustration. "What do you want from me, Bulma?" he nearly shouted. "You aren't exactly making it any easier by siding with them on EVERYTHING! How do you expect me to react?"

Bulma stood up and walked over to her currently ex-boyfriend. She pointed a finger into his chest and poked him with nearly every statement she spoke. "You do not get to decide what I do with my time; you do not get to decide who I invite into my home; and you certainly do not get to decide who I give my attention to. If you had paid any attention while you were here, you would have gathered that Kaiya is dealing with something no child should go through."

"She's an adult, Bulma," Yamcha muttered.

"Shut up," she ordered. "I'm not done. I'm not talking about age, Yamcha. Come on…you grew up on your own, right? You remember how painful that was, right? She grew up without her father for the most part and her mother is not here to help her deal with all of this."

"She's not human, Bulma," Yamcha tried to point out.

"So?" Bulma snapped. "She was raised human, by a human. Before Frieza got her and before her father killed her, she was a normal human with fire abilities. She didn't ask for this, and damn it, I was going to help her through it. I don't know if you noticed but both me and her barely hang out around other females, so I'm sorry if you felt left out when I took time to spend with her."

"Okay, fine," Yamcha muttered. "I'll give you that, but what's with you hanging out with and defending Vegeta all the time? He tried to kill us, Bulma. He succeeded in killing me! How do you forget that?"

"I didn't forget it," Bulma admitted. "Look, I saw a lot of stuff about him…stuff I will NOT tell you because it really wasn't any of my business to begin with. I found out because I went behind his back, but he's not as bad as he seems, Yamcha. If you let go of whatever anger you have towards him, you'll see what I see."

"What do you see, Bulma?" Yamcha scowled. "Because all I can see is the guy who keeps bragging about his power, the Super Saiyan legend, and blatantly says that he wants to kill Goku and destroy the planet. Remember Goku…our childhood friend? Does that tell you anything?"

"He also said he wants to fight the androids, and Yamcha, I hate to say this, but we need all the help we can get with that," Bulma reminded him. "Besides, I don't think Vegeta wants to destroy the planet anymore. It's his sister's home. You have no idea how much she impacts him. As for his rivalry with Goku, I think that's changed to. I mean, he let me take her to meet him so that she'd have protection for a day he wasn't available. Who knows what will happen when the androids are gone, but I don't think it's that cut and dry anymore."

"And what if you're wrong?" Yamcha challenged. "What if he's playing all of you and he still plans on destroying us despite what it would do to his sister. A leopard doesn't change his spots, Bulma."

"Yamcha, this is exactly why I broke up with you," the woman pointed out. "No one can change? What about you? What about Tien and Chiaotzu? What about Piccolo for Kami's sake? Why shouldn't we let Vegeta have the freedom to change? Why hang onto the past when that clearly isn't a factor? Goku accepted it. He was the first one to let Vegeta go."

"He let Frieza go," Yamcha said deadpanned. "I love the guy, but there are times where I can't agree with his decision."

"Yamcha, we can't keep having the same argument," Bulma said in exasperation. She was getting tired of defending absolutely every choice that everyone has made, especially her own. Back when she invited Vegeta to stay, she was being a Good Samaritan. The estranged Saiyan had no place to go…at all. There was nowhere he could go, even into space, unless he had returned home with her. Lately, she had been accepting her initial impulse more and more. Yes, Vegeta was still distant, arrogant, and generally annoying, but he was also more playful, dare she say kinder, and he was incredibly protective of a sister he found because of her father's invention. If she had the opportunity to go back in time and take back her invite, she wouldn't. Everything had happened for the better.

"You're right," Yamcha told her. "But I don't agree with any of this."

"And I don't want to keep hearing about it," she retorted. "So here's the deal. This breakup still stands, unless you can stay completely silent on this matter. If I have to hear it again, I'll sick the fire demon on you. Hiei still can't stand you, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Yamcha muttered. "It was harmless flirtation. They need to get over it."

Bulma shook her head. "No, Yamcha," she said quietly. "You do."

"I can't."

The two humans stared at each other, ignoring the wind that was picking up. Bulma shivered slightly as the cool air grazed her skin, but stood her ground nonetheless. Yamcha frowned and then sighed, his head cocking away from her. "I guess this is it, huh?" he asked. "Ten years ruined because of drama over Saiyans."

Bulma narrowed her eyes at him. "I guess it is." She wasn't going to place blame anywhere, even though this was all on him. "Goodbye, Yamcha."

"Yeah, see ya," he whispered before flying away from the compound.

Vegeta jumped down from the tree he had been resting in before the two voices had woken him up. When his feet touched down, Bulma huffed in frustration. "How much did you hear?" she asked. She wasn't mad that he overhead. She definitely learned enough about him and Kaiya by overhearing things that did not concern her. With how loud they were being, she was surprised that her neighbors hadn't complained about the fight. At least the fight did concern Vegeta somewhat.

Vegeta didn't answer her. He just stared as she crossed her arms and started rubbing them with her hands. She was shivering, and Vegeta was again reminded of human weakness. He took off the shirt he was wearing and held it out for her to take, which she did. It covered her like an incredibly short dress would. "Thanks," she mumbled before growing silent again. She looked up at the sky and realized that it was growing increasingly dark. "I guess it's going to storm. I hope Kaiya decides to stay at the temple. It would suck for her to get caught in this."

Vegeta searched for his sister's energy, as well as heard her thoughts. Hiei shared with her the same sentiment. "She is staying," Vegeta assured Bulma.

"Good," she replied. Then she half-smiled at the Saiyan prince. "I guess we're on our own tonight."

Vegeta shrugged, ignoring the strange feeling seeing her smile tugged on. "Apparently."

"We should get inside now," she suggested. Grabbing her towel, she began to walk back towards the house. Vegeta had yet to follow her. He saw he shoulders slump before registering an irritated, "You coming?"

"Hmph," he responded, stubbornly crossing his arms and then following Bulma back into the compound.

"I hate it when he trains," Mizuki muttered. "It always causes these freaky thunderstorms."

"Get over it, Miyu," Jake snapped using his nickname for the girl. "It's been a while since I've seen his abilities in action."

"You actually approve of the way he killed his daughter?" Mizuki hesitantly asked.

"You don't?" Jake questioned without taking his eyes off of his master. "Miyu, she's a demon. Even if she was human before, she sided with demons. She betrayed our master. Whatever she's experienced as a result of her treachery, she deserves."

"You betrayed her cousin," Mizuki reminded him. "Are you saying that she deserved to be punished and you don't?"

"Actually, I didn't betray Nariko," Jake countered. "She confided in me about her cousin being a demon. I was only planning on going after Kaiya when I found out she was Jiro's daughter. I would have let Nariko go, but she chose Kaiya and therefore betrayed me. She's just like that demon hybrid, and I won't tolerate betrayal."

Mizuki wasn't even going to point out that Nariko would have been betraying Kaiya if she truly sided with the demon hunters, and that would have meant betraying her family. Yeah, Kaiya had betrayed her family for her friends and boyfriend, but she had to have had a good reason. Seeing Jiro shoot his electrical attacks at unsuspecting villages in the distance led her to think differently of the group she joined. Unfortunately she was in way too deep now, and betrayal and doubt would be punished. She only hoped that Jiro would be unsuccessful and that her boyfriend would get over his obsession with the demon hunters. Jake needed to snap out of it.

"Did you tell Kuwabara?" Kaiya asked. Yukina responded with a nod. "And?"

"He's excited about being a father," Yukina told her joyfully. "He's already talking about names and applying for a position at Capsule Corp. that Bulma's dad offered him. He says it has good hours and pay, and he gets vacation time, so it wouldn't be like we wouldn't see each other. I don't really understand the concept of a job."

"Don't worry about it," Kaiya said laughing slightly. "That's all good news. It means that it's a really good job that won't take his time away from you or the babies. It also means that whatever work he's been doing at Capsule Corp., Dr. Briefs must really be impressed with him."

"That's good to know," Yukina said happily. "So…have you spoken to Hiei yet?"

Kaiya felt bad that she hadn't. When she got there, Hiei had already been out in the forest training. She and the girls had yet to go over her mission she accepted from Koenma. Kaiya had hoped that they would return to Capsule Corp. that night so she could tell him both about the mission and about Yukina's pregnancy, but with the storm, driving was not the best idea. She would have to take her chances and tell him and hope he didn't decide to go after Kuwabara while they were all trapped at the temple.

"I will tell him when he gets back from training," Kaiya replied. "I'll tell him about the mission first so that he's angrier at Koenma than Kuwabara."

"What is this mission exactly?" another voice asked. Kaiya looked above her to see Kuwabara's older sister, Shizuru, standing over her.

"Glad you can make it," Kaiya told her. "Now that you got here, I need to talk to you, Maya, Lexi, and Botan about it."

"Why are you dragging me into this?" Botan whined.

"Because you were Yusuke's assistant as Spirit Detective, and we may need that knowledge with this case," Kaiya explained. "Blame Koenma for doing this."

"Do I want to know?" Alexia asked, entering the room. "I'm getting nervous, especially since your treating this like a spy case."

"I don't know what kind of case it is," Kaiya admitted. "It was the only thing I could do to get Koenma to be lenient on any of us if we had to kill Jiro again."

"You have got to be kidding," Mayonaka grumbled. "Is he trying to get us killed?"

"I haven't decided yet," Kaiya returned sarcastically. "Okay, so let's look at this case file. I want to know what exactly we're doing before I tell Hiei what Koenma's putting me through."

"Great," Shizuru replied. "But why are we here exactly?"

"Well, Koenma said I could make my own team, and honestly, I'd rather have you girls with me than the guys. I mean, they're training, and also, they'd be pissed about this, plus Koenma wants me to do this because they're training. I trust all of our abilities to figure this stuff out."

"I'm game," Shizuru replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, me too," Mayonaka agreed. "It's the least I can do for everything that happened with Kiense." Alexia cringed, looking a little apprehensive about it, but only Mayonaka seemed to notice and flashed her a questioning look. Alexia shook her head and went back to listening.

"I want to help too," Yukina said, shocking everyone. "What?"

"Yukina," Kaiya started, "not that I don't love you like my own sister, but you aren't really trained for stuff like this. And you have to think about two other people and what could happen to them."

Yukina knew Kaiya was talking about the pregnancy, but the way she worded it led the others to believe she was talking about Hiei and Kuwabara. "I know," she said calmly, "but I can help heal you guys. I don't want to be kept in the dark again."

Kaiya pursed her lips together. She really did understand where Yukina was coming from, but she couldn't be the one to agree to putting Hiei's little sister in danger. Whether he loved her or not, he would never forgive her if something was to happen to Yukina. "I'll discuss it with Hiei later," she offered. "I can't go behind Hiei's back and agree to letting you come when I know he won't approve."

"Thank you for trying at least," Yukina responded, smiling.

"So…the file," Shizuru said bringing Kaiya's attention back to the mission.

"Right, right," Kaiya responded opening the red folder. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the location of this mission. "Greece?" Mayonaka nearly passed out when she heard that.

"What does it say, Kaiya?" Alexia asked, ignoring her other cousin banging her head on the table.

"Well," Kaiya breathed out, "Koenma is an asshole, I have to admit. Some guy that used to be a demon hunter under my father broke away after Jiro was killed and came up with his own team centered in Greece, the place where Mayonaka was raised and met Kiense."

Shizuru lit her cigarette and took a long drag before motioning to Mayonaka's unconscious form. "Is that why she just knocked herself out?"

"Pretty much," Kaiya muttered. "And Kurama was right."

"About what?" Botan inquired.

"Well, it's obvious Koenma knows who this guy is or he wouldn't have a general location, picture of a man in a cloak, or details on the man's goals," she pointed out, "but he gave us no name and no exact location save a city. When he did that with Kiense, Kurama told me he also did this on the Sensui case and that the reason he is so hesitant to release more info is because he feels we can't win."

Alexia looked slightly nervous, as well as Botan, although Botan was more nervous because she knew what Kaiya was saying was the truth. He always sent Yusuke on cases he knew he shouldn't be able to win because he felt he had no other choice. Shizuru stopped smoking only for a moment to give her feelings on the situation.

"So let me get this straight," she said calmly. "My baby bro has been helping Yusuke with these cases for how long now? And every time, Koenma has given them nothing useful in regards to information?"

"You mad?" Kaiya asked.

"Nope, not mad," Shizuru replied stoically. "Furious is more like it, but whatever. So you have to do…what exactly?"

"Well, for mission goals it says find the base, disband the small team (at least we know its small), and bring the leader to Spirit World for questioning," Kaiya reported. "That's it."

"So, to recap, a baby deity who is supposed to have power and knowledge of everything so that his teams can actually fight is holding back information that could save us a lot of time and energy, and possibly our lives, yet refuses to give us said information because of his fears that the girl he demanded to take this case can't win," Shizuru points out. "That girl happens to be the girlfriend of a feisty and powerful fire demon with an incredibly bad temper and friends with more demons that hold more weight in the three worlds than he does. All the while, he's using this case as blackmail to allow you guys to defend yourselves, and ignoring the fact that if word gets out, he'll have four powerful demons, my brother, and steroid driven aliens ready to tear him a new one."

"To be fair, Saiyans don't use steroids," Kaiya corrected. "They train…a lot, and have a ton of power."

"Case and point," Shizuru stated monotonously. "Koenma is signing his own death warrant. It would be much easier to grant you the right to defend yourself now than to just say 'make a team and bring this bad guy in for questioning.' What is he going to ask you to do next? Bring Jiro in for questioning? Because honestly kid, you don't deserve that."

"Jiro won't be brought in for questioning," Kaiya assured her. "If there wasn't anything Koenma wanted to know from him before, there's nothing now. I know all I need to know. He's the reason nearly an entire race is dead. The only good thing that came out of that was that the crazy lizard decided to experiment on me, and now I have a brother. Everything else, he can't make up for."

"I don't even want to know how I ended up in Greece and not part of the deal," Mayonaka said, finally regaining consciousness. "I mean, if he was there when we were born, how did we get separated?"

"Maya," Kaiya started, "you really don't want me to answer that." She looked back down to the files and said. "Okay, pretty much, we're all, give or take Yukina which we won't know until I actually talk to Hiei, going to Greece to disband a separate team of demon hunters. He's going to give us an allowance for anything we need from housing to travel. Is there anything else we need to consider?"

"We're going to Greece," Mayonaka said. "So I think that those who know the lay of the land should be waiting there for us. Want me to give Kiense a call?"

"Sure," Kaiya replied. "We need all the help we can get."

Hiei knew something was up when he came in and Kaiya was still awake. He knew it wasn't the storm as the soundproof room blocked out the sounds. Finding her reading was also not a good sign, especially since school was over. It usually meant that she was using it as an excuse to stay up later than she should, which also made him feel uneasy as she did that the night Jiro attacked her. He could have questioned her on it, but instead stayed quiet getting out of his bloodied shirt and getting into the bed.

He lied on his side next to her, leaving the light on and waiting for her to speak. "I'm not washing that," she said smoothly causing the fire demon to chuckle. She always managed to break the tension somehow.

"What, in that red folder, are you finding so interesting?" he mumbled into the pillow.

"Oh, that," she replied wryly. "Um, yeah, so about Koenma…"

Hiei's amusement disappeared in a flash as he sat up and faced her. "What?" he growled through gritted teeth.

"Well," Kaiya started hesitantly, "he offered me a way to 'allow' us to defend ourselves. He just wants me to go on this case without you guys and told me to make my own team for it. And not to add insult to injury, but Yukina kind of wants to help too. I told her I'd talk to you about that and…something else."

"I swear if Koenma has any conditions regarding her in this-"

"No, no, it's not that," Kaiya continued nervously. "It's just, well, you never told me your birthday was a few weeks ago."

"I don't celebrate my birthday," Hiei stated factually. "You knew this."

"Yeah, I know that," Kaiya sighed, "but it is Yukina's birthday too. And, well, Hiei, how old are you?"

"You're joking, right?"

"Answer the question!"

"I thought you didn't care about that," Hiei muttered while lying back down.

"I don't, Hiei," Kaiya said in reassurance. "It's just that, you and Yukina are twins. Please just answer the question."

"And you get mad at me for beating around the bush," Hiei retorted. "I'm one hundred years old, Kaiya." After he said it, something in his mind clicked. "Oh."

"Yeah," Kaiya agreed. "Yukina is pregnant and…there's kind of more."

Hiei's eyes burned with anger and irritation. "Is this your way at getting back at me for all the times I've been indirect?"

"It's not that, Hiei," Kaiya breathed out. "It's that, it's difficult to say…Yukina is having twins."

For a second, Hiei was silent before he began to chuckle wryly. "That's funny, Kaiya," he said jokingly, although she could feel his energy fluctuating slightly. "It sounds like you said she's having twins, but the only way that could happen is that the idiot did something he shouldn't."

"Hiei," Kaiya said carefully. "Just stay calm, okay? They're kind of mated now, and Kuwabara is planning to marry her and be there for her and the kids. Everything is fine."

Hiei sat up, ignoring Kaiya's hand on his back. He walked across the room, picking up his sword. He acted as though he was admiring the sheathed weapon. Kaiya was growing even more concerned by Hiei's silence than when he was trying to play off the situation. She got out of the bed to take a few steps his way. His eyes froze her in place and he motioned for her to sit on the bed. Kaiya's body responded before her mind even registered that he was at the bedroom door.

"Don't worry, Kaiya," he said in a dangerously low and playful voice. "This won't take long."

Kaiya just sat in the room as he left it trying to figure out what he was planning on doing. Yukina was not going to be happy when Hiei showed up at her room. Surely he wouldn't think about harming Kuwabara, or at least she hoped he wouldn't. Then she thought about her own brother and briefly wondered what he would do if she were in Yukina's position. "I don't even want to know," she whispered before closing the light in the room. The only thing her mind processed was lying down on the bed hoping that Hiei would keep his cool.

The next morning, Kaiya woke up and it was utterly silent. There was no storm outside, evidence given by the sun peeking through the semi-closed window. She heard no footsteps or voices, which was rare when Genkai had a full house. There was no sound of the tea kettle going off, which it always seemed to. Worst of all, Hiei was not lying next to her in bed.

She could have assumed the worse, that he boyfriend mutilated Kuwabara, but she decided to go for something different. Getting out of bed and tossing on a robe, she left the comfort of the room and went outside. She smiled at what she saw.

Hiei was sitting in silence, seething, at the outside table with Yukina and Kuwabara. Kuwabara seemed nervous, but Yukina was smiling. Obviously something good had come out of whatever happened the night before. When Hiei saw Kaiya, he looked incredibly relieved.

"Good morning, Kaiya," Yukina greeted. "Breakfast?"

"Sure, Yukina," Kaiya replied with a smile. She took a seat next to Hiei and grabbed his hand which he instantly accepted and laced their fingers together, squeezing it incredibly hard. Kaiya had to force herself not to laugh at his behavior. It was obvious he still wanted to take out Kuwabara and was trying to refrain with every fiber of his being. She gently rubbed his hand with her thumb, loosening his grip on her slightly.

"So," Kuwabara started awkwardly, "Hiei told me about Koenma and he said Yukina wanted to go with you."

Kaiya nodded at the redhead. "Yeah. Your sister, Botan, Maya, Alexia, and I were talking about it and Yukina wants to help. Maya is contacting Kiense. Most likely we'll be seeing him, Marissa, and possibly Toshi, although they'll probably have Toshi stay with the kids for protection, so yeah."

"You are taking Kuwabara with you," Hiei demanded. "He will be looking after Yukina." Kaiya realized that's why Yukina was so happy, other than her brother sparing her boyfriend and apparently mate. "I want you to ask Vegeta to go with you."

Kaiya frowned at that. She knew she had to tell Vegeta about everything, but she really didn't want to. She'd rather him be pissed at her when she told him that she was going to be skipping out on training for a few weeks, especially after the previous day's training session. She had a lot of work to do, and she knew Vegeta wasn't pleased with that. Yeah, he would be mad about it, but she'd rather him be mad at her temporarily than Spirit World indefinitely. "I'm not going to do that, Hiei," she told him without room for argument. "If I did, he'd try going to Koenma and then we'd need a new Spirit World ruler."

"That's a bad thing?" Hiei questioned. "Look, if you don't tell him, I will."

"Hiei," Kaiya nearly growled. "I never forced you to tell Yukina about who you were." Kuwabara's eyes bugged out when he heard Kaiya admit she knew and kept quiet. "You should not demand I tell Vegeta anything I don't want to tell him. We have a lot of people involved, and now Kuwabara too. We'll be okay, Hiei. I will be fine."

Hiei did not have a counter for her, but instead narrowed his eyes at the human across from them. Kuwabara cringed, pushing himself as far back in his chair as he could, but not removing his eyes that were captured by Hiei's. "If anything happens to either of them, I'll kill you."

Kuwabara laughed nervously and held up his hands. "Don't worry. I'll take care of 'em. We are all family after all."

Hiei nodded and then looked to Kaiya forcefully. Kaiya sighed knowing that Hiei wanted to talk in private. "We'll be right back," she told Kuwabara.

When they were out of earshot, on the outskirts of Genkai's forest, she turned to Hiei and placed her hands on his shoulders. "So what happened after you ordered me to stay in the room?"

"I went to attack him," Hiei stated, plain and simple. "I couldn't."

"What do you mean?" Kaiya asked, though she was happy about Hiei's restraint.

Hiei sighed as he remembered the scene from the previous night.

He had slammed open the door, katana in hand, but it seemed the two had expected his reaction and were not fazed by it. Kuwabara and Yukina were sitting on a small couch while the human was gently rubbing her stomach smiling like an idiot. He looked over to Hiei who embodied bewilderment. He didn't remember a time he'd seen his sister so happy before, other than when he finally confessed to being her brother.

"Hey, Hiei," Kuwabara greeted softly. "Hold on; we can talk outside." He turned back to Yukina. "Don't worry; we'll be back soon my sweet."

Yukina giggled and rolled her eyes, but kissed Kuwabara on the cheek. "I know," she told him. She smiled over to Hiei and nodded to him to show him her understanding of his reaction.

Kuwabara got up from the couch and walked over to Hiei who was still looking into the room dumbfounded. Kuwabara paused at the door and whispered, "Come on, this can't be that shocking. Let's go."

Hiei was a little taken aback by the forcefulness in Kuwabara's voice, but simply narrowed his eyes and conveyed a message through telepathy. Whatever, human, but believe me, make one wrong move or comment and you are dead.

Kuwabara inaudibly chuckled. "Right, Hiei."

They went outside of the temple and Kuwabara looked up at the stormy sky, though the stars were still visible. "Man, it's hard to conceive the idea of all of that having some other race, you know? I wonder how Kaiya's dealing with it."

"Point one against you," Hiei growled. "Leave Kaiya out of this."

Kuwabara audibly chuckled this time. "Wasn't trying to bring her into it, Hiei. My relationship with Yukina is a completely separate thing. I know that."

"Hn," Hiei replied, katana still in hand. As he played with the hilt in his hand, staring at it, he considered what exactly he had to say to this human, his "brother-in-law" as Kaiya would term him.

"I love her, Hiei," Kuwabara stated. "I know you don't like it, but I do. I would do anything for her to make her happy, and I would give up my life before I'd let anything happen to her and now to our children. I don't care about whatever laws you two came from. Other than your mother and sister and maybe that woman who raised her and told her about you (and that's a big maybe), the other ice maidens are trash in my mind. No one should ever do what they did to any of you. If they ever turn up again to come after our kids, trust me, they won't get the chance. With Yukina here in Human World, she never has to worry about that stuff ever again, and honestly, neither do you."

Hiei didn't say anything, although he did release a sigh of both frustration and reluctant acceptance. "Yukina and Kaiya are the two most important people in my life," he admitted. "You are taking partial responsibility for one of them. If I sense anything wrong, her physical wellbeing or her emotional happiness, there will be nowhere in all three worlds or that crazy universe up there," he nodded his head towards the sky, "that you will be able to hide."

As the Jagan glowed underneath his headband, Kuwabara smiled. "That's how it should be, Hiei. Brothers are always supposed to protect their sisters. I'd be acting the same way with whatever guy Shizuru would be dating, and she's older than me."

Hiei took this piece of information Kuwabara was giving him and he couldn't help but agree. After all, Vegeta went after him when he found out about Kaiya. He was surprised that he too was going through the motions like everyone else.

"Wait, is that why you and Vegeta wanted to train alone that one day?" Kaiya interrupted.

"Yes," Hiei replied curtly. Well, that discussion was over.

"So you're okay with all of this?" Kaiya pressed cautiously. Where she didn't want to provoke Hiei, she did want to make sure he wouldn't be going after Kuwabara anytime soon.

"No," Hiei answered honestly, "but I will accept it, only for Yukina and her kids."

Kaiya nodded and moved her hands down Hiei's arms to his hands. "You're a good brother, Hiei," she said sincerely. "And you're going to be an amazing uncle. Don't forget that, okay?"

Hiei nodded, blushing slightly, and then looked back to the porch. "You need to eat," he reminded her. "You're going to need all the energy you can get dealing with this mission."

Kaiya had to agree with him. She still wasn't certain on what to expect. The good news was that this time, unlike her first mission with Spirit World, there was only one city that needed investigating so her team wouldn't be completely separated. If they needed each other, it wouldn't take an hour or two to get there. At least they had that going for them. And she also had her new move which would come in handy. Now she just had to get out of training, and was prepared to be berated for it.

Jiro was ecstatic after releasing his energy the previous night. It had been a long time since he fought. HFIL definitely didn't allow him to reach his full potential since his spirit energy was locked away, a move of caution on Otherworld's part. He had to laugh about that whole scenario.

Koenma planned on sentencing him to Limbo, but Jiro didn't seem to care for the treatment he'd receive there. He knew that it was hell to be sentenced there, and so he used his carefully planned acting skills to play it off as no more than a minor bee sting compared to what he deserved. Like his daughter, Koenma was responsive to his lies and he was handed over to King Yemma. Seems the Spirit World ruler was not apt in taking over his father's, King Enma's, position. That worked to his advantage.

The Spirit World ruler was still following his father's old laws. That would be terrible for him if he were to die again, but perfect for his life in the living. As long as he was human, his daughter and her friends couldn't touch him. They'd be imprisoned for eternity if they did that, or worse. She would again be left unprotected. His only concern was the two full-blooded Saiyans.

He hated his daughter for befriending demons, but he hated her more for befriending Saiyans. From what he observed, the girl definitely knew about Frieza and his experimentation, meaning she knew of her Saiyan abilities and her ties to the Saiyan prince. That would be the biggest challenge to overcome. You would think he'd be more concerned about the Saiyan who defeated Frieza, but he knew from the grapevine that Kakarot, or Goku, or whatever he called himself, was kindhearted. Like his daughter, he would not kill unless he absolutely had to. Vegeta was different. The prince would kill him without a second thought and wash the blood from his hands erasing the memory of him out of existence.

Jiro frowned when he thought about the murderous look the Saiyan prince graced him with. It was almost as if he was saying, "Enjoy life now, because I'm coming for you." He didn't know much about him except that he was one of Frieza's top soldiers until his rebellious side shone through. After that, Frieza began sending the Saiyans on either missions where they would easily succeed, so that they would not increase their strength as much, or missions they wouldn't be able to complete on time, to force them to receive punishments. Now that the prince was free and Frieza was gone, Jiro had no protection from him.

Still, after his powerful display the previous night, he was not concerned. Electricity seemed to have a negative effect on Saiyans, a reason Kaiya was killed so easily. He'd need to catch the prince off-guard as he had with Kaiya. Jiro was not an idiot to believe that Vegeta would just let him attack.

"Master." Jake entered the room Jiro was residing in, breaking him from his thoughts.

"What?" he said with a slight snap in his voice. "Did you get what I asked?"

"Yes sir," Jake said as he gently placed a broken mirror on the nightstand. "The Forlorn Hope, as you requested. Still, this broken mirror can't possibly serve you in any way. Why use it, if I may ask?"

"Yes, you may," Jiro stated sincerely. "You have earned my trust, Jake. You did well in my absence, and even found the way to bring me back. I meant what I said yesterday. You shall be rewarded greatly."

"Thank you, master," Jake replied with a small bow though Jiro was not facing him. "So what is the plan?"

"There are few things I want to have happen from all of this," Jiro started. "One is that I want my daughter to pay with her life, but now I think I want to further that. I want that brat to lose everything she holds dear, including the one world she still has no clue about."

"Which is?" Jake asked, now confused since the girl was a part of two words she knew little about.

"I'm talking about Demon World," Jiro elaborated. "My purpose in going there, and do NOT speak of this to Mizuki, is simple. Once our team has strengthened, they should be holding their big tournament. I want to kill all of the favorites to win, including the current pacifist that balanced the three worlds. It would send their world into complete chaos, and even better, Kaiya would lose her friends and lover in the process."

"But then the demons would be free to enter our world since the barrier is down," Jake pointed out his only doubt. "What then?"

"That is what the forlorn hope is for," Jiro explained. "When the time comes, if it comes, and we cannot defend ourselves from the demons, we will simply wish them away with the mirror. Despite its broken appearance, it still works. Why else would Spirit World continue to protect a useless relic? If we need to, we will have one of the lower ranked soldiers make the wish that all demons be eliminated from this world. The mirror will exchange his life for our wish to come true, and then we will have succeeded in purging the world of all demons."

Jake smirked at his master's plan. It sounded completely thought out and flawless. Mizuki, from the outside of the room, had also heard and shook her head. It wasn't flawless to her, but cowardly. It would just be erasing the problem. Not all demons were bad, and even Jiro knew that. What he was doing was completely unethical. Still, Mizuki was concerned for her siblings, and there was nothing she could do against his electrical abilities. Her only hope was that the spirit detectives would stop him.

"I don't believe I heard you correctly," Vegeta said in a forced calm. He couldn't believe that after one day of serious training, his sister was asking to skip out on it for the next few weeks. Skipping training was a serious offense to him. Depending on how she answered would determine how he was going to deal with her.

Kaiya was doing her best to guard her thoughts from Vegeta. She didn't want him flipping out at Spirit World, so she knew she'd be taking the brunt of his anger. After hearing his voice, she knew she'd have to choose her words carefully. "It's not like I want to skip out on training," Kaiya started, "but the girls and I have something we have to take care of. I'll work on the things we did yesterday and then work on perfecting the moves I have already. When I get back you could put me through training three weeks straight if you want, but this is something I NEEDto do."

Kaiya didn't know what hit her when she went flying into a tree and caught herself. She stared at Vegeta, shocked that he attacked her like that. He saw the hurt reflected on her face but paid it no mind as he marched over to her.

"If you couldn't block that," he growled, staring at her like a predator stares at prey, "then you have no business doing whatever the hell you think you 'need' to do!" He punched the tree next to the girl holding back in his strength as not to break it. "There is a madman after you that wants to kill you!" he reminded her angrily. "Your training has NOT prepared you for ANYTHING! Wherever you go, you will be in constant danger and you are completely disregarding it!"

"Well actually-"

"NO!" Vegeta shouted. "You are listening to what I am saying! I don't want to hear your excuses! What is so damn important that you would risk your life?"

"Yours is!" Kaiya yelled out, tears starting to fall. "Vegeta, I don't want to tell you, okay? Just this once, let me do what I have to do! I don't want to skip out on training and if I had it my way, I wouldn't be! I don't want to die again, and I don't want Jiro to hurt anyone, but I also don't want anybody hurt because they go after Jiro!"

Kaiya pushed past Vegeta and ran into the compound as Bulma was coming outside to alert Vegeta to his fixed training bots. She stared blankly at the Saiyan after she watched Kaiya ascend the stairs in tears. Both of them could hear her sobs before the sound of a door slamming, and then after that, Vegeta could only pick up on muffled sounds through her window.

"What did I just walk in on?" Bulma questioned. Vegeta just grunted and stormed off to the GR.

He was still angry with Kaiya for asking to stop training, especially for how long she was asking. Her words were not lost on him, but Kaiya still had a responsibility to herself to perfect her abilities and defense or her life would be ended a second time. Now, the telepathy was affecting him yet again as he heard thoughts of how upset she was at him for his reaction. The Saiyan was not sorry for it. She needed some sense knocked into her after what he had seen these past two days. She was living in her own little dream world it seemed, which made sense considering how she could change from sad, angered, or irritated to completely happy. The one thought that did concern him though was that she felt betrayed. Vegeta stopped training when he heard that. There was no possible way she could ever think he betrayed her. He could never be a danger to her, despite the occasional hit. He had honestly held back and managed not to treat her the way he treated other weaklings, the way he treated Nappa. He wasn't planning on killing her, ever.

When Hiei got home, he found Kaiya curled into a ball on their bed, crying her eyes out, and he didn't know why. He tried to get into her mind, but she was already fighting to block her thoughts and he not want to startle her by breaking her forced barrier. Instead he placed her hand on her back. Kaiya gasped and then looked up to see Hiei. The tears started again, as she had hoped to see Vegeta to talk. Unfortunately for her, in her mind, he didn't want to deal with her. She had disappointed him, something she never wanted to do.

"Hiei," she spoke hoarsely, "I think I'm going to call the girls so we can leave tonight. I need to get this done."

"What happened in the last two hours to upset you like this?" Hiei asked in concern. Kaiya cried a lot of the time, but only a few tears or small sobs. She hadn't been like this for a very long time, since she had told him about her past with Jiro in fact, and he hated it even worse since it spoke volumes to the pain she was actually in.

"Nothing," she lied as her voice cracked. "Let it go. I just need to leave. You can tell Bulma tomorrow, but I can't stay here another minute…not now."

Hiei shook his head. He was completely confused as to what was going on with Kaiya. Sighing, he asked, "How long are you anticipating being gone?"

"Three weeks," she told him, and then added, "which will be good for me. I need to do this."

"Kaiya," Hiei growled, "what the hell happened? What has you this eager to jump into danger unprepared? Who upset you? Did you see Jiro? Did Koenma put you up to something else? WHAT?"

"Leave me alone!" Kaiya shouted, burying herself in her pillow. "Just let me deal. I'll call you when we get to Greece, okay? Stay with Kurama so you have phone access."

"I will get you to tell me what happened eventually, Kaiya," he stated, "but for now, for you, I will let it go. As for after the mission, if you are to stay gone any longer, I want you to call me and I will go wherever you need me to. I'd rather limit how long you're alone."

Kaiya nodded in acceptance of Hiei's condition. She knew he was only looking out for her, especially because he didn't want to lose her again. "I need to pack," she told him as she started to calm down and wipe the tears away. Hiei looked at her intensely, and she stepped back slightly. "What?"

Hiei moved his hands to take his hiruiseki stone from around his neck. Kaiya had no idea what he was doing before he placed it over hers. She could feel the demon energy radiating off of it, but could also feel the gem's calming effect.

"I just want you to take it with you," he told her. "If you run into any demons on whatever this mission is, they'll know you are taken."

Kaiya smiled and nodded, wiping away the last of her tears. "Thanks, Hiei," she whispered.

"Hn," came his usual, simple reply. "I'm going to go shower. I'll tell Bulma tonight at dinner that you will be dealing with this mission for a while." Hiei grabbed some clothes and left the room so that Kaiya could start packing. She went for the essentials, including the katana that Hiei started to teach her to use. She would work with that as well while she was away. She needed to learn anything that could give her an edge against Jiro in the future. She'd definitely need everything she could utilize for the mission against the unknown demon hunter. She hoped that one day Koenma would stop pulling this kind of stuff with her and her friends. It always managed to cause problems for everyone. She couldn't stand it anymore.