Cold, bitter cold... but no feeling of pain, or fear of freezing.

Hands, soft yet firm. Hands tight upon his back and buttocks, holding him against the storm and swaddling him.

Voices... so many voices. So many faces. Angry faces, scared faces, confused faces- all of them female.

She was so very warm compared to the rest of them. Warm, real, and beautiful. He could smell her sweat- blood, water, salt, rosemary.

Screaming. Angry screaming- like arguing- and the feeling of harsh tape upon his overly sensitive newborn flesh.

Screaming... so much fucking screaming.

When screams woke Kurama from a deep slumber, he did not immediately recognize what he was hearing.

Yusuke and Kurama had spent the entire day with Kuwabara, unable to attend to Shimo for Yukina's desperate need to be with her newfound companion at all times. Kuwabara simply wouldn't have the 'siblings' being interrupted. It was far too rude, in his opinion, and his sense of honor wouldn't allow for it. Instead, the three boys spent the day helping Genkai clear overgrown brush around the temple, doing house chores till they were sweaty and exhausted. By the time they finished with the massive list and returned to the dojo, they found that Yukina had already retired to bed and Shimo was once again no where to be found.

It unnerved Kurama to say the least.

So after a night full of exhausted sleep, Kurama's normally quick paced mind was running on little to no gas, resulting in drool running out of the corner of his mouth while his arm and leg muscles ached from yesterdays strain.

"Stop! Stop! No, please! Ahh!"

Kurama sucked in a quick breath, startled and unsure of what had caused him to wake from such a ghastly deep sleep. For a moment, he merely stared about his room to note that his dirty clothes were in a pile on the floor (a far cry from his normal clean state). He slowly relaxed again into his pillow, thinking perhaps that he might have merely dreamed the bizarre scream.

He closed his eyes, exhaling softly.

"No! No! Nooooo!"

He practically flung himself from bed, his heart pounding from sudden horror! Clad in nothing but boxers, Kurama did not spare the time to grab his pants as he bolted to the door, his hands shaking and a cold sweat upon his forehead! Yukina! Yukina was screaming and a thousand horrific images were flashing through his mind. Shimo, a murderous ravenous beast, tearing into her soft supple flesh! Shimo, a fiend beyond all compare, and Yukina left completely unguarded! -And why?! Why had she been left unguarded?!

Because Kurama had been lazy- and for that he was utterly disgusted in himself.

He tore out the door, sprinting down the hallway like a gazelle! Morning light streamed in from each window he passed and as he reached the northern corner of the dojo the screams grew louder and louder!

Kurama nearly collided with Yusuke, who came flying out of the eastern hallway barefoot and shirtless! Yusuke might have made jokes about Kurama not wearing pants, but now was not the time for humor as the pair of them finished the length of the hallway and, with great momentum, burst into the main dojo!

Yukina was laughing, hysterically, squirming and wriggling as Shimo tickled her mercilessly. Littered about the floor were letters, photographs, scrolls and charms, clearly all spilled out from a large rosewood box whose contents had been dumped. Shimo's fingers were like spiders across Yukina's pale flesh and as she desperately attempted to get away her bare feet lifted from the floor. Yukina dropped from Shimo's arms, hitting her bottom and crawling towards the coffee table.

Kurama let out a gust of hot air, sagging with a look of astute horror upon his face.

"Fuckin' hell-" Yusuke groaned, and Kurama noticed that though Yusuke's hands were shaking, his right hand was formed in the familiar spirit gun position. Had he truly been about to fire?

"Oh!"

Yukina had finally realized that she and Shimo were not alone. Out of breathe and sweaty from her early delight, Yukina was helped to her feet by the notorious stranger before straightening her robes and pushing her aqua hair out of her face.

"Yusuke! Kurama! I'm so sorry, did he we wake you?" Yukina asked nervously, her eyes flickering to the oddity of Kurama without the decency of pants.

Kurama flushed, looking down and gritting his teeth.

"Handle this." He whispered angrily to Yusuke, before turning on his bare heel and leaving as quickly as he'd come. As the dojo door shut behind Kurama's retreating back, Yusuke looked back around to find that Shimo and Yukina were both nervously smiling at him with hesitant approach. In true honesty, Yusuke had never gotten a full look at Shimo being far too busy attempting to keep up with Hiei and Kurama... the wild forces that had drawn the group together after such a long time of mundane quiet had utterly swiped his mind. There was a time when Yusuke would have been the first to scope out suspects, would have been eager and willing to take on any case... Shimo would have been an easy target with no demonic energy. Why now was Yusuke failing? Why now when it would have been easier than ever before?

... Or was there more to this bizarre situation than Yusuke wanted to admit.

"You scared us." Yusuke finally stated, running his fingers through his hair.

Shimo was wearing a borrowed men's kimono of faded white, clearly the suit of a past student that Genkai had once trained. His gleaming red eyes and aqua hair so similar to Yukina's were eerie, frightening in a way that Yusuke could not put his finger on. His expression was still the same.. like that of a porcelain doll. Frozen and without feeling.

"Forgive me, Yusuke." Yukina replied, calmly. She bent down and began to pick up all the papers scattered across the floor, "I must have forgotten myself."

"I'm not trying to rain on your parade or anything." Yusuke quickly admonished, "I just heard you screaming and thought you were being attacked."

"Why would anyone attack me here?" Yukina asked, slightly sour in her tone. "Why would anyone attack me at all?"

Yusuke didn't know what to say to that; his mouth hung open.

Shimo placed a tender hand upon Yukina's shoulder, and Yusuke noticed that there was dirt underneath his nails. Perhaps they'd been out in the garden earlier, and Yusuke chastised himself for not being more on guard. He should have been there, waiting in the garden for them to come out. He should have been watching over Yukina. He'd promised Hiei-...

... What exactly had he promised Hiei.

"I am not afraid of being attacked, Yusuke." Yukina continued on. At this, she gave Yusuke a small smile, yet there was no hint of happiness upon her face. "I know how to deal with fear and pain."

Once again, Yusuke was left without words.

He knew the story behind that statement, from days in his reckless youth when fresh scars had covered Yukina's flesh like macabre lace... When screaming had rang in his ears day and night.

Shimo and Yukina were keeping about their own business now, and in Yusuke's stark silence they had sat back down on the couch to talk quietly amongst themselves. Yusuke watched them, speaking back and forth, till he felt he could no longer stand to stay silent and look like a fool.

"This is bullshit!" Yusuke finally blurted out. When had he ever been one to keep quiet, to keep his feelings to himself? He had never been the politically correct type, even during times of high urgency- now was no different, "You know, I've seen a lot of things in my life but I'll be damned if I've ever met anyone as creepy as you!" Yusuke pointed to Shimo with an accusative finger. At this, the glassy eyed stranger stared blankly at Yusuke, almost right through the former detective. Yukina on the other hand, was flushing crimson in the cheeks and looked upset.

"You have the weirdest look on your ugly face!" Yusuke continued on, "Look, see, right there!" Yusuke cried out as Shimo continued to stare blankly at him, "Look at that expression he's got on his face! Like he's got no emotion! What the hell is wrong with you, did your mother drop you on your head-"

"Yusuke!" Yukina cut him off at this, "Stop saying such cruel things! Do you forget his mother is also mine as well?"

Yusuke made an irritated noise, unable to decide how to best approach the difficult situation with Yukina. She was the special variable, the unchangeable and innocent witness. Yet she was also going to be the biggest thorn in Yusuke's side if Yusuke was going to properly investigate Shimo.

"But how do you know that?" Yusuke demanded, "How do you know that he's your brother? Give me one solid fact that you know for certain! One solid fact!"

But Yukina did not have any, and this realization seemed to only make her more upset.

Yet Yukina was different from other women. Where Keiko, Shizuru, or Botan might have raged endlessly at this scathing remark, Yukina slowly retracted all emotion like a flower closing up from lack of sun. Her eyes became glassy and unfocused, her expression slack and without care. It was just like Shimo's, and Yusuke felt a small shiver go down his normally stiff spine at the sight of the koorime disposition.

Yusuke would never have said it aloud, but it was this very expression that worried Yusuke the most. For it was dead witness to the fact that Yukina had once endured a horrific existence locked away in a torture chamber. This was how she had survived... this was how she had protected herself.

Yukina walked out the dojo door, slipping out her outside shoes as she reached the threshold and vanishing without another word as she exited onto the front porch with her little box tucked under her arm. Though she only slid the door closed, she might as well have slammed it for all the anger that Yusuke felt.

He was now left alone with Shimo.

It was the opportunity he'd been waiting for.

"Alright, enough with the lies!" Yusuke snapped, "You and I both know you're not Yukina's real brother! Fess up and tell the truth; maybe I won't rip off all your limbs!" at this, Yusuke cracked his knuckles.

Shimo just stared, his glassy eyes as calm as ever.

"Your silence is really starting to piss me off!" Yusuke shouted, "I've had just about enough of this! Hiei might have gone easy on you but I sure as shit won't!" At this, Yusuke brought both his fists to waist level, preparing for a brawl.

"Hiei."

Shimo repeated the name, and as he finally spoke, Yusuke froze.

Hiei's name, though simple and often uttered, was like a knife being jabbed at Yusuke when Shimo spoke it. For it was Hiei's name, that Shimo responded to the most- not Yusuke's threats of violence. Suddenly, Yusuke remembered how Hiei had been singled out that first night, how Shimo had used Hiei's jagan against him and forced the dark eyed demon to retreat.

Shimo knew that Hiei was Yukina's real brother.

"Yeah, I bet you liked fucking with him!" Yusuke spat, "Bet it made you feel real confident in yourself, didn't it? But when you mess with the wolf you get the pack!"

Shimo smiled.

Yusuke snapped.

"Get that ugly grin off your face!" Yusuke shouted, and with that, he plunged forward with his fist curled tight! He'd knock out every one of Shimo's teeth!

-A flash of blue light-

A woman's high pitched scream for mercy-

the sensation of falling into blackness... down... down... down...-

He'd traveled great distances before, but none had felt so long and laborious as this one. Hiei had made good progress for a man who was constantly bleeding from the head, making sure to eat Yusuke's dried meat as frequently as he needed to so as to keep up his energy. A million questions buzzed through his mind, all of which he was unable to verbally express. Memories of temperatures that rarely came above freezing and air so thin it could barely sustain life overflowed Hiei's brain. It left him high and dry, in a state of delirium.

It was disgustingly hot and humid in demon world, and sweat dripped from every exposed inch skin. The forests had thickened around Hiei, and so he walked through a dense undergrowth where barely any light reached. Massive fronds of demonic plants swayed menacingly out in front him, and large flowers sticky with odorous nectar hummed with life as oversized insects crawled in their cores.

Hiei was irritated by all of it, and would have gladly burned down the whole lot save that he didn't want to draw attention to himself with an injured jagan.

He crushed through the mighty elephant grass, running as fast as he could despite the fact that he could hardly see where he was going. It was hard work finding your way forward when you went plundering through high grass. Large ogres could easily walk through these dwells and not be seen despite their enormous height, and so Hiei was shit out of luck on many different levels.

A rustling in the brush up ahead brought him to a stand still, and without a moments hesitation he whipped out his sword.

... He waited, utterly silent.

For a moment, no movement gave away the presence of an enemy. Then, without warning, another rustle came right behind Hiei and he whipped around with his sword raised high!

A battle cry was on the tip of his tongue, but he immediately swallowed it when he found his company.

Mukuro did not look surprised, and as Hiei lowered his sword she cracked her neck and wiped sweat from her sticky brow.

"Fuck it's hot." Mukuro sighed. "I hate this kind of weather."

"Why are you here?" Hiei demanded, sheathing his sword and crossing his arms over his chest, "I don't have time for your stupid games."

"I could ask the same of you." Mukuro parried. "Why are you all the way down here in the southern border?"

"That is no concern of yours."

"I'll decide that for myself."

Hiei pursed his lips into a thin white line, wanting nothing more than to strangle Mukuro till she was purple in the face.

But where would the fun in that be.

Hiei turned away, taking off once more and running as fast as he could through the grass. Mukuro tailed him easily. With the high humidity, it was hard to catch a stable breath, and Hiei resorted to flitting high out of the grass to land on a tree branch far above. He would take to the canopy, and see if the bitch would follow him there!

But alas, Mukuro was not deterred by a branch.

She followed him high up, and so the serenading of bugs was replaced by a chorus of a different type. Low life demons in gaggeling numbers squealed as Hiei and Mukuro flitted right through their territory. The faster Hiei ran, the faster Mukuro sped up, until Hiei was practically tripping over his own two feet just to keep a good distance ahead of her!

He reached the end of a tree scale, and with a great leap tried in vain to reach the second patch of forest over twenty meters away. He could have just as easily swallowed his own foot, and with a mighty crash he came flying back to earth to land with a sickening crunch of pain! Hiei winced, his ankles throbbing from the impact, but he just kept running now on a muggy plain with high rising grass and soggy under turf. Mukuro was right behind him, having apparently flown off the last branch with him. He was up to his knees now in mud, and it was making his progress painfully slow!

"Damnit!" Hiei snarled, as one of his boots was sucked right off his foot by the thick mud. He collapsed without grace, and would have fallen face first into the muck had it not been for Mukuro's helping hand. She grabbed him tight by the upper arm, holding him steady even as his nose wavered inches from the filth! Righting him at once, Mukuro helped to keep him steady.

He gasped, unable to catch his breath as a stitch throbbed in his chest.

"Fuck!" Hiei cursed violently, akin to a sufferer of a neuroleptic disease. "Just- fucking FUCK!"

Mukuro reached through the muck, and promptly pulled Hiei's boot free with a sickening squelshing noise. She thrust the muddy article at his chest, her expression sour.

"You're welcome." She grumbled, and with ill grace Hiei shoved his foot back into his shoe. The mud felt wretched between his toes, and he wished in vain for a river to wash out his boot.

They continued to walk on; with every step they took, Hiei's boot made another disgusting wet noise.

(...)

They continued at a slightly slower pace, unable to run through the marshlands. By the time they'd finally made it to the other side, the sun was setting in the west and both demons were too tired to go on much further. They were hungry, soiled, and tired.

The flat plains outside of the jungle terrain were occupied by high boulders that cast deep purple shadows into the earth. They were perfect cover from the elements, and so Hiei and Mukuro took shelter underneath one such stone. Finally able to sit on a solid surface, Hiei dropped down at once and chucked off his soiled boots without a moments hesitation. He threw them angrily at the cave wall.

Mukuro didn't speak, contenting herself to fetch rotting wood for a small fire which Hiei easily started with an bored flick of his fingers. Soon the humid terrain was replaced by a dry heat that helped Hiei to relax instantly. He pulled out his sack of Yusuke's dried meat and bit into a large piece with a heavy sigh. Mukuro spotted the morsels, and Hiei tossed the entire package at her. She caught it, and slowly bit into a small shred of meat warily.

She wrinkled her nose at once and spat it out.

"Shit!" She cursed, "It's foul! I'm going to kill a weed rat. It'll taste much better than this crap." She tossed the bag back at Hiei, and he gave her a sauntering sneer.

"What." She scowled. "Wipe that ugly grin off your face."

"Looks like we've found yet another thing that I can do better than you." Hiei taunted. "Human food is clearly too hard for your dainty senses."

"... Eat shit." Mukuro cursed, and Hiei smiled even wider as she stalked off across the grassy plains.

With the absence of his surly company, Hiei was finally given a minute to sit back, relax, and unwrap the sticky bandages around his forehead. He saw by the firelight that his wrappings were dirtied with dried and wet blood. Tenderly, cautiously, he touched the corners of his jagan eye and winced at the sudden sharp shock. From the minute that he'd realized he was bleeding from his third eye, Hiei had known he'd done something grievously wrong. Truly, when it came to protecting his mental clarity, Hiei took nothing for granted.

He wanted to know more than what Shimo's false memory had meant. He wanted to know how he could fix his jagan.

The health of his jagan was a direct variable to the health of his body and mind. Should the jagan fail, should it become ill or fall into defect, Hiei's sanity and safety would be forfeit.

Shrugging off his cloak, Hiei laid the dense black material along the cave floor and slowly relaxed into a reclining position. He attempted to close his eyes, to un focus and slowly center all his energy upon his jagan. Perhaps, if he simply concentrated on his jagan he could meditate and cool the heated pain centered deep within-

"Your jagan is bruised. Did you receive a blow to the head?"

Frowning, Hiei cracked open an eye to find that Mukuro had returned with two dead weed rats in her clutches. She looked rather worried, and as she sat down cross legged next to him she began to rip off the skin of her fallen prey with gusto. The smell of fresh blood upon the air was slightly comforting to Hiei, even in his odd distress.

"... I'm.." Hiei paused, and Mukuro halted her work to cast him a worried look.

"You're?" Mukuro gently probed.

Hiei sat up, his jagan throbbing from the blood rush. He accepted some of the skinned meat that Mukuro passed him, and as he bit into the fresh flesh, he gave his words some thought. Mukuro, to this point, knew utterly nothing and was simply following him because she could; because she wanted to.

"There is an intruder." Hiei murmured, "I must find out everything that I can. As quickly as I can."

"An intruder?" Mukuro broke across, biting into the leg of the weed rat. "Where? Who? What leads do you have?"

"If you'd let me finish I'd get there!" Hiei snapped, his jagan still throbbing without cease!

Silence fell, and the shrewd withering look that Mukuro gave him could have frozen fire.

"Watch your mouth or I'll rip out your tongue." Mukuro warned, "No one disrespects me."

"I'm not-" Hiei cut himself off, too overwhelmed with frustration to finish his sentence.

In the great length of pregnant silence that followed, Mukuro's expression of crude irritation melted into one of genuine concern. Perhaps it was the way that Hiei's eyes had darkened with sorrow instead of sarcastic fury, or perhaps the way his shoulders sagged forward as if a great weight was upon his back; Mukuro sensed there was something she did not know... something troubling.

"Hiei." Mukuro spoke softly now, "What's going on?"

"A stranger came to the spirit master Genkai's temple seeking out my sis-... seeking out Yukina." Hiei paused, "... He claimed he was her brother. She... rejoiced."

Mukuro's expression of concern instantly become one of great shock.

"What?" She demanded, agog, "A stranger claimed- but he's not!"

"Of course he's not." Hiei agreed in a snappish tone, "But the fact remains that... she rejoiced." Hiei repeated, "I attempted to search his mind but-" Hiei shook his head, "No avail."

"Is that why your jagan looks so horrible?" Mukuro asked tentatively, "Because of this stranger?"

"Yes."

"Then you're on your way to Shigure." Mukuro deduced, "To have him look at your jagan."

"Yes."

Mukuro sagged backward onto the cave wall, her half finished weed rat long forgotten by now. She tossed the corpse out into the brush, wiping her sticky fingers on the dusty cave floor and letting out a sigh.

"... There's more." Hiei continued on.

"More?" Mukuro groaned.

"More."

"What then?"

Hiei reached up once more to slowly touch the corner of his jagan, fingering the dried blood that he found there.

"... I saw something, when I penetrated his mind." Hiei murmured. "... Something I'd seen before, long ago."

"What?" Mukuro asked.

Hiei did not answer her.

In the silence, Mukuro seemed to realize that Hiei had no intention of answering, perhaps because of the great grief that lay there. Unable to comfort him with both their prides in the way, Mukuro instead decided to offer his advice. She doubted that he would listen, but perhaps a sense of direction in his quest might take his mind off the emotion that underlay his purpose.

Hiei was many things, but he was not apathetic. In times like this, it was a weakness.

"If you saw it before, only to see it again, there is clearly great significance." Mukuro spoke, the firelight flickering across her face so that her scars were plunged into great plumes of shadow, "If this stranger, this liar, showed you your own memory... they meant something by it. A secret perhaps, that only you would fully understand. If I were you, I would put down every detail into stone. Every detail." Mukuro repeated warily, "Whatever is missing, whatever is added... there in your answer lays. That is the clue."

Hiei looked away.

He already knew what was missing- who- was missing.

His mother.

... But what symbolism was Shimo trying to show through her lacking?

And why was he making it his personal goal to drive Hiei slowly to madness?

"Tomorrow, we'll make our way to Shigure. We'll travel as far as we can each night." Mukuro spoke up again. "We'll walk until we can walk no further. We'll reach him in due course... Shigure may be... unorthodox, but his knowledge of the jagan is complete. He'll know what's happening, and why. He'll be able to fix your jagan."

"Good." Hiei murmured quietly.

The fire was dimming now, running out of wood to fuel it's heat. Instead of fetching a new log for the fire, Mukuro and Hiei watched the very last ember die out. They were cast into great darkness that swallowed them up like the mouth of a giant. In demon world, darkness was an ally, not a fiend. Darkness was coverage and protection. Darkness kept away the eyes that sought to eat, and kill... and darkness allowed for mental clarity in a world where there was no justice or certain truth.

In that darkness, Hiei tucked his sword underneath his arm for quick access, and slowly tried to sleep.

Sleep would not come easily, and when it finally did, it would be filled with images of a person he'd yearned for since infancy.