Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or the characters

So…remember that scene from Chapter 1? We have now come full circle, and three more chapters to go after this.

Time had passed since Kuwabara and Yukina had announced their engagement. As promised, Shizuru kept Hiei's presence a secret. It was just as he wanted: she would continue not to say anything to Yukina about her relation to Hiei or Shizuru's own relationship with him; she would keep it quiet from her brother; no one knew he was there; and they would continue as the normally do. Just how he wanted it.

It's not to say that Shizuru needed to obey him but, after learning of his past, she could understand his trust issues. She didn't agree with him, and voiced it on many occasions leading to some sarcastic banter, arguments, and ultimately a wild night between the two of them. No, it probably wasn't healthy, but it was them. She honestly didn't mind it so much.

It did get annoying, though, when her brother visited and Hiei took to running off to some random location.

"Where are you going?" Shizuru asked while taking a drag of her cigarette and watching Hiei rushing to get dressed.

"I don't want that fool of a brother you have seeing me here," Hiei responded while picking up his shirt.

Shizuru rolled her eyes. "It's been a month, Hiei. He's going to have to find out eventually." Then she said under her breath, "What is it with you and keeping secrets from our siblings?"

Hiei had heard her and shot her a glare. "I have my reasons, onna." With that, Hiei skirted out the window. Shizuru sighed and got out of bed. She put on her robe and then opened her door. Her brother was standing there waiting for her.

"Jeez, sis," Kuwabara muttered, "you could have at least said you weren't up yet."

"Go downstairs, Kazuma," Shizuru ordered. "I'll make breakfast in a bit."

He mumbled a "whatever" and Shizuru went back into her room. There was a note on her desk that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

I'll see you tonight.

She couldn't help but crack a grin. I look forward to it, she thought as she got ready to start the new day.

These instances happened quite often nowadays. With Kuwabara spending some more time at his sister's and the girls showing up to work on wedding details, Hiei felt the need to make himself scarce. He would return at night and stay until morning, and Shizuru caught herself wondering what Hiei ate since he wasn't eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner at the apartment. She knew he could take care of himself, but she still cared about him, obviously a lot. She wanted to make sure he took care of himself.

Exiting her quarters finally dressed for the day, she went to greet her brother and future sister-in-law. It was going to be a full day complete with looking at photographers, chapels, and cake tasting. Shizuru smirked thinking on how much Hiei was missing out on. Not only would it have made his sister happy, but he would also get to have the sweets he liked to indulge in. She would keep that teasing for later when they were alone.

Hiei returned much later in the day to Shizuru's empty room. The apartment was empty and probably would be until Shizuru returned home from the day's excursions. He had been paying attention to the woman's thoughts, noting that she could feel and see Yukina's happiness. He also knew she felt he belonged there with them. That was not something he could accept easily, no matter what the psychic believed.

It didn't matter if she was right about Yukina's knowledge. He believed that Yukina was better off never knowing the real him. She had this admiration for him that he could not fathom. She had watched him pummel Tarukane, murder in the Dark Tournament. She didn't even know half of the things he did in Demon World after that. Sure, he had stopped beating Tarukane when she asked and had rescued her from the crumbling walls of the stadium, but did two moments really garner her love and trust?

Hiei had never believed in that word before…love. He had never known trust, not until Yusuke had placed his trust in him at the Gate of Betrayal. That was the first time anyone had placed their trust in him and, at the time, Yusuke was his enemy. Love was even more of a foreign concept. This 'wedding,' a ceremony to pledge something Hiei didn't even know if he believed in, was not Hiei's idea of a good time. Obviously, it held merit or Yukina would not be feeding into it.

There were times Hiei thought of questioning Shizuru on her definition of the word. She was a realist, not delusional like most that he knew. He knew, though, if he questioned her, she could take it the wrong way. There were times he would set her above all other humans in his mind but, when it came to misunderstandings, he was unsure.

He heard the front door open, but was displeased when he heard the oaf's voice…his sister's fiancé. Sighing, he kicked off his shoes and placed his sword in the closet. Eventually his former teammate and sister would leave, and then he and Shizuru would be alone. Those moments were something he had been looking forward to as of late. He had never felt anything remotely similar to how the human psychic made him feel. He didn't understand it, and he probably never would, but it didn't need an explanation. It just was.

"Kazuma, for the last time," he heard Shizuru nearly groan in frustration. "I'm fine here on my own. You two don't need to stay over."

"Maybe we should go, Kazuma," he heard his sister suggest. Now the conversation piqued his interest.

"With that neighbor of yours hitting on you, I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone."

Hiei rolled his eyes, as he was sure Shizuru was doing. That new neighbor of hers, Hiei hated him. The idiot was harmless enough, so Hiei didn't really care about him. Shizuru was a grown woman who could handle herself.

"Kazuma, I'm an adult," Shizuru replied to her brother's remark. "I can take care of myself. That idiot isn't going to do anything."

It was true. The neighbor knew that Shizuru had someone and wouldn't try anything, but he still shamelessly flirted with her having not met Hiei at any time. The man wasn't a major problem, and her little brother shouldn't have even been pestering her.

"I just don't want anything to happen to you," Hiei heard his sister's fiancé sigh. "I worry about you, sis."

He could picture Shizuru's soft smile as he heard her say, "I know, Kazuma, but I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine. And stop sending people to check on me, okay? I think Kurama's plant he left last time scared the little old lady from across the hall."

"But I worry about you being alone."

Hiei was starting to get increasingly agitated. The only reason Kuwabara believed her sister was alone was because he refused to bring their relationship to anyone's attention. He had forbid her from telling anyone, and she had done what he wanted.

"Kazuma…" Shizuru muttered shaking her head. It would be so easy for her to tell him that she wasn't alone, but she knew Hiei didn't want anyone to know about them. She knew he was in the room waiting for her, waiting for her brother to finally take the hint and leave. At the same time, Yukina looked very apologetic, knowing Shizuru wanted to be alone. She wondered if Yukina could sense her brother there like she could, and why Kazuma wasn't sensing that there was another in the apartment.

"Shizuru," Kuwabara started, not wanting her to shoot him down again. "You're my older sister. You looked out for me after our parents…well, you know. You protected me from everything and you've been the best sister I could have asked for. Even when I had gotten myself involved with Urameshi's problems, you were there. I know you're tough, sis, but I also worry about you. You live so far away from all of us, now, and I just don't like the idea of you being alone."

She really wanted to tell him. It made her heart burst, though she didn't show it, when her brother admitted not to thinking she couldn't take care of herself, but that he wanted her not to feel lonely. Sending people to check on her was a way for him to make sure she wasn't feeling lonely when he couldn't break away from school.

They were all shocked when they heard the sound of her bedroom door open. Three pairs of eyes feel on a seemingly indifferent Hiei. Yukina looked surprised, but not as surprised as Shizuru, her eyes meeting his questioning what he was doing. Hiei's eyes left hers and diverted to his former teammate, slightly challenging him. When Kuwabara's shock dissipated, her was glaring at the fire demon about to demand why he was there.

"As you can see," Hiei stated evenly, "she is not alone. You can go now."

"What?" Kuwabara nearly shouted. "What…how…what the heck are you doing here in my sister's room?"

Hiei chuckled slightly, crossing his arms. "Really? Do you really want to ask me that?"

"Hiei," Shizuru breathed out warningly. The fire demon tilted his head to observe her, the two of them having a silent conversation. Hiei sighed, accepting that Shizuru didn't want him to taunt her brother. He uncrossed his arms and faced the other human psychic.

The two of them were staring each other down, Hiei nonchalant and Kuwabara trying to reign in his anger at Hiei's implication. "How long?" he asked.

Hiei's brow quirked not knowing if the human wanted to know how long her had been living there or how long her had been with his sister. Shizuru spoke up, and explained the whole thing. "It's been a while, Kazuma," she started to explain. "I offered Hiei a place to stay, and a few months ago we…got together."

Kuwabara glanced over to her. "Are you guys dating, or is this something else?"

"Dating?" Hiei voiced against his better judgment. He looked over to Shizuru, silently questioning her, but caught her just in enough time to see her with her hand on her head sighing in exasperation.

Kuwabara's energy went up, and Hiei realized that he had said something wrong. Obviously, 'dating' was something significant, and the 'something else' was obviously bad.

"You son of a bitch," Kuwabara growled slightly. "I get that we're not close friends or whatever, but we were teammates. How could you take advantage of my sister?"

Shizuru spoke up once again. "It wasn't like that, Kazuma. He didn't take advantage of me."

Kuwabara flashed his sister a warning look and, for a moment, Shizuru was stunned into silence and fearing her brother's reaction. "Stay out of this."

Hiei was about to voice his distaste of the human talking down to his sister, but he never got the chance as he was caught off-guard by Kuwabara's spirit sword. He quickly side-stepped out of the way, the sword effectively clashing with the ground.

"Stop!" Shizuru snapped. "If you damage the place, I'll be hearing it from the landlady."

"Kazuma, don't!"

Kuwabara had been about to attack Hiei again, Hiei ready to dodge, when Yukina ran over to him and gently grabbed his arm. Both men were stunned, gaping at the ice maiden. The human psychic looked down at his fiancé seeing the tears forming in her eyes. He had no idea why she was getting so upset.

"Please don't be mad at him," the ice maiden pleaded. She shook her head, a few crystals appearing on the floor. "I can't stand you two not getting along. Just…please, stop."

Kuwabara softened, though his sword still remained in his grip. Hiei just stood there watching his sister breakdown over their fight. "Yukina, I don't get it," Kuwabara whispered. "Why do you care so much about this? All the time, you always seem to get so upset because that guy doesn't show up. Why do you care about him? He has nothing to do with you."

"You're wrong," Yukina objected, much to Hiei's surprise. Truthfully, he had remained detached to her. She shouldn't care. Hiei knew she did, but he ignored that feeling. Even when Shizuru told him her suspicions, he tried to convince himself she was wrong. Yukina only cared about him because she was a caring soul, and that was it. "He's…he's my brother."

It was that moment that the tough façade Hiei held disappeared, everything he convinced himself to believe and feel crumbling around him. Kuwabara's face expressed astonishment as he turned back around. Hiei was staring at Yukina wide-eyed and, dare the human say, anxious.

Shizuru seemed to be the only one who was calm and not stunned into uncomfortable silence. Releasing a huff of air, she began to head to the kitchen. Kuwabara's eyes flashed to her. "Where are you going?" he asked accusingly.

Shizuru cast her a threatening glare. "I think we all need a drink," she replied causally. "Go sit in the living room and we'll talk things out." She looked over to her petrified lover and sighed. "Get him to sit down, too, Yukina." The ice maiden nodded and then Shizuru disappeared into the kitchen.

This was going to be a long night…