Disclaimer: I don'y own Yu Yu Hakusho. Never have, never will.

"You sure you want to come?" I asked, glancing up at Kuwabara. "I'm running seven miles today."

He hesitated looking first at me and then at his sneakers. "Seven miles? I'd, uh, rather not. Are you going to run three tomorrow?"

"Yep," I answered, returning my attention to tying my sneakers. The truth was I had been planning to run three miles, but my plans had changed when I entered the kitchen and found that Genkai had company.

Kuwabara had gotten up early with the intention of going with me on my run. While normally I would have loved his company, this morning I definitely didn't want him tagging along. I had a feeling that Kuwabara's presence would prevent Hiei from even making an appearance, let alone actually talking to me. I had questions for the fire demon and I wanted answers, answers I wouldn't get if Kuwabara was around.

So I'd changed my plans. As soon as Kuwabara asked if he could run with me, I asked Genkai about the loop I'd run the first day. Whether she knew what I was doing or not, Genkai gave me directions and fell silent, not bothering to add that the run was seven miles. When I finally got around to telling Kuwabara how long the run was, he seemed hesitant, as though he was considering backing out and waiting for a day when I ran a shorter loop.

Still, he'd come out with me to the front door and I'd been beginning to worry that I hadn't scared him away, but it at last seemed as though my tactics had been successful. "I think I'll wait until tomorrow then. I mean I don't do much running so seven miles is kind of a lot and–"

I held up a hand, interrupting his rambling. "That's fine, don't worry about it. I've been running alone for years, one more day won't kill me."

"Alright, if you're sure," Kuwabara said.

"Trust me," I whispered, "I am." Standing up when I'd finished tying my shoelaces, I grinned at Kuwabara. "See you when I get back."

"Okay. Have fun."

"Will do," I called, closing the door behind me as I headed outside. Breathing a sigh of relief that Kuwabara wasn't coming, I took off at an easy jog, heading for the path Genkai had described.

Our return to the shrine from the city had been extremely boring. I'd fallen asleep on the train, which wasn't very surprising considering how little sleep I got while sharing a bed with Hiei. The rest of the day had dragged by, no doubt because I had just wanted the day to end so that I could see Hiei the next morning.

I smiled faintly at the thought of the fire demon, resisting the urge to speed up. I had far too many miles ahead of me to start sprinting now.

The run seemed to last forever and I cursed Kuwabara for his bad timing. The big lug had to go and be a good friend one of the few times I didn't want him around. If it weren't for his offer to run with me, I'd only have had to three miles instead of seven. Finally, I reached the edge of the trees and I slowed down so that I was walking.

"Hi," I called, looking up in the trees, trying to spot Hiei. Frowning, I stopped walking. I couldn't see him anywhere. "Are you here?"

"I'm right here, woman." My eyes snapped down to ground level to find him watching me, leaning back against a tree. Smirking, he raised an eyebrow at me. "That was rather pathetic."

"You're rather pathetic," I muttered childishly, turning my back on him. Allowing myself a tired groan, I twisted back around to face him and crossed my arms over my chest. "It's my turn for questions."

"Hn, then go ahead and ask some," he said.

"Why do you want children?" His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed, but he made no move to answer or even acknowledge my question. "You have to answer, Hiei, or I won't answer anything you ask."

"I didn't have parents growing up. Since meeting Yusuke and the others I've seen what families are like. I want that." He glared at me, daring me to laugh at his answer.

When all I did was smile, his eyes narrowed further. "That's sweet," I said truthfully. "Have you given any thought to names or what gender you'd want?"

"Why does it matter?"

"I'm just interested, that's all," I answered, shrugging. "I didn't take you for the family man type, so learning that you wanted kids was kind of surprising."

"I haven't."

"Haven't?"

"Given any thought to either of those things. It makes no sense to do so without a mate. It would be nothing more than a senseless waste of time."

"Spoken like a true man," I joked. "Hmm, so that's enough baby talk."

"Is it my turn?"

"I'm afraid not, firefly," I said.

"Firefly?"

"That was a question, which you aren't supposed to be asking right now, but yes, I did say firefly. You like it? That's what I'm going to call you know. You call me woman, I call you firefly. Pet names are awesome, huh?"

"No, they aren't," he answered, eyeing me with the intent to murder.

Grinning, I said, "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. Now, on to my next question. Why haven't you told anyone about these conversations we have? I would have thought that you'd tell at least Kurama."

"They weren't, and aren't, anyone else's business. What I do with my time is no one's concern but my own." Short and to the point, but then I didn't ask for a longwinded answer.

Knowing I was being annoying, I asked, "Isn't it my concern too, at least in this case, seeing as I'm part of the conversations?"

"Being a smartass isn't attractive."

"Excuse me?" I asked, completely caught off guard. Since when did it matter if I was attractive?

"Was I unclear?"

"No, I just don't understand where the hell that little tidbit came from. I mean seriously, thanks for the fun fact, but how is it any of your concern?"

"Is that a question you want me to answer?" Something about the way he asked that question made me think it was a loaded inquiry, like the answer wasn't going to be pleasant.

"No, you don't have to," I answered. "Go ahead and ask whatever you want, it's your turn."

"Why haven't you told anyone about these conversations we have? I would have thought that you'd tell at least Keiko."

"You're freaking hilarious," I snapped. I should have known that question was going to come back and bite me in the butt. Even so, I would never have guessed that Hiei would ask me the same question exactly as I asked it. Smiling grimly, I said, "Being a smartass isn't attractive."

"Wise words."

I couldn't help but laugh. "That was incredibly cocky," I informed him.

"Answer the question," he instructed.

"If I told Keiko, she would make assumptions," I replied, trying to keep my response as brief as possible. Giving any more information than necessary would mean revealing that Keiko thought I should date Hiei. Just the idea of telling him that made me shudder.

"Assumptions? Care to expand on that?" He was evil, pure freaking evil. An evil, evil, evil firefly!

"She'd think there was something between us, something more than being friends." Was that sufficient to answer his question? I wasn't sure I'd be able to get any more detailed than that.

He looked like he wanted to ask a question, I could have sworn one was on the tip of his tongue, but instead he closed his eyes and said, "Your turn."

Frowning, I studied him. That was very strange behavior even for him, the epitome of strange behavior. "Okay, let's see. What should I ask you now?" I quickly ran through the endless list of questions that I had for him before finally settling on one. "You're Mukuro's heir, so why aren't you in the Makai? You've been here for over two weeks. Doesn't Mukuro require you to go home?"

"When I first met you, I was taking a brief vacation. Since then, I have requested an indefinite leave from my duties."

"Why?"

"Personal reasons. There are things in the Ningenkai that I am interested in pursuing and I can not do so from Alaric." The way he was watching me made me swallow hard. It almost seemed like he was saying that I was the thing he was interested in pursuing.

But that couldn't possibly be true.

"Oh." It was all I could manage, the only thing I could get out of my suddenly dry mouth.

He waited, watching me in silence. After what felt like ages, he asked, "Are you done?"

"Uh, yeah."

He smirked, but didn't say anything. Instead he moved toward me, pushing away from the tree he was leaning on. I felt frozen, unable to move away, despite how much I wanted to escape. He stopped inches from me, so close that I could feel his breath fan across my face.

"Does this make us more than friends?"

His lips were pressed to mine before I had even managed to process his question. The kiss was nothing like I would have expected a kiss with Hiei to be. It was soft, sweet, everything Hiei wasn't. He wasn't demanding in any way, in fact, I doubted he would resist if I tried to pull away.

Not that it would have mattered. As soon as his lips touched mine, every thought left me and the only thing I knew was that I never wanted whatever was happening to end.

I leaned into him, reaching up to grip his shoulders. He wrapped one of his arms around my waist, placing his other hand on my neck gently.

The kiss felt both endless and far too short. When Hiei finally pulled away, I was out of breath and entirely unsure what to think.

He was watching me, his forehead pressed to mine, and it took me ages to realize that he was waiting for me to answer his question. What had he asked me? Something about being friends…

Pulling myself out of my revere, I finally said, "Um, yeah. Yeah, I think it does."

He leaned forward once more, clearly ready to resume our kiss, but I pressed a hand to his chest, preventing him from doing so. "Hiei, wait. You have to explain what's going on first. Where did this come from?"

"I would think that's obvious enough."

"I disagree," I said, frowning. "You barely pay attention to me when the others are around. I'm sorry, but that isn't very conducive to relationships. I don't mind keeping our question and answer sessions a secret, but if we were dating, I would have to tell Keiko. I could never keep something like that from her. I guess my point is that I won't date you in secret. If you're not okay with that, then I'm sorry, but I won't do this."

He pulled back suddenly, releasing me from his grip. Without saying a word, he turned and started to walk away.

"Whoa, Hiei," I started, reaching out to grab his wrist. "You can't just walk away."

"You can't dictate how our relationship works."

"But you can," I demanded. "Damn it, Hiei. That's ridiculous."

"Having a relationship with me entails far more than you seem to realize. Keeping us a secret would be for none of the reasons that you are thinking."

"How do you know what I'm thinking?" I snapped, angry because he was speaking to me as though I was a child. Aiming to hurt his pride, I asked, "Are you reading my mind? I didn't think you were the type to go back on your word."

He glared at me, hurt flickering in his eyes, and jerked his arm free of my grip. "Hn, this didn't happen," he snarled. He stalked away from me, heading toward the shrine without another word.

I took a deep breath, watching him disappear into the shrine. How had that gone from kissing to arguing so freaking fast? One second we were kissing, the next I'd pissed him off so bad that he wouldn't even talk to me.

I shoved a hand through my hair and grimaced. Sweat had dried in my hair, giving it an almost crunchy texture. I shook my head at my own idiocy; I'd managed to piss off the only guy who I'd ever met that found a sweaty girl attractive. Pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes, I fought back tears and sucked in another breath, reminding myself that I needed oxygen to live.

This freaking sucked.

I was incredibly grateful when I entered the kitchen the next morning to find Kuwabara sitting across from Genkai. The last thing I wanted was to be alone this morning. I wasn't even sure Hiei was going to make an appearance, but if he did there was no way in hell I was going to face him alone.

In the end, it didn't matter if Kuwabara was present or not. Before we headed out for our run, Genkai informed us both that Hiei had left the shrine early that morning, though he hadn't stated his destination. From the look on Kuwabara's face, I was able to gather that Hiei's disappearance probably wouldn't be temporary.

I'm not sure how well I hid my disappointment. No, I didn't want to face Hiei immediately, but I did want to fix things at some point and I couldn't do that if he was gone.

Throughout our run, I debated the pros and cons of explaining what had happened between Hiei and myself to Kuwabara. If I was going to tell anyone, it would be Kuwabara. But I simply couldn't bring myself to broach the subject. The entire reason I had argued with Hiei was because he didn't want people to know about us. Telling Kuwabara would only worsen my issues with the fire demon.

So I didn't tell anyone anything. For two days I kept quiet, letting everyone think I was as ignorant about Hiei's reasons for disappearing as they were. And maybe I was, maybe Hiei had reasons entirely unrelated to me, but I doubted it.

And then he simply reappeared as suddenly as he had left. I entered the kitchen three mornings after our kiss and found him talking with Genkai, though my presence ended whatever conversation they had been having.

Hiei thoroughly ignored me in the days that followed and my time at Genkai's seemed to become even more boring than it once had been. I wasn't sure if he was watching over me when I was on my runs, but I liked to think he was, if only because it made me feel like what had gone wrong between us was fixable.

I avoided the others, knowing that every conversation I had would push me closer to revealing what was wrong. And they most definitely knew that something was wrong. Even Hiei's feigned indifference to me had been friendlier than his current behavior.

It drove me insane. Being ignored wasn't on my list of things I wanted the guy I liked to do. Yes, I did like Hiei. When I'd made that realization I wasn't sure, but I'd certainly made it.

I flipped the page in my book, glancing over at the shrine and wondering what Hiei was doing. Every other thought these days was about that stupid fire demon. I couldn't understand why he was treating me as he was. If he would talk to me, I could tell him that I'd listen to his reasons for secrecy and if they were good enough I'd being willing to date him in secret.

Too bad his total lack of acknowledgement prevented that conversation from happening.

Shifting uncomfortably, I cursed the ground for being so freaking hard. Much like the night I'd talked to Kurama about my parents, I was sprawled out on a towel, a book opened in front of me. But unlike last time, I was having an incredibly hard time getting lost in my book.

I was flipping the page once more, covering a yawn with my hand, when I smelled it.

Rotting meat.

My breath caught in my throat and I froze, struggling to swallow.

Shit.

Shit

Shit.

Moving without thought, I rolled to my feet and bolted toward the shrine's backdoor, abandoning my book and towel. Praying that I hadn't been seen, I took the steps in one leap and grabbed the door handle.

"Open," I begged, fumbling with the door.

"I see you, little girl. There's no counter to hide behind this time." It was him. How could he be here, at the shrine? My thoughts flashed to that night in the diner and I fought back a scream. Not again, it couldn't happen again.

The door finally opened and I hurled myself inside, slamming it shut behind me. Pressing my back to the door, I sucked in a breath and screamed for my friends. "Yusuke, Kuwabara, he's here! He's freaking here!"

Long seconds ticked by with no response from my friends. Where were they? Were they hurt?

Shoving the lock home on the door, I turned and darted into the living room. "Guys?" I whispered, scared that I was going to attract attention.

"Shyle?" I was too freaked out to figure out where the question had come from.

"Botan? Yeah, it's me," I answered.

"We're in the kitchen."

I scrambled around the couch and slipped into the kitchen to find Botan and Yukina standing at the window, peering outside.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked, glancing around the room.

"Outside," Botan murmured.

"But Keiko's not here."

"I know."

"What?" I asked, unable to understand what Botan was saying. "Keiko can't be outside."

"She knew you were out there. She went after you."

AN: I just had the biggest scare of my life. I was editing this chapter and it disappeared. The program closed and the saved file wasn't on my USB. I literally started crying because I thought I was going to have to write everything all over again. Luckily, my stepmom helped me find it and here it is.

So, the chapter is kind of short, but I had to stop here. The next chapter will be action-packed.

I was worried I wasn't going to get this chapter out. I knew what I wanted to write, but up until late last night I was not in any kind of writing mood. And then I just was... hence an update. This chapter has been planned for awhile so I hope it was good.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed. You guys rock my socks (wow, that's a geeky saying).

Oh yeah, in case anyone was wondering: the team Hideki and Daisuke are from is the Boston Red Sox.