Chapter Nine

Void

~

When Hiei heard of the riot on Human Realm, he rushed his way to the barrier at once. By the time he got there, he witnessed hordes of demons pushing through the check point gate. His eyes widened in shock.

The check points were set up years ago, to combat hitchhikers and trouble makers going to and from the other world, usually the odd demon would use it for business purposes. Some to travel and see their family. Others were just simply curious.

The lines to the barrier usually ran pretty smoothly. You would scan your Demon Realm passport, they would check your bags for soul eating items, and send you on your way. Hiei, begrudgingly, would use the checkpoint to check on his friends and sister on the other side.

Something happened and everyone in Demon Realm turned mad. Rumors circulated that there was a VHS tape circulating around – Chapter Black. But that was impossible.

He had it destroyed himself.

Hiei made it through the horde eventually, walking out to see the dark black sky of Demon Realm's night time. He wasted no time heading to the city his sister lived in. When he finally broke through the tree line that night to see that, his blood ran cold.

Hiei's crimson eyes reflected in the firelight of the destruction of the city. Towers of skyscrapers fell into each other. Huge flames engulfed entire buildings.

He screamed a feral rage.

Shuichi shielded the young girl from the black flames, singeing his back. Yelling out in a cry of pain, he held her close. Ajisai pushed against him to look around him, but he wouldn't budge.

Not until the fire died down did he let her go. She was at the fire demon's side in an instant, checking on what was causing this sudden explosion of energy. No sense could be made from it.

Hiei was asleep.

Or at least he appeared to be asleep, as the girl took in his serene face and features. He body lay against the stone wall, arms limp against his sides. She noted that the black fire around him had died down considerably and she moved to get closer.

"Wait," said Shuichi in a strained voice, "His aura is unstable. Do not get near him."

She nodded and looked back at the sleeping man, worry creased in her brow. What was wrong with Hiei? He doesn't usually do this does he?

Almost reading her mind, Shuichi said, "Something's going on. Hiei has absolute control over his own energy."

Ajisai nodded and her eyes roamed his body, looking for injuries. Wounded animals reacted like this, right? That was the only explanation.

And then she saw the scroll in his hand. It was glowing a dark almost black aura, with flecks of blue. Just like Fubuki.

The girl went to grab it and a flare of black fire licked her hand. Feeling the heat, she recoiled back in surprise. She sat back on her knees and inspected it with her eyes, seeing a small stream of Hiei's flaming aura leaking into it.

"It's siphoning his energy!" Shuichi told her, he reached for it as well to get an even more violent reaction from the flames. Ajisai looked on with concern.

"If it sucks all his energy out it can kill him!" Shuichi said in a panic, his eyes searching for a way to get the scroll out of his hand. The girl moved closer, to see if she could help. "No, Ajisai! I can handle these flames. You can get seriously hurt. You're only human."

I am only human. He's right. I won't be able to make a difference here, even with these dire circumstances.

"Yes, you can." A familiar voice called to her in her head as Shuichi poked the scroll with a stick, only to result in the stick instantly incinerating.

Who… who are you? That voice sounded so familiar.

"Foolish girl," it said in a deep voice and she turned to stare into Hiei's tranquil face.

H-Hiei?

"No, I'm not Hiei… but I am, at the same time. We've been together for so long. I am apart of him now..." The voice told her and a violet glow pierced through Hiei's bandana. It incinerated the white fabric, which fell to the floor. A violet eye turned to her and stared at her and then it clicked.

You're the Jagan.

"Correct." It told her and then it continued, "I will need your assistance if he is to survive, Miko."

I'm not a Miko. I'm not a shrine maiden.

"You are. Now, no more talking. Come to me." It impatiently told her and she scooted closer to Hiei, eyes locked on the eerie Jagan eye.

"You know the process… clear your mind." It told her and she nodded, closing her eyes.

A brilliant dark violet light assaulted her vision, more aggressively than it had before. Hiei must have been gentle with her before, apparently. And suddenly Ajisai was falling into darkness.

The girl floated down through the darkness slowly to softly land in front of Hiei, himself. The black haired demon was sitting there all alone in the dark, with a soft grayish glow around him. The demon was without the Jagan, in his original state.

When her feet touched ground she rushed over to him quickly. The girl put her small hands on his broad shoulders and went to shake his limp form. The Hiei in this place opened his eyes and her breath hitched.

Dark garnet eyes stared back at her, devoid of any light or life in them. He was alive though, because this Hiei shoved her backwards hard onto the ground. Then, he slowly brought his arms up to rest back on to his knees as he continued to stare at her with empty eyes.

"Hiei?" She asked softly, but he ignored her. "Hiei? What's wrong?" The girl tried again, a growing desperation in her chest. Speech seemed to come easy to her in this realm.

"Who are you?" Hiei asked her slowly, with an empty voice.

"It's me. Ajisai." She answered him softly, feeling a tug in her chest. He doesn't remember me.

After awhile of no response she tried talking again, telling him, "Shuichi is worried you might leak all of your energy out. He's says you could die if you aren't stopped."

"Who cares?" He replied to her and he closed his eyes. "My life is meaningless."

Ajisai stopped breathing.

"I do…" she said after awhile with a small voice.

Hiei opened his eyes and regarded her before lowering his eyes to the floor and asking, "Why do you care?"

Ajisai scooted closer and reached out to touch him. He swatted her hand away with a blank expression. She sat back and took him in before saying, "Because I like you, Hiei."

"That's convenient for you. Not for me though. I don't care." Hiei said and Ajisai sat up straighter, fire in her eyes as she said, "Why are you being like this? You're grumpy sometimes but you're never like this!"

Hiei trailed his dark red eyes toward her and stared at her before saying, "You don't even know me."

"Then let me get to know you," she scooted closer, at arms reach of him now. When she was satisfied with the distance she waited patiently for him to speak.

"You don't-" he said and Ajisai cut him off with heat in her voice, "I just said that I did. So stop trying to push me away!" She huffed.

Hiei brought his eyes up to her fully and stared into her determined eyes for a long moment with something dancing in his darkened eyes. And then he started his story.

"Life hasn't been kind to me. I was born to die. Or at least that's what my mother's people wanted when they threw me off of their glacier island. Discarded me like trash. I was an imiko, a cursed child, they called me. I learned that my mother threw herself off soon after, killing herself," Hiei paused as Ajisai eyes widened. She was about to say something when he narrowed his eyes and continued.

"That's not even the half of it. Feeling lost, I resorted to a killing spree to prove to them that I was indeed a monster. And then I met a human named Yusuke Urameshi and that changed me. So I felt obligated to turn a new leaf, so to speak. I did well, being a friend to the people I met along the way. I have fought their battles and helped them achieve their goals. But somewhere, I had lost my purpose and wanted to die. Finally, I accepted that part of me will always remain broken," Hiei looked down toward the ground and he continued his story.

"When Human Realm was attacked by demons I went into a rage. It brought back all of the dark feelings I had inside of me. I was death itself, murdering thousands of demon slime. I eradicated their camps, toyed with them, found a pleasure in seeing the lights extinguish in their eyes." Hiei smirked a dark smirk before letting his face return to the blank canvas it was and he continued to tell her his story.

"I tried to live with the humans, for a time - for my sister's sake. But then she gave birth to twins and I didn't want them to know me as their Uncle. I pushed that life away, living in solitude deep within the forest. There I stayed, keeping my friends and loved ones away from me. 'I am a monster.' I would tell myself. I didn't deserve their affection or their love."

Hiei's eyes trailed down and he paused before continuing farther, Ajisai's eyes were watering, "I have found no permanent home. No love. The people I call friends accept me, but that's not enough to fill the emptiness inside. I'm an empty void."

Void.

Ajisai wondered if the demon cat Fubuki was affecting him like this. Possibly tainting his mind, worsening these thoughts that already exist?

Ajisai felt a pain in her heart and she wanted to cry for him, but she knew he wouldn't accept that. So she looked up at him, to search his face for something.

And then she noticed the jewel. She reached out a hand and touched it with one finger before Hiei pulled away from her abruptly, watching her with narrowed eyes. The girl felt something pull at her from that stone.

"Hiei, where did you get that?" She asked softly, watching its beautiful glint as it swung across his chest. It was the same jewel that had once calmed her. She felt a residual energy inside of it.

"My mother shed this tear gem for me when I was born," Hiei finally answered her at almost an whisper. Ajisai's breath hitched.

A tear fell from her face and hung onto her chin. Hiei watched with empty eyes as it fell and hit the darkness that they were sitting on. It created ripples of white rings. And then she said something that broke him from his stare to look up at her face full of tears.

"You're mother loved you, Hiei," she said with emotion.

"She's dead-" Hiei was cut off by Ajisai's emotional voice, "And why does that matter? She still loved you!"

Ajisai sobbed some more, tears creating silver ripples in the darkness as they fell. Hiei's eyes widened a little. The crying girl continued.

"And I care for you too! Shuichi cares for you. I'm sure your sister and your other friends do too," Ajisai said and moved to wipe her tears, aggressively wiping her face.

"You are not a monster, Hiei. You were just angry and hurt," She told him and continued.

"You're right, I don't know you well. I don't even know who I am, myself. I couldn't even tell you if I had a bad past. I don't even know if I have a mother," the girl cried some more and Hiei watched her with wide crimson eyes.

"You and Shuichi are the only things that matter to me right now. We are a pack. A family!" She cried and added, "So get yourself together so you don't die on me, Hiei!" The girl shoved him, which only managed to rock him back slightly, and retreated to cry in to her hands.

He stared at her for a long moment before closing his eyes and telling her with a quiet voice, "I remember you now. You are that wolf."

"I am the wolf, yes," she said with a shaky voice, trying to calm herself down as she wiped tears away.

Hiei stared at the ripples as peppered the ground and expanded, marking the floor with white rings. Then he said in a whisper, "You cried for me before."

"Y-Yes?" She didn't know he knew that.

"Humans get so emotional. I don't understand why," he said and continued, "What purpose does it serve? Why do you cry for me?"

Ajisai didn't know how to answer that. She really didn't know much about it herself. He continued.

"I saw you dying," he said and Ajisai thought back to when she was a wolf when he had mistaken her for a bloodthirsty beast. "Yeah, you nearly killed me," she said matter of factly.

"No," he told her without looking up. He paused for a moment before speaking again.

"You were dying from a mortal injury before you were a wolf. "

"The spirit God let me take your injury so that you could live."

"I watched you bleed out, so I reacted recklessly."

"I still don't understand what pulled me to save you. I suppose I felt sorry for you."

"The God told me to keep this to myself but at this moment I don't feel a thing and I don't care."

Each sentence unlocked something deep inside of her and the girl's eyes grew wider and wider. Hiei stopped talking, watching the girl carefully as he started to realize what he had done. And then she remembered.

Nothing prepared her for the amount of pain that exploded in her mind at that point in time. The girl cried out and curled into a fetal position, grabbing at her head and wailing into her knees. Hiei's eyes widened and he reached out for her.

A force of pink and white pushed him back and then Ajisai suddenly stilled. He watched as the girl uncurled herself and moved to calmly stand up with her eyes closed. Hiei stood up as well, cautiously watching her.

And then a circle of pure white light appeared before her with old Japanese kanji written around the edges of, a floral design in the center. The girl's mahogany hair whipped around her as she stood there facing him with closed eyes.

She reached out a hand that emitted golden energy.

It shattered.

A burst of white flames expanded outward from her form and suddenly Hiei was swallowed up.

Shuichi watched as the scroll burst into pure white flames in Hiei's hand. It instantly incinerated into ash, leaving a blackened mark on his hand. And then Hiei opened his eyes.

"Where's the girl?" was the only thing he said before his eyes darted to her prone form on the ground.

"She collapsed earlier. I have placed her on her bedroll," Shuichi whispered, looking over to her.

Hiei moved quietly to her sleeping form, looking down at her with concern in his eyes. Ajisai lay motionless, long eyelashes brushing her cheeks as they fluttered. He assessed her quickly, noting the constant eye movements behind her lids.

"Watch over my body. This will take a moment," he told the red head before pulling the girl up into a sitting position against the wall. He held her head as he closed his eyes and let the Jagan open her mind.

"Hanako! Look!" Ajisai watched as colorful fireworks exploded in the night sky, the little girl looked up to her mother. She was smiling wide.

"Dada!" Little fingers gripped a white shirt, bunching the material up in her fingers. The girl heard her father's deep voice as he chuckled. She looked up to grab at his pitch black hair.

Her mother held up her kindergarten graduation paper to show her on fancy white paper with gold lettering. She noted that her mother looked so much like her. A city skyline shone majestically in the window in front of her. She remembers that she liked to put her fingers up to the glass and draw pictures with her slobber.

Her mother… her mother was lost to the river. She watched as her body got swept away and pulled under. Just like the kids in the playground. And the whole world.

Ajisai remembered the white wolf and it taking her to a human encampment of survivors before disappearing. She met her foster mother there. The sweet woman was an older woman with a kind smile and olive colored eyes.

She lived with the woman and a bunch of orphaned kids for awhile. They practiced baseball in a field. The kids bullied her for being so small, being the youngest child.

The village… the village she lived at was massacred by demons. She was hiding under the floorboards covered in cooking oil to mask her scent when they took her foster mother's life. She just had her 10th birthday.

Survivors took her and some other children to a new village. No one cared for them and they slowly starved. The village leader was selfish and cruel. He would lash out at them for stealing food or if they got in his way. Hanako hated that man.

The girl learned she had spiritual powers when she was 12 and she left the village, seeing the ghosts of the people lost to starvation and murder.

She was 15 when she killed her first demon. The girl was found by a monk who had found her nearly starved to death, just after her fight. He saw something in her that the other people didn't see. She learned of her Miko powers.

Years blurred as she trained with the monk. He taught her survival skills and how to use her purification powers, how to heal, how to seal demons into objects, he taught her how to use projectiles infused with her spiritual energy.

She didn't know how old she was, but one of her last memories was visiting an old Shinto shrine. They prayed to a wolf there. It seemed her life revolved around the God Ookami. The spirit wolf.

She learned from the monk that the God was created from human prayers. He taught her how to chant there, how to meditate, awaken and strengthen her Miko powers at this holy place.

They hunted demons together. She fell in love with him.

He was killed by an indestructible pig demon with a strange symbol on its neck. The girl went for revenge and fought the boar off. Another, stronger demon cut her off before she could finish it off with purification. It was a humanoid demon with an intricate gold hair piece that wrapped around his top bun.

He stabbed her in the gut with a golden spear laced with ancient powers. It cut right through her barrier and skewered her. The demon left her to die, bleeding to death.

She awoke at the shrine as a wolf with no memories.

. . .

Ajisai stared into the whiteness that was her soul, reflecting on all of this. The girl went to feel the mortal wound that should've been there but realized it was smooth and bare. She looked down to see unmarked flesh on her belly.

Oh, that's right. Hiei took it from me.

And then she received a visitor.

"Hello, Hiei," she told him with a quiet voice before continuing, "I learned who I am. Ookami's seal has been broken."

"What happened out there? Those white flames-" Hiei started to say but she interrupted, telling him, "I have another name. Do you want to know it?"

Hiei stared at her as she turned fully toward him and continued, "It's ironic how we met by the way. I used to be a demon hunter. To almost be killed by two demons, one of which is a now someone special to me-"

"Fool! I thought you were a man-eating beast-"

"-and you don't even want to know my real name." She finished in a whisper, not letting Hiei cut her off and looked away from him.

"I purified it," she told him after awhile and continued, "It was eating you alive, Hiei. I could not allow that. It was difficult to keep from purifying you as well but I managed."

Hiei watched her carefully for awhile before finally asking, "What is your name?"

"It's Hanako," she replied in a breathy voice and added, "Hanako Fukashi. I was 5 when my world ended and was invaded by demons."

She paused for a moment gathering her thoughts before telling him carefully, "I don't know if I will remember any of this when I wake up, but I wanted to say something to you before I do. My mind might block some of this out again. The-"

"The human mind is a fragile thing." Hiei said and he moved to walk closer to her, staring into her eyes before saying, "Tell me about yourself," taking a leaf from Ajisai's book from earlier.

The girl inhaled in and out and then she began, telling him everything.

When she was finished she smiled at him before saying, "You know? I'm glad I get to live this second life again. You and Shuichi have taught me so much. I used to hate all demons, but you guys are alright."

Hiei chuckled and told her, "Well from the sounds of it, you've encountered Demon Realm filth so the fox and I are a huge improvement."

She laughed and then smiled at him as she said, "You guys are the best," and then her eyes darkened as she continued, "Void is only one of them, by the way. There are three others. That's what I wanted to tell you."

"Then we'll find and kill them too," Hiei told the girl simply. She gave him an amused smirk as a response and added, "Orrr you guys beat them up and give me access to their sigils. That's the only way to beat them."

Hiei stared at her for a moment until finally he asked her, "They must be purified?"

"Mhm," she absentmindedly picked a thread off of her white T-shirt. "I have to use my Miko powers to purify them. They're ancient beings, almost like Gods. That's what Kenji…" she trailed off.

"The human monk?" Hiei added, he regarded her for a moment before saying, "So we need you to defeat these beings?"

"Not really, anyone with purification powers can do it. But I don't know of any right off hand. That is… if there are any more of us around. I was told that I got my powers through my dad's side of the family. My mother is foreign. It typically goes down family lines," she said as she put her two index fingers together in front of her in thought.

"These Miko powers… what are they? Human spirit energy?" Hiei asked and Ajisai looked up at him with a smile before she answered, "Kind of, but not really. They are divine powers blessed from the Gods. Ookami just so happens to be my source and oddly… I think I'm fused with it now."

"So you are… a God?" Hiei asked and narrowed his eyes in thought.

"Hell, I don't know," Ajisai said and shrugged.

"That sounds like Sacred Energy. We fought an enemy one time who utilized that," Hiei thought for a moment and asked, "Have you ever heard of a half-demon named Yusuke Urameshi in your life?"

Ajisai shrugged and answered with, "I haven't heard of his name, personally. I was a recluse. Kenji… Kenji was the only person I knew."

"Kenji was important to you," Hiei simply stated.

"Mhm," she replied and looked away, emotions welling up inside of her.

Hiei watched her with an odd expression for awhile before asking her quietly, "Do you still want to get to know me, human? After finding out about your past history with demons?"

Ajisai slowly slid her eyes over to him, seeing something in his eyes made her more serious as she said, "I would love to, actually. I think you're very interesting, Hiei. I think my new life might just be starting to develop a crush on you."

Hiei's eyes widened and she smiled at him.

And then the world started to turn black.

"Human! What's a… 'crush'?" Hiei asked innocently, with wide crimson eyes. She chuckled as she watched him fade into blackness. And when everything turned completely black she told the darkness.

"Its Love, you silly demon."

Long black hair swept into Yusuke's face as the strange woman bade him follow her into the woods, a sweet perfume of rich scents assaulted his nose and he batted the hair away from him in irritation. The woman ignored him, seemingly floating through the trees. It was night time, so that also added to the atmosphere of eerie vibes.

"Remind me again why I couldn't bring a friend on our merry adventure?" Yusuke asked as he batted away spiderwebs that were attached to tree limbs.

"Yusuke, you don't trust me? That wounds me," Yurei – the ghostly like woman answered him, her icy blue eye regarded him with a feint pout.

"Hell no," he told her with certainty and he sped up to keep pace with her. The woman was awfully fast for what she looked like. She answered with an attractive chuckle and kept moving, bringing them to a foggy location.

"Almost there," she told him with a sweet voice before speeding into the fog, creating swirls in the dense condensation.

"You seriously don't expect me to go in there do you?" He called out and when he received no response he said, "Ok, gotcha. Marching on!"

Yusuke wasn't afraid of much. He has been through so much in his forty-five some odd years, come hell or high water he was going to make it though. That didn't mean situations didn't make him at least a little nervous though.

And he was a little nervous, just a little, as he made his way through the thick fog that was dampening his senses. Yusuke heard wing beats and looked up to see a crow. It had a singular eye in the middle of its head, wide and red like cherries.

"Hello! Yusuke Urameshi!" The crow called out to him and he regarded it with a fake cheerful expression, "Oh hi there, yeah it's me, Yusuke." And then his face changed to serious as he glared at it and demanded, "Now where's Kuwabara!?"

"Calm down! Chill, bro! I'm just your guide for this evening," the crow told him and took off in a direction. Yusuke ran under it easily keeping pace as it continued, "This is Yurei's territory. You'll find it quite pleasant actually. We serve tacos on Tuesdays. You can have it with human meat or-"

"Hey, dip-shit! Do you know who you're talking to?" Yusuke waved his arms and screamed at it fire in his eyes as he continued, "I'm half-human! And I don't eat my own kind! That's disgusting! And yeah, we kinda beat up guys like you!"

The crow gulped and it quickly said, "Oh! You're that guy! My bad, dude. I was just trying to be hospitable!"

Yusuke glared at it as he followed, remaining silent for the time being. He knew some demons couldn't live without human meat or souls but things are different now. He doesn't have a lax opinion on the social issue like he once held.

He's seen too much now and held an anger against demons for destroying his home, diet needs or not. They've went too far. They should've thought about him when they came over to wreck the place!

Demons were about as fickle as humans in that regards. Changing their minds on peace with humans, war with humans, hell some even change their appearances, gender, and age on a whim. He was just surprised that they turned on him so quick.

And he didn't even know why.

The few demons he could capture and question would tell him the same rinse and repeat saying, "Down with the humans! We are superior!" but no one has yet to tell him why after almost a decade of peace they suddenly went to war – no massacred his home!

Yusuke eyed the crow suspiciously, wondering how many humans it's eaten while it's lived here. If it weren't for him being here to rescue Kuwabara he would kill it now before it breeds and makes new ones.

"We're here!" It called out with a sing song voice before whipping around in the air and flying away, "See ya later Yusuke Urameshi!"

Yusuke watched it as it disappeared into the dense fog. When he was satisfied it wasn't going to turned around and jump him, he turned to take in the new scenery. He was at a castle-like structure not unlike many of his previous missions that he's encountered in his youth, though this one was decorated in more luxurious detail, banners and all. These demons and their castles.

"Hello, Yusuke," Yurei called out to him with a sweet smile. He watched her for a moment cautiously before saying, "What'd you have to go get all prettied up for?"

The woman was wearing a full glamorous kimono with black as its base, orange and red koi fish pattern, but the same purple and orange obi that she had on before. At some point, she had put up her hair into a messy bun. Wisps of hair framed her face attractively as she stared at him with red lined icy blue eyes.

"Well I'm at home now. I wanted to change out of my work attire," she said and gave him a closed eye fake smile. Yusuke narrowed his eyes at her.

"Yeah, I don't care. Anyways, so you said you had my friend over here. Where is he? Cause that crow bastard just told me you guys ate humans here!" He accused her with a finger pointed in her direction.

Yurei gave him a serious look before telling him, "Some of us do. No reason to deny it. Some of us need… special diets," she gave him that weird smile again before adding, "Like your ancestor." With that she opened her icy gaze and stared into him.

It made him extremely uncomfortable all of the sudden, like this lady had something against him, like she held a grudge. He shook it off before saying, "Well, I'll let it go for now. Let's make this a business trip, per say. And the offer is, if I get what I want…"

"I won't kill all of you where you stand," he finished, giving her a deadly molten glare - his Mazoku lines faintly appearing on his skin.

Hiei walked gently with Ajisai asleep on his back. It was first morning light and she still hadn't woken up yet, so him and Shuichi agreed to carry her to their next destination. The red head strode beside him, both backpacks on his back, giving her sleeping body worried glances every so often.

"She will wake up," the fire demon acknowledged without looking at him and continued, "I can feel her energy recuperating. The girl wasted so much on me during that event."

Hiei was angry at himself for letting that scroll get the better of him. If he hadn't have picked it up when it called to him, he would've have lost half of his energy and lost control. The scroll is lucky the girl incinerated it with her purifying fire, otherwise he was going to drag that damned cat out of there and turn it into minced meat.

"You still haven't informed me on what happened," the fox told him with a frustrated tone before continuing, "I would like to know something at least of what transpired."

"The girl has regained her memories," the fire demon told him, leaving out what happened in his own mind. Hiei looked over at her head, which was resting against his back shoulder, before continuing, "She is a Miko. The girl told me everything. However, she does not know if she will remember it all when she wakes up."

Hiei turned his head back forward and he added, "Apparently there has been a seal holding back her memories. She broke it." And then he grew quiet, crimson eyes lost in thought as he walked on.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't jealous," Shuichi told him after some time. He looked over to the sleeping girl and back to the forest floor when he said, "The girl has been with me for longer. I wish I would have found this information out myself."

"Hn. Consider yourself lucky, this girl is an emotional being. Crying to me saying, 'We are a pack'. Silly girl…" Hiei said with an irritated tone and trialed off. Shuichi glanced over to him and saw that the dark haired demon was watching the ground beneath him as he walked, lost in thought.

"That sounds like something she would say," Shuichi told him with a smile. Hiei didn't look up when he asked the red head quietly, "Kurama… what is a 'crush'?"

Shuichi blinked and looked away uncomfortably, clearing his throat before saying, "Ahem. I assume you do not mean the act of damaging something forcefully."

"Nevermind, Fox! I'll find out myself," Hiei looked up with an irritable face.

He ducked under a limb carefully and continued after straightening his back as he walked, "The girl can help us defeat the demons responsible for destroying Human Realm."

Shuichi was taken aback, ducking under the same limb with surprise on his face as he said, "Ajisai? What could she possibly do that we haven't already done?"

"She's a Miko," Hiei answered him and adjusted the sleeping girl, glancing down at her face before turning his head back around to the forest in front of him.

Shuichi adjusted the bags on his back, lost in thought for a moment before replying, "That explains the healing powers and the barriers. Though not unusual for psychics, a Miko's powers come from another source. A divine source."

"It's the God apparently called Ookami," Hiei told him.

Shuichi paused, stopping in his tracks as he stared over toward Hiei with shock on his face, "Ookami…"

"Ookami is known to help humans reach their destination. But I've never heard of it getting involved in mortal affairs," Shuichi trailed off.

"It fused with the girl to save her life after being stabbed, turning her into a wolf," Hiei told him after awhile and continued, "There was a catch. Her human body still had the mortal wound. When she switched back over, the wound would still be there. I guess the dumb wolf God didn't have any healing powers."

"Then how-" Shuichi asked but Hiei interrupted, "I demanded that the stupid God give it to me instead. The fool almost took to long and she nearly died."

Shuichi watched him carefully as he walked and glanced down to the fire demon's torso before saying, "That wound you obtained that day."

"I did wonder about that myself. How did an injury such as that conjure from thin air. That explains it, it was placed upon you," Shuichi added, the gears turning in his head.

The man was lost in thought before he told the black haired fire demon with a side glance, "I'm surprised you volunteered yourself for that. That was reckless thing to do, even for you Hiei. May I ask what drove your intentions to save Ajisai?"

Hiei gave him a heated glare as a response as he said, "None of your business, Fox! It was a mere flesh wound to me. I knew my body could handle it."

"But why? When such an action didn't give you anything in return? What did you gain from it, Hiei?" Shuichi was hinting at something and it was pissing the fire demon off.

"Hn. You would have done the same, Fox. Why question me and my intentions?" Hiei spat at him.

"Because she is special to me, of course. I've taken care of her since she was a scrawny thing, starving out in the wilds," Shuichi told him calmly, without looking over at him.

Hiei refused to look at him or respond for quite awhile. The trees parted before them as they walked, taking them to a large field of flowers. Shuichi smiled as he took in the sight.

Hiei watched on in quiet contemplation at Shuichi's words just as he felt movement behind him. Softly, the girl spoke to his neck in a quiet voice, "Where am I?" And then she pushed hard against his back, trying to release herself from his hold on her legs.

"Who are you!?"

And Hiei's body stiffened.