Chapter Thirteen: Unplanned Visits

The following day was much like the last. Kainna woke up just after sunrise to mediate with Genkai, her mind much easier to control than the day before. Afterwards, she prepared food for the day, ate a small bite of it (she was running today, much to her displeasure) and took her tea outside to drink as she stretched to prepare for training. Kainna wondered if Hiei was going to show up again today, but wasn't trying to get her hopes up. After-all, she didn't think she was that interesting enough for someone to visit three days in a row. Yusuke was trapped here with her; he was forced to befriend her... just like a sibling. But Hiei was free to travel the human realm, she might not see him until the next mission. Kainna frowned at that thought and quickly finished her tea, she was delaying the inevitable... Genkai's cardio routine. It was specifically created for her and was extremely tiring although it was now becoming something of a routine for her. It was a series of different paths around the forest to train her stamina. Kainna hated, but she did find herself much faster than when she first came to Genkai's; Hiei would have laughed at her speed back then. Kainna shook her head again to dispel thoughts of him, it was harder than she thought.

Kainna ran the paths, her mind thinking of the day before. After her spar with Hiei in the morning when he had run away, Kainna begged Genkai to find Kuwabara's number in the phone book she had in storage and went down to the payphone to make the call. Yusuke had taught her how to use it when he had to call his mother last time he was here, something he had said was a necessity for her to learn. And it was a good thing she did, otherwise she would have never learned the status on Yusuke's health. He had woken up the night before, confused but healthy, and had left Kuwabara's to go back home to his mother. Apparently, he had even rang the payphone in hopes Kainna might be hanging around it, but she hadn't thought of that and so it was left ringing. Kuwabara had told her Yusuke was supposed to be at school the rest of the week and a plan hatched in her mind. She was going to transverse the human realm and visit Yusuke. Kuwabara was happy to give her the school address and time Yusuke would probably be leaving and told her not to forget to see him either before hanging up. Kainna decided to wait a day before going, just in case Hiei showed up. She wanted a chance to warn him of her absence, but it seemed as though he wasn't going to show up today anyways.

A couple of hours had passed, and it was in the later afternoon when Hiei appeared. He had a contact he had to meet before noon, another demon that had information for him regarding his sister. He was informed she was in the human realm, but nothing else could be made about her besides that she was with both demons and humans. Hiei was thankful for any information, especially when he had to look while being under the scrutiny of Koenma. It took longer for him to get information now, and that meant meeting early in the morning miles away from prying eyes. He was on his way back when he noticed the direction he was taking crossed Genkai's forest. He wondered if Kainna had waited for him, if she was disappointed when he didn't show, if she missed him. Hiei scowled to himself, why would she miss him? A demon she just met the other day. If she did miss him, it was probably out of loneliness. No one ever choose to be around him, not willingly. If he wasn't even wanted as a baby, who would want him now?

Hiei was close enough to Genkai's dojo to be detected, so he hid his energy as well as he could. He wasn't going to stop, he was just going to pass by, that was... until he heard Kainna. She was laughing at something, a laugh so loud it echoed through the forest. Hiei smiled unconsciously, Kainna had giggled at jokes from time to time but he noticed when she was really excited or happy she bellowed her laughter out without care how loud she was. And that was what she was doing now, her gleeful laughter was loud and caused some birds to hop off their branches and take to the sky. But for Hiei, it caused him to move closer. His curiosity was peaked, why was she laughing….and who with? He hopped onto a nearby tree branch, leaning against the trunk as his eyes scanned the field for Kainna.

Kainna was crouched down, her hands up in the air as she faced a pure white wolf, who was down on its front paws in a playful position. They were both frozen as they stared at each other before Kainna jumped towards it with a giggle. The wolf jumped back with a playful bark, its tail wagging, before jumping towards Kainna. Kainna jumped back, dodging the wolf before they both froze again, waiting for the other to move, each sporting huge grins. Hiei chuckled softly to himself, of course she would befriend a wolf. He watched as they chased each other, the wolf becoming much more playful as the time passed and even letting Kainna pet it before giving chase again. Hiei wasn't sure how long he watched her, and he wasn't even aware of it until a voice broke him out of his trance.

"Will you be joining us, Hiei?" Genkai's voice carried through the field, startling both demons and the wolf. Kainna stopped her playing and looked around for Hiei, her smile disappeared momentarily until she spotted him in a tree across the field. Her smile returned and grew even bigger when she spotted him, her eyes seemed to sparkle as her whole face lit up with excitement. Hiei felt his chest constrict, was that smile for him? He never received such a warm greeting.

"Hiei!" Kainna waved at him, as if he wasn't watching her this whole time. "I thought you weren't going to come today." Hiei used his speed to quickly appear in front of her, the wolf she was playing with before took a defensive position in front of her, baring its teeth at him in a warning. Kainna paid no mind to the vicious wolf next to her, petting its head comfortingly as if it were a house pet. Hiei watched the animal carefully.

"Do you have a pet now?" He asked. Kainna looked down at the wolf curiously, the wolf in turn looking up at her, its blue eyes innocent, its tongue rolled to the side in a goofy grin. Kainna laughed.

"I don't know, it followed me after my run this afternoon. It was pacing the edge of the treeline for hours until it finally came up to me." Kainna pet the wolf again as she spoke. The wolf licked her hand back before its ears perked up, something in the forest drew its attention and suddenly, it dashed off. Kainna watched it go with a fond smile. "Not a pet, I guess." She murmured. With the beast now gone, Hiei moved closer to Kainna. As always, his gaze trailed over her. Her hair looked neater, with less braids in it than the last time. She only had two that pulled back from her face and connected in the back, creating a half-do. Her features were sharpened without so much hair around her face and neck, her delicate jawline pronounced and caused Hiei's eyes to travel the line down her slim neck. Hiei liked this look much better. He broke his gaze before his eyes strayed further. A breeze passed and the smell of lotus flowers wafted past him drawing his eyes back to her hair, noticing now that the tips were still wet. She must have just bathed.

"I didn't think you were going to come." Kainna's voice broke Hiei out of his thoughts and directed his eyes back to her own. "I'm glad you did." A smile graced her lips, not as excited as before but a sweet one that made a warmth spread through Hiei. A comfortable silence engulfed them as Kainna watched the sunset.

"Oh, did you want some tea Genkai was just-" Kainna trailed off as she turned around and noticed Genkai's disappearance. When had she left?

"It's fine, I was only passing through anyways." Hiei spoke indifferently, trying not to act like he wanted to stop here anyways.

"Oh ok. Well, I'm glad you stopped by. I won't be around tomorrow, and I wanted to let you know in case you happened to stop by, and I wasn't here." Hiei glanced at her from the corner of his eye, curious to know where she would be if not here.

"I see." Hiei was short with his response but his mind raced. Did she have another mission? Was she going to be alone?

"I called Kuwabara yesterday, I used the payphone by myself for the first time." Kainna spoke as if proud by this, not noticing Hiei crack his neck to turn his head and stare at her.

"Why would you call that oaf?" He couldn't help but to ask. Kainna laughed at him.

"To find out how Yusuke was." She answered as if it were obvious. Hiei looked away from her back to the sunset. That made sense. "He woke up yesterday actually, and is already going back to school. So, I'm going trek through the human city to surprise him tomorrow, hence why I won't be here." Kainna finished. Hiei hummed in response, happy that he got his answer. Kainna looked over at him, a teasing glint in her eye.

"I would have invited you to come along with me but I would image being around so many humans would not be something you would want to do." And I would imagine you are sick of me at this point. Kainna turned her gaze back to the darkening sky to distract herself from that thought. The sun was below the tree line by this time, but its glow still lit up the sky in dark purples and blues. Hie smirked at her statement, it was true. He hated going into the human city, especially now that he was prisoner to this realm. And any time he had to, he would stick to the trees and roofs to avoid the humans walking around.

"You would be correct in that assumption. But I am curious as to how you are going to make your way around." Hiei asked with chuckle. He couldn't imagine she would take to the roof tops like he would.

Kainna could tell he was laughing at her, it was obvious she hadn't been in the human realm long, and the months that she had, she only stepped into the city maybe three times. But she had Genkai's help this time.

"Genkai drew me a map." She stated proudly and held up a folded-up piece of paper. It quickly unfolded into a map of the city, with pencil markings and notes to direct Kainna. It looked like a unreadable mess, with some of the notes already being smudged. Hiei chuckled.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." He was sure she would be lost within the first few minutes. Kainna pouted and started folding the map back.

"I just need to get close to his school, I'm sure I'll be able to follow his energy once I get close enough." Kainna defended herself with a pout. Hiei smirked.

"I'm sure you will." Kainna heard Hiei but crossed her arms and kept her mouth shut, determined to ignore him. "I have a reason to see Kurama, I think he's in the neighbouring part of the city to Yusuke." Hiei said but had yet to offer his service. He found great pleasure in teasing her, especially when it was something she wasn't good at. Kainna glanced over at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Good for you." She replied with a smirk of her own. She understood what he was doing... but she was not going to ask him again. Hiei watched her with a grin he couldn't wipe off his face, it was entertaining. She just got so defensive and always had a comeback to him, even when she didn't.

"I could help you get through the city, if you want."

"No, thanks I'm good." Hiei coughed from her sudden rejection and it was now Kainna's turn to grin ear to ear. She turned to face him now, glad to finally catch him off-guard.

"But I will be at the payphone at the bottom of the stairs tomorrow at noon if you want me to travel with you." Kainna said with a teasing tone, her expression far to cheeky. Hiei rolled his eyes but the smile stayed on his face.

It was the following morning and Hiei was already jogging through the forest on his way to meet Kainna. A weird feeling was building within him, something between excitement and nervousness. He would have liked to pretend he didn't know why he was feeling this way, but he would be lying. The idea of spending a few hours alone with Kainna filled him with a sort of excitement that put a spring in his step and caused his speed to increase subconsciously. It would be the first time they spent time together completely unchaperoned, not that that mattered to Hiei, he wasn't going to change how he acted towards her... it just reminded him too much like a

...date.

Hiei stopped at the base of a tree, his thoughts halting him as a cool breeze brushed past him. Hiei could deny it at first as just curiosity, but the more he got to know her, the more it became obvious. He was far more interested in her than he needed to be, he found himself thinking of her throughout the day, wondering what she was doing. He wasn't completely sure if he liked her yet, or at least he wasn't ready to admit it. But he couldn't deny that he wanted to be around her a lot lately, so much so he was willing to travel through a human city just to spend time with her. Time with her alone. His thoughts reminded him. Hiei was a very selfish demon, in this case possessive might be a more accurate term. And unfortunately for her, he seemed to crave her sole, undivided attention. The smile she had greeted him with last night flashed through his mind; her bright eyes meeting his own, a smile decorating her face as she waved at him. He wondered if he was going to receive another greeting like that today? Another breeze brushed past him and tossed some of the leaves on the forest floor up into the air. Hiei watched them go, his eyes dazed as he thought of Kainna.

"Hiei! There you are!" A voice above him called out, snapping him out of his daze. Botan glided down from the clouds on her broom and hovered a few feet in front of him, a kind smile on her face. Hiei frowned.

"What do you want?" He asked bluntly. Hiei didn't have anything against Botan personally, but she was Koenma's messenger and he didn't exactly like Koenma... especially when he was ordering him around.

"I know you don't particularly like your situation Hiei, but you could be a bit more kind to me." Botan chided him. "Anyways, I have a mission for you here. It's from Koenma." Botan pulled a tied scroll out from her kimono sleeve and offered it to Hiei. He scrunched his nose up in distaste and looked away from her, his hands stayed in his pockets.

"Come back tomorrow, I'm busy today." He answered much to Botan's displeasure. She raised her arm, swinging the scroll at him threateningly.

"What do you mean you're busy? This isn't a vacation Hiei, Koenma is ordering you to recover this VHS tape... today!" Botan yelled at the ill-tempted demon in front of her. Hiei crossed his arms, the frown deepening into a glare. It had to be today.

"Is it a solo mission?" Hiei asked instead. Botan's glare softened as she looked at him curiously.

"Yes, it is. Besides, Kurama is unavailable today with a mission of his own." Botan answered. Hiei looked away towards Genkai's forest, where Kainna was probably getting ready to meet him. Botan watched him, wondering if he was staring into space or looking for something. She thought it was curious that she found him in this part of the forest, the last time she had to collect him for a mission he was further West. He said he was busy today, was he going to meet someone? She looked at the direction he was staring towards, trying to map out the area. The only place she knew of in that direction was Genkai's place. What would he want from there-

Botan grinned mischievously, suddenly putting together everything.

"Unless you were thinking of taking someone else with you on the mission?" Botan asked, although it seemed she already knew the answer. Hiei shifted his attention back to her, his eyes narrowing back into a glare.

"Fine, give me the scroll." Hiei finally answered, his arm outstretched. Botan happily slapped the scroll onto his hand, gliding around him childishly afterwards.

"Koenma needs you to collect this VHS tape and give it to Yusuke for his mission later. The location and details are in the scroll." Hiei already stuffed the scroll in his pocket, determined to read it on his way, but Botan's words stopped him.

"Yusuke will be going on a mission later?" Hiei asked, his mind returning to Kainna.

"Yes. Why?" Botan answered with short replies. It was important Hiei didn't know too much about Yusuke's mission, especially since it was involving his sister. Hiei didn't noticed Botan's awkwardness, instead he thought of Kainna waiting for him to take her to Yusuke and Yusuke, who he was supposed to be delivering a tape to later.

"Is he going with Kainna?" Hiei finally asked. He was pressed for time and was in no mood to manipulate the conversation, it was best to be blunt. Botan smile slyly at him, already having an idea of where this was going.

"Yes, he will be. Why do you ask Hiei?" Botan asked with a teasing pitch in her voice. Hiei glared at her for a moment before looking away and crossing his arms with a huff.

"I was on my way to escort her through the city to find Yusuke, actually." Hiei admitted with a grumble as Botan's smile grew.

"Really? Why would you be that kind to her, I wonder?" Hiei gritted his teeth, his dislike for Botan might become personal now.

"Since Koenma couldn't find someone else to be his errand boy, perhaps you could escort Kainna to Yusuke? Since they have a mission together later it might work better for you." Hiei advised trying to sound nonchalant about it.

"And it'll work better for you too, since you can see her later when your mission is over. Sneaky little plan Hiei, I like it." Botan teased. Hiei's eyes were practically slits as he glared further at her. Botan was surprised herself that she hadn't went up in flames.

"She's waiting at the bottom of the stairs by Genkai's forest. We were supposed to meet at noon." Hiei instructed Botan as he glanced at the sky. It was almost noon now.

"Don't worry Hiei, I'll get her to Yusuke safe and sound." Botan spoke happily as she circled around him on her broom. "And I'll make sure to apologize to her for your absence on your date." Botan called as she flew away, giggling into her sleeve.

Hiei crumbled the scroll in his fist, angrily staring after Botan. He couldn't wait to be free of Koenma.

Kainna had woken up that morning feeling energetic. She was excited to be traveling with Hiei today, even if he might not be as excited as her to be traveling around humans. Kainna had cooked breakfast early and, after much back and forth with herself, packed a bento box for had watched her cook that morning, a small smile on her face the entire time. She noticed Kainna had washed her kimono last night, scrubbed her face this morning, brushed her hair, and re-applied the coal around her eyes. She doubted this was all for Yusuke, she hardly looked this presentable when they trained together. She could only assume it was for Hiei, who Kainna said was escorting her to Yusuke today. Genkai kept her mouth shut about all of this, only waving goodbye as Kainna left 30 minutes early to go wait at the bottom on the stairs.

So, there she was...standing nervously with the bento clutched in her hands as she glanced at the sky again. It was noon now, and Kainna had this nagging feeling that something was wrong. She didn't know how or why she felt this way, her stomach had twisted and a feeling of disappointment engulfed her. Her sister had said something about her heightened intuition when she was growing up, something about her body sensing an issue before she can. Either way, she was expecting disappointment.

"Kainna!"

Although Kainna could identify that voice almost instantly, she still looked up towards the sky. Her eyes found Botan, a blue blur drifting across the sky before diving towards her. Although Kainna had a smile on her face, her stomach flipped again creating a discomforting feeling. Botan was here, but not Hiei?

"Hey Botan, what brings you to this realm?" Kainna asked pleasantly as she hid the bento box quickly behind her back. Her face was dusted pink from the embarrassment she felt, she didn't want Botan to see it. If Botan noticed, she was polite enough not to say anything, instead, she flew around Kainna once before parking herself in front of Kainna.

"Kainna! Always such a pleasure to see you, you're much more pleasant than Hiei was." Botan spoke with a cheer in her voice as she smiled at the demoness in front of her. Kainna's own smile disappeared as she registered Botan's words.

"You saw Hiei today?" Kainna asked curiously, the pit of apprehension in her stomach worsened. Was there a change of plans?

"Yes, Koenma had a retrieval mission for Hiei who was very displeased to be assigned to a mission today." Botan glanced at Kainna with a sly smile. "Not that I can blame him for being angry for missing a date with you." Kainna jumped at Botan's words, a blush covered her cheeks.

"A d-date? No Botan yo-you must have misunderstood him; he was just supposed to take me to Yusuke." Kainna stuttered through her sentence, her mind still trying to comprehend the thought of Hiei referring to this as date. A nervous feeling erupted in her stomach at the thought. Botan grinned at her embarrassment, it only confirmed what she had thought when she spoke to Hiei, there was definitely something going on here, whether they knew it or not.

"Well, he was very upset with me for disrupting your... day together." Botan's smile grew mischievous as she looked over at the other girl, who in turn looked away from her prying eyes, her hands tightening around the bento box,

"Well, moving on..." Botan switched back to her friendly demeanour, already having gotten her answer. "You will have a mission with Yusuke later on today once Hiei retrieves the tape. I won't be able to take you the scenic route Hiei might have choose, but you will be getting escorted to Yusuke by me instead of Hiei today." Kainna relaxed her shoulders, the feeling of apprehension disappearing but the ball of disappointment only lessened. It wasn't the day she wanted but she couldn't control it this time it seemed.

"Thanks Botan, I appreciate it. It would have taken me all day to find Yusuke by myself." Kainna admitted with a laugh. She climbed onto Botan's broom, one hand holding onto the stick while the other held the bento box on her lap.

"What are friends for?"