Yu Yu Hakusho 1. With a Bang

A/N: No I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho

If you have not read **Holding Still in Motion** alot of this story will not make sense from the get go. This cannot be read as a stand alone story.

* * *

_Appropriately so it was the dead of night. _

_A time that the entire world seemed wrapped in a gossamer state that bordered on that of the sweet or nightmarish._

_It was cold, each breath hung in the air for a heartbeat. Faint passing reminders that it was still the middle of a harsh winter._

_The barest hint of wind shifted the dust like snow at her feet in slow circles as she looked down at what lay in the alley way._

_She should feel something._

_The weight of the revolver in her hand did not feel as heavy as she had been told it would._

"_We should go..."_

_She shook her head, bending down to crouch beside her handy work._

"_Shizuru this is stupid."_

_She glanced up at Narumi's pale face, "Go ahead. I have to see this all the way."_

_Narumi snorted, "You're going to get us caught."_

"_Nobody cares." she murmured looking back down, "Not about this guy...hell I don't even care."_

_That was what held her in place._

_What drew her attention to the proof of what she had done._

_She should feel something...shouldn't she?_

_She felt nothing at all._

_No remorse._

_No anger._

_No panic over the idea of being caught._

_Not even the satisfaction that might come from settling something._

_There was only the absence of care. The cold that wafted around her. The sharp smell of gunpowder. The crunch of snow as Narumi shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot._

_This isn't normal...is it?_

"_I think I'm going to hell..." she muttered running a hand through her hair._

"_You don't believe in hell." Narumi scoffed kicking at the snow at her feet, "What does that have to do with anything?"_

"_That's..." she began then stopped herself._

_There was no point in debating it with Narumi. _

_She did believe in hell as much as she believed there were places other than the human world. Places where the creatures she knew were **not** humans came from. _

_It was only a belief. She had no proof in the matter. She simply knew, just as she knew where to go and who to find in those moments she found herself needing to be somewhere else._

_It had been a truly harrowing experience that had led to this moment. So many things had gone wrong. So many connections to the criminal undertones of the city used._

_She had been extremely lucky but in the end it had been the distinct lack of emotions that had allowed her to finish the task as completely as she had._

_She was not a fan of loose ends._

_She could not afford to let even the smallest of them to remain, not in this situation._

_She had given warning once the criminal had moved into her territory with his gang._

_He had ignored the warning and done the one thing he should not have._

_He had Kazuma kidnapped from daycare. _

_Not only Kazuma but other kids that should have been off limits just for the families they belonged to. Not that she had cared in particular about those kids, that was an obvious risk considering._

_Her focus had been Kazuma and the in fighting that had occurred within the families rendering them near useless as they accused each other instead of acting._

_More then a simple miscalculation on his part._

_Borderline suicidal to begin with._

_This was the only result possible._

"_Did the kids get to the hospital?" she asked quietly._

"_He'll be okay Shizuru." Narumi assured her, the normally angry tone in her friend's voice dropping away with sympathy, "He's real young. He probably won't remember any of it."_

_Her eyes narrowed as a flash of the rage that had fueled her previously coursed through her._

_The crunch of snow again as Narumi stepped closer then crouched on the other side._

"_Give it to me."_

_She picked up her eyes to find Narumi's hand extended to her. Without thought she relinquished the firearm to the other young woman._

"_You know knifing the guy would have been a lot less noisy. You going to stare for the rest of the night?"_

_A dark smirk twisted the side of her mouth. _

_Narumi sounded impatient though she spoke with the same inflections as Shizuru. They were not two sides of the same coin. They were mirrors of each other. Once they had found common ground in their mutual rivalry they had become in many ways inseparable._

_As proof they were having a relaxed conversation in the most absurd situation._

_One of them should have been nervous._

_One of them should have possibly attempted to find another way._

_Instead Narumi had instantly become her partner in this without judgment and perhaps even with the same viewpoint of the end result._

_Happenstance really that she had been the one holding the gun._

_Narumi would have acted in the same way if she had been given the chance._

_She forced herself to stand and busied her hands with lighting a cigarette._

"_You didn't have to..." she began after her first drag._

"_Shut the hell up." Narumi snapped conversationally as she tucked the gun into her jacket, "You think I'd let you do this shit on your own?"_

"_Would've been smarter." she responded flicking her cigarette._

_Narumi chuckled, "And miss all the fun? Not likely, besides only I get to hurt you. Everyone knows that. Come on."_

_Her eyes fell to the ground, to the body of the criminal laying there._

_She had known she was capable of it. That she did not have that specific morality in her that would have made this action impossible. She had simply never been put in the position to provide herself with proof of that until now._

_A life had been taken._

_She had watched the rise and fall of his final breaths._

_She was going to walk away without a second thought on the matter._

_It turned out that influx of compassion she had been subjected to when her spiritual awareness had truly awakened had not hampered her in any way..._

* * *

"Shizuru..."

Her eyes popped open the moment her exhausted mind recognized the smooth, soft tone of Kurama's voice.

For a heartbeat she had no clue as to where she was or why Kurama would be kneeling in

front of her with that concerned expression on his face.

Her eyes danced to her surroundings, taking in the slow bustle of the waiting room of a hospital before returning to the deep emerald pools.

Then came the memory of why she was there in the first place.

Narumi standing next to her at the bar of the restaurant talking in her slow, derisive manner.

It was an accidental meeting. A simple coincidence they had both come to that particular place. There had been no signs that it was anything other then a normal day.

The man that had stumbled into her back as she spoke quietly with the other woman.

Her own knee jerk reaction of grabbing the arm that had snaked around her side.

Her reaction had not been quick enough to prevent the gun in that hand from going off.

If only she had been just a second faster.

If only she had moved with just a bit more purpose.

Time had rushed forward creating chaos with her memories. There was a blank spot. A few moments where she had felt only a mad rush of something inside her. When the only sound in her ears had been Narumi's gasping breaths and her own savagely beating heart.

Something had happened in that moment but she could not remember exactly what it was that had.

In the end it had not mattered.

Narumi had been shot which was why she had been sitting in the hospital waiting room.

Why there was blood caked on her pants.

Why Kurama was here now with a change of clothing for her since she had not wanted to bother Kazuma who was studying for his finals.

She shifted in the chair she had been cat napping in, "Hey..."

"I brought what you asked for." Kurama said moving to take the seat beside her as he handed her a bag, "How is your...friend?"

She smirked at his uncertain tone as she leaned forward, "She's supposed to be out of surgery soon."

"_Not likely. Besides only I get to hurt you. Everyone knows that."_

It was mutual, that odd possessiveness between her and Narumi. The inverse was true, only she could hurt Narumi in this manner.

The dream could be directly linked to what had happened earlier.

Somewhere in the city someone that had tried to kill Narumi was walking around.

That someone she knew beyond a doubt had been hired to do so.

She also knew that person had not been human.

There were too many implications associated with what had happened.

She could not afford very many mistakes along this particular road. There were too many people who would be put instantly at risk.

"Wait for me." she said rising with the bag he had given her.

"If you wish." he responded agreeably.

* * *

Kurama watched as Shizuru spoke quietly with a young woman he assumed was a part of Narumi's gang with a growing sense of uneasiness.

They had stepped outside after Shizuru had changed clothing so that she could smoke. This was the second of such interruptions.

The image of her sitting propped up in the waiting room, her clothing stained with blood would not leave his mind.

At the time she had called him with her request of clothing he had not thought about the reason behind it. It was not so rare that she would contact him with an unusual request at a strange hour.

What she had said after their having witnessed her fighting Narumi still held true. Shizuru was adamant about their lack of involvement concerning certain aspects of her life.

He knew Hiei was subject to this restriction as well even after a year and a half of having begun a relationship with Shizuru.

"_You three should keep your heads down for a little while. The only reason you haven't been involved in the stuff me and Shizuru do is because she's broken the bones of anyone who even mentions recruiting you. You should show her a little respect for her efforts."_

Since hearing those near ominous words from Narumi he had attempted to ferret out the details concerning any interest. Suichi Minamino was not the guise that would have the contacts it seemed were required to find this information.

Whenever he had come close something would interfere in the process and he had come up short of any real information.

The closest he had come was the constant reconnection to Shizuru.

Though it was obvious she was at the heart of it all she had never bothered to reprimand him for his interest.

It had become one of those unique puzzles that he could not simply remove himself from. It was rare that anything in the Human World remained so outside of his grasp.

Shizuru finished her whispered conversation and rejoined him.

"I imagine you wished for me to wait for a specific reason?" he prompted raising an eyebrow.

She exhaled a plume of cigarette smoke into the night air not bothering to turn towards him.

"I have some things I'm going to have to do because of this. Think you could spend a few days at my place?" she asked quietly.

He felt his brow furrow, "Is there..."

"Last thing I need is that fireball overreacting to me not being there." she interrupted him finally casting a look at him.

_That fireball..._

Hiei divided time between the Human and Demon World. There was no real set time that he would return but it seemed he preferred to not spend longer than a month away from Shizuru.

While he had encouraged the pairing he wondered at the couple's strange ability to not implode.

He had observed that while Shizuru and Hiei singularly were powerful personalities once together they interacted without pause as if the time apart had not existed.

Neither could have been accused of being shrinking personalities. Either could and did exude an aura of unapproachable to a certain degree. Both had personality traits that should have caused the other to react in a negative fashion.

It was an intriguing phenomenon to say the least.

He understood her request instantly, "Hiei is due back soon."

From prior experience both of them knew if Hiei could not locate Shizuru in her normal haunts he did have a tendency to become somewhat insistent in his search for her.

That insistence had on at least one occasion brought him out of a sound sleep to find Hiei all but sitting on him with what could only be interpreted as murderous intent glowing in his crimson eyes.

He knew it was a reaction to the double life Shizuru led. Hiei had come to understand his life was not the only one spent with constant threat. In its own way Shizuru's mirrored Hiei's in the Demon World.

Though he would never admit it Hiei had developed a certain amount of anxiety that he would one day return and she would simply no longer be there.

Aside from being human Shizuru was in a constant state of dangerous situations that rivaled even Yusuke's ability to become involved in them. Added to that it was done purposefully through her spiritual awareness that had nothing to do with actual effort on Shizuru's part.

Watching her now he could not rid himself of the sense that there was something different about her. Some aspect that he had not previously been made aware of in her character. It communicated itself so subtly that he was hard pressed to give real definition to it. She was different but he had no idea why that was.

"Are you in danger Shizuru?" he asked point blank.

She took another drag from her cigarette seeming to consider his question for much longer then he was comfortable with.

"Don't ask stupid questions Red and I won't bother giving you half ass lies." She responded slowly.

"That's hardly reassuring." he censured carefully.

"Wasn't meant to be." she returned then cast a smirk in his direction, "To be honest I don't think so. Narumi's job isn't exactly the safest. And that's about all I'm telling you."

"He won't accept that as an explanation." he pointed out.

She chuckled darkly as she took another drag of her cigarette before flicking the remains off into the darkness of the parking lot.

"That's your problem." she said shrugging, "Balls in your court Kurama. Either you stay at my place and keep him solid or you end up with a really pissed off fire demon breaking your window in the middle of the night. We both know where he'll go if he can't find me."

"I see no reason for threats." he replied wishing he had anticipated her thoughts in this area, "You are becoming very adept in handling us."

"Like that's a new thing." she commented dryly.

Unfortunately he could not deny the comment. Shizuru had over time become the only human even he could not fully delve into the mind of. Even though he counted her as one of his closest friend he was unsure of what truly motivated her.

_So what is it this time Shizuru? What is it that you intend to become involved in? Or is this something you have been involved in?_

"If you wish to talk..." he began to offer.

His words caught in his throat as she fully turned to him.

It was nothing he could fully grasp yet it caused him to straighten.

It was in the way she held his eyes with her own. The darkened pools of shadowed topaz full of some unknown yet magnetic force.

He could not bring himself to look away.

For the briefest of moments he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

She shifted as she dug into one of her pockets and produced her keys that she handed to him. He accepted the keys mindful of the hidden tension of her movements.

"If Kuza bugs you just tell him I'm at a hair convention or something." she said quietly.

He nodded still caught up in that unsettling regard.

Without another word Shizuru turned her back to him and strode towards the main doors of the hospital.

_This does not feel right..._

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	2. Casting Shadows

The semi high pitched sound of the warning klaxon was only marginally annoying as he worked to buckle the third of his belts around his waist.

A second later Mukuro strode in, cast a scathing glance at him and went to the control panel to silence the alarm.

"Why is it you can't get about it being a pain to replace the chambers?!" she snapped at him in exasperation.

He only glanced at her as he shook his cloak out.

He had never enjoyed the feeling of being encased. It was a sensation he avoided to the point that even his clothing reflected his aversion to it. Mukuro was well aware of that aversion. He did not consider it a matter of consequence that he continuously took the more direct route to escape the healing chamber.

If anything she could only blame herself for feeling the need to question it whenever it occurred.

He paused as a twinge of pain in his side alerted him to the fact he had not fully healed.

Early on he had found he was one of the very few who could cast off the artificial hibernation the healing chambers induced. Normally though he endured it to the end result.

He frowned slightly.

Something had drawn him out of the artificial sleep. The vaguest of sensations floated in the back of his mind, an uneasiness that he could not immediately qualify.

Any sense of something off produced an immediate want in him to identify the source. In his world uneasiness translated easily to threat unless proven otherwise. He was not the type to ignore anything that held that quality to it.

Gazing around the chamber he knew it was not the source of the vague sensation.

Mukuro glared at him from beside the control panel, arms folded in her irritation. By now if something had occurred she would have brought it up regardless of her annoyance.

"How long was I in that thing?" he questioned.

"About a week," she replied then sighed, "You should have stayed in at least a day longer."

Another of the things he disliked about the chambers. The loss of his sense of time. Unless for some reason his Jagan opened there was a decided lack of continuity.

The loss of a week meant he had been in the Demon World for a little over a month. It was past the time he would have normally left to spend time with Shizuru. This cycle had occurred without much thought put into it. When he felt he wanted to see her he simply left to do so. The timing of it was chance event but he had become use to it.

He scowled at the thought that if he had taken more care in his last fight this would not have occurred.

It was not a thought he was use to having at all. In fact it may be the first time the thought of true caution had occurred to him at all in this manner.

"Hiei..." Mukuro prompted.

"I am leaving." he stated firmly putting thought into motion as he headed towards the door.

"To the Human World I suppose. Why do I bother with you at all?" Mukuro questioned with heated annoyance.

He paused at the door, "Because you realize there is no one better."

"Full of ourselves aren't we."

He snorted indelicately, "I am aware of my qualities. If you see a lack I invite you to find anyone better suited."

He did not wait for her retort.

It did nothing to continue the back and forth of this particular conversation. It would only lead to her typical tirade over the time he spent away from the duties she assigned him. And that inevitably led to him informing her he was perfectly willing to be replaced if she could find anyone besides herself to defeat him.

Of course there was no one that could or would in the area Mukuro held for the King of Demon World. Most were still terrified of Mukuro herself without the addition of having to contend with him for the position of heir to her territories.

He made good time after leaving the complex behind him. Taking only short breaks when the dull ache in his side became more pronounced.

Checking the area he was mildly annoyed to discover the flesh was scarred where the demon who had been his opponent had ripped its claws into him. In a fight where it was sword versus claws normally the sword won out but there was something to be said about being ambidextrous.

It had been a lucky strike that had crippled his attacks but it had not saved the life of that particular demon.

Another day in the healing chamber would have taken care of the scarring as well. It would take a month of his body's own healing abilities to erase the trace of the wound.

He did not normally return to Shizuru bearing any traces of the battles he had during his time away. During their time together it was an unspoken agreement that when it came to certain details in both of their lives they did not discuss them.

He did find it odd that the subject matter for both of them was the life-threatening aspects. As if they had mutually decided to never utter such words.

During what had occurred with Tsuneo he had been made only to aware of how precarious their daily lives were. Just how easily either of their lives could be taken.

The last two times he had been with her he almost broken their undisclosed agreement. She had seemed distracted by something she would not discuss with him. In all fairness there were things she could not have explained in a manner he would have understood.

Because of the implantation of the Jagan some of his own energies were considered to be psychic in nature but that was not exactly true.

In comparison to Shizuru's abilities his could be viewed as elementary.

He did not see this as a lessening of his own abilities to admit such. It was simple reality. Though he was grateful his had never followed the paths that her's tended to. What she easily accepted he would have fought with every fiber of his being against.

As he entered the Human World he paused to rest again.

His side ached fiercely enough that it impeded the manner he liked to travel in the human city. It was much easier to travel over rooftops and through dense stands of trees then to do so along the winding streets.

What greeted him upon reaching Shizuru's home was the very last thing he expected to find.

Gazing around the empty darkened room he noted with growing annoyance that her scent was somewhat faded.

In the living room he found Yusuke who apparently had fallen asleep in the chair he normally occupied. On the couch Kurama lay in a similar state. The television was still on but the sound was low as if one of them had turned it down in consideration of the other.

Adding to the annoyance was the fact that the pair were supposedly demons.

They should have awoken to the sound of him opening the window in Shizuru's room.

At the very least they should have been aware of his energies since he did not bother to suppress them in this world. He found it served more purpose to alert other demons of his presence then to hide it.

He kicked Yusuke's feet that had been resting on the coffee table off of it with one foot and was greeted with a slightly satisfying reaction.

Yusuke jumped in the chair, his arms flailing in near panic. The expression on the ex detective's face appeased his irritation somewhat.

"Damn it Hiei!" Yusuke snapped as he recognized him, "What the hell was that for?!"

"You do not live here." he pointed out glancing at Kurama, "You are not that talented in feigning sleep Kurama."

The red head shifted on the couch enough to look at him.

"Where?" he snapped.

"We expected you a few days ago." Kurama said moving to a sitting position.

For a moment he believed that Kurama had no clue as to what he might have meant by the short question. He did occasionally wonder if there was some adverse side affect from living in the Human World. That if given enough time there his wits might be dulled by exposure to it.

Of course believing that would have meant underestimating Kurama and he had learned long ago to never do so.

Kurama was stalling for some reason.

"Fox I would not suggest playing at this." he said scowling at his former partner.

"Some events have occurred that require her to be elsewhere." Kurama supplied slowly as if choosing his words, "She thought it best you have someone to greet you when you arrived."

"Just tell him Kurama." Yusuke suggested covering a yawn, "He's going to blow in a second."

It was rather astute of Yusuke to have noticed how quickly his mood had gone from irritated to angry. He supposed that was only to be expected considering how well they knew each other. Kurama being so purposefully vague could only mean that the "events" being spoken of could not be cast in a favorable light.

Kurama sighed heavily, "I warn you I only know the most basic of things in this. Shizuru is rather talented at keeping information from us."

"By us he really means us." Yusuke put in rubbing at his face and leaning forward, "I can only get a little myself and I do have some weight with the idiot thugs walking around."

He was going to harm the both of them. He was undecided if it would be with fist or energy but the resulting pain should convince the pair how unwise it was to give information he had not asked for.

"A week ago Shizuru's friend Narumi was seriously wounded in her presence. Narumi lived but apparently when Narumi was put out of commission Shizuru stepped into her place as leader of her gang. Since then she has been visiting the households of various families I know to be quiet powerful in the underworld. I have no information as to what exactly it is she is doing but I assume she is seeking out the person who injured Narumi." Kurama finally explained.

"You do not sound convinced of that." he pointed out folding his arms.

"Thing is we've been having a little trouble keeping tabs on her." Yusuke said with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

He locked eyes with Kurama, "You...are having issues with tracking?"

Kurama frowned slightly, "Yes, and I can only assume that she has found a way to hide her self from me."

He was if anything unnerved by Kurama's admission. There were ways to hide from demons but he had not thought that Shizuru was aware of them. Nor had he thought she would have employed such things.

_She does not want to be found..._

"Hiei..." Kurama began uncertainly, stopping for a moment once he had turned his attention back to him, "Before you decide to run off perhaps you should consider that this is not all that surprising. Shizuru does not want any of us involved in her criminal activities."

He snorted indelicately. It was not necessarily a matter of criminal activities. As far as he knew she was in contact with those that were considered criminals but committing actual crimes was something she had put behind her.

"Knowing that did nothing to stop your attempts at keeping her in sight." he reminded the fox demon.

"Would you rather I had left her to her own devices?" Kurama returned a small, knowing smile curving his lips.

His eyes narrowed as a rush of annoyance shifted through him.

No matter how often he was teased by Kurama about his fondness towards Shizuru it still tended to affect him in some way. It was a reaction he was extremely uncomfortable with but he knew that was also part of what drove Kurama to do it.

"It's not like Shizuru can't handle her self you two." Yusuke said glancing between them.

"As I recall Yusuke it is not like you cannot and you died twice I believe." Kurama responded.

Yusuke shrugged, "It was Koenma's fault the first time."

He glowered at Yusuke for a moment before moving to sit on the couch.

It was the most moronic statement yet from the younger demon.

It only served to increase that vague uneasiness still simmering in the back of his mind.

He needed to see Shizuru if only to reaffirm that she was unharmed.

He did not trust things he could not see with his own eyes.

The reality was he needed time to readjust to the Human World's smells and energies. Until he had it served no point to attempt to track her whereabouts.

"When the sun is up we will try to find her again." Kurama assured him.

Again he chose not to respond.

There was no reassurance gained from someone whose voice was colored with doubt.

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	3. Spin Spin Spin

"You gonna say something or am I going to have to throw something at you?"

Shizuru chuckled and extinguished the cigarette she had been smoking in the ashtray siting on the table beside her.

She had come to the safe house they had moved Narumi to in order to reorganize her thoughts. With the shooter still on the loose and the family behind the attempt still lurking in the shadows it had seemed a good idea to keep Narumi away from harm.

The property itself reminded her of Genkai's except on a much smaller scale.

For a short amount of time she had entertained the idea of installing Narumi at Genkai's but it would have defeated the purpose of keeping everyone as uninvolved as possible. Having the boys in the same town was bad enough, she was not going to extend the net of danger to Yukina.

Here she did not have to worry about anyone's involvement. In fact it was better than Genkai's in that the owner of the property was well versed in warding against demons. The owner came from a long line of priests that specialized in wards and had an irritating fear of demons.

She frowned slightly as her mind turned towards that particular problem.

Or to be more exact the fact that as of this morning Kurama had suddenly become aggressive in his efforts of not only locating her but garnering information.

She had been required to be more active in blocking his efforts once he truly become interested in knowing what was happening concerning her.

She had realized early on that alone she had no hope of keeping things from Kurama if he really wanted to know something. So she had turned to Narumi or more precisely the twin geniuses known as the Candy Store.

The name itself was not only descriptive but monikers the girls had adopted.

Candy was an absolute monster when it came to controlling information through electronics.

Her sister, Store, on the other hand deftly manipulated the path of it among the various social networks of the criminal world.

Between the two of them there was very little, information wise, that was not controlled in some way.

Narumi really had no business having the type of compact power the twins represented. They should have been more directly associated with someone in a much higher position.

The twins themselves preferred to work for Narumi. They wanted the freedom she allowed them to have which apparently translated to them being able to have as many piercings and hair colors as they chose.

After the twins had taken over blocking Kurama's efforts she no longer had to reinforce her desire for the crime families to keep away from the four.

At first they had jumped at the chance to thwart Suichi Minamino. Apparently they had been well aware of his information network in the human world. The way their eyes had gleamed when she had first asked them to become involved had been a little unnerving.

This morning Candy had informed her in a frustrated voice that Kurama was not going to remain in the dark for too much longer.

Store had much the same to report to her.

It spoke of a certain fire demon finally making his appearance.

"You suck as entertainment." Narumi commented drily.

She shook her head, glancing over at her friend from the doorway she was leaning again, "Sorry I have a couple of things on my mind."

Narumi leaned back against the pillows that propped her into a sitting position on the bed, "Well you didn't actually think it would be easy did you?"

"I didn't care if it was," she pointed out reaching into her pocket for another cigarette, "its not like I have a damn choice now."

"Stop being such a baby Shizuru. At least you didn't end up with a hole through you." Narumi censured.

"That's the best you got?" She grumbled taking her first drag, "I won't go easy on you next time we face off just because of that."

"Is it going the way you thought?"

She took another drag of her cigarette as she turned to look out into the well kept yard. The current situation was one of the reasons she tended to keep well away from direct involvement with the families.

It was not the violence.

It was not the unsavory dealings.

She had even at one point somewhat enjoyed being a collector.

She had no patience with the different levels of the infrastructure.

Half the time she dealt with any of them what had been her original goal was changed into something that was only reminiscent of it.

This time was no different.

"Hiro will give me the name of the family that ordered the hit if I join in." she said slowly.

"You agreed to that?!" Narumi demanded, "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I didn't _**mean**_ to agree." she admitted locking eyes with the other woman.

Narumi settled back into her pillows, her brow furrowing, "One of those huh?"

"Yeah", she breathed, "one of those..."

Occasionally words that she had no intention of speaking would come from her mouth. She rarely understood the meaning behind the words. She could only do her best to deal with the repercussions of having it happen.

There were no secrets between the two of them, that included Shizuru's spiritual awareness and its affects.

She had thought Narumi would have laughed at her when she had first exposed her secret to her. Surprisingly Narumi had only lifted an eyebrow before revealing her own "difference".

"We gonna talk about what happened at the restaurant?"

She frowned, "No idea..."

"I didn't hallucinate what happened." Narumi interrupted.

"What did happen?" she returned feeling suddenly completely detached from the conversation, "All I know is you got shot."

"You really piss me off you know." Narumi snapped shifting on the bed, "I saw that energy come out of your hand Shizuru Kuwabara. I don't have that damn universal balancing act tipping about in my head but I know energy when I see it!"

She ran a distracted hand through her hair stalling for time.

The general populace could not actually view spiritual or demonic energies.

Narumi was one of the few who were only touched enough with ability that she had always been able to.

In comparison Shizuru was late in the game when it came to odd things of that nature.

At this point she could only depend on Narumi's observation.

She had no actual memory of having done anything with spiritual energy.

She had returned to the restaurant the following morning and had been quietly stunned by the extent of damage that had been done to the front of it.

Something or someone had been propelled through what had been a large window and a portion of the wall.

A human would not have been able to survive that kind of thing.

The demon who had shot Narumi had disappeared moments after going through the front of the restaurant.

_Just like a human wouldn't normally be able to force a body through something like that..._

"Shizuru..."

"It doesn't matter." she interrupted finally feeling impatient, "It hasn't happened again."

"You better pray it happens again moron!" Narumi growled, "You're good but you don't stand a chance in hell against some of those bruisers you'll be going up against! You need a damn edge! Get those idiots of yours to.."

"You think I did any of this so that I could hide behind them?!" She demanded angrily, "I won't have them getting involved. I won't let them get caught up in this too. I have to but they have their own sets of things they have to take care of. They've done enough Narumi. "

"You're just as stupid as your brother. Just because you had a thing way back when for that bastard Sakyo doesn't mean you're responsible for what's going on now." Narumi snorted crossing her arms.

She narrowed her eyes, "You know he has nothing to do with this."

"Well sure not anymore," Narumi agreed scathingly, "you know in the beginning that's why you got involved. Fucking Sakyo and those rich bastards in the Black Black Club. The second you found out they were trying to reestablish it you've been all over the place."

"You're just as in it as me." she reminded her friend without any venom.

It was the truth after all.

She had come away from the island where the Dark Tournament had been held with a strange sense that she should have know about the existence of it. Yet she had been completely unaware of the club and its members.

Hindsight had allowed her to make the connections which in the end had only left her annoyed with herself.

There was always another hand in play when it came to the crime families. Always another layer of vague connections. Always another player that had a much more grandiose concept of how they wanted to shape the world.

Or a more demented view of the amount of blood they wanted to wade through as they passed their time.

Her involvement at first had only been peripheral.

Her interest only in Kazuma and the others being left out of the mechanics of the developing interest of human and demonic fights.

Narumi of course had fallen in line with her but for different reasons.

Narumi's concern lay more in the fact that demons would eventually find their way into the families themselves.

Both of them were obvious targets for those that wished for the fights to become commonplace.

Yusuke could be blamed for much of that interest to begin with or "Team Urameshi" could be.

It turned out there had been a few more humans at the Dark Tournament then just the boys, her and Keiko, and the Black Black Club members themselves.

What they had accomplished on the island had sparked the imaginations of pitting humans with strong spiritual energies against demons in much the same manner as the Dark Tournament.

Thanks to the removal of the Kekai Barrier there had been an influx of demons despite what Koenma had told Kurama.

And despite what she had been told when it came to the King of Demon World declaring the Human World more or less off limits.

As much as she applauded the reasoning behind the barrier's removal she did resent the consequences that it was forcing her to deal directly with.

Apparently the universe itself had decided it did not appreciate the idea either.

For the last year she had found herself moved to interact with people directly responsible for the fights.

"You're really going to do this huh?"

"Like I said I don't have a choice anymore."

* * *

Narumi watched Shizuru with a practiced eye.

There was something the other woman was keeping to herself, some point of tension that was more felt then seen.

They had known each other much too long for her not to notice such things.

She did not bother attempting to reassure her friend, though many would have been shocked to hear her call Shizuru Kuwabara that.

It would have been a waste of effort to even try to dissuade Shizuru once her mind was made up about any one subject.

What caused her the most concern was that as Shizuru spoke she slipped in and out of the way she had acted when they had first met.

Back then she had admired Shizuru's ability to separate her emotions from her actions.

Shizuru's cold, resolute way of dealing with the world had been something she had aspired to capture as a trait of her own.

Unfortunately where Shizuru controlled she lacked the ability to. More often than not her own temper would get the better of her.

As they had become closer and older the way Shizuru acted changed into the disinterested, sarcastic way she used now.

She had the distinct impression Shizuru was unaware of the changes in her demeanor.

_I must have been crazy back then. She sounds like she's ready to kill someone but she hasn't found that person yet..._

Still she could not believe that Shizuru had agreed to become a part of the fights themselves. No matter what she had witnessed in those moments she knew that energy was not under Shizuru's control.

Shizuru sighed heavily, "Guess I should get going. I sent the twins to get in Kurama's way."

She smirked, "Really? You sent them in person to see their idol?"

"Yeah I figured they earned it." Shizuru replied with a dark chuckled, "And Kurama deserves a little hero worship."

"You're a cruel, sadistic woman Shizuru." she said shaking her head slowly.

Shizuru tucked her hands into the pockets of her pants, "Get some rest Narumi. I need you up and taking your gang back over. Did you have to give them all lame nicknames?"

"I get a kick out of hearing them introduce themselves." she admitted smiling, "And then I get a bonus every time someone else has to call them by those names."

"And I'm the sadistic one?"

"I never said you were all alone in it."

A shadow passed over the pair of light brown eyes gazing at her before Shizuru nodded and left the room.

Left in the wake of the odd reaction she could only wonder what exactly her words had made Shizuru think of.

And why exactly she had felt her heart squeeze momentarily in sympathy.

* * *

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	4. Back and Forth

He was amused.

In fact he was so entertained by the current situation that he could not recall being more completely darkly pleased in his life then he was now.

They had spent the morning tracking down Kurama's contacts in the Human World. It was amazing what a little intimidation and a brief showings of his katana could accomplish.

Still by mid afternoon Yusuke's insistence that they find food brought them to a restaurant where they could sit outside. Kurama had sought this place out in consideration of his aversion to enclosed places. It was a courtesy that the fox demon extended to him whenever they were in this particular situation.

Not twenty minutes after they had sat at the table a pair of young females almost magically appeared to either side of Kurama. They had obviously come to see him specifically since they completely ignored him and Yusuke, even to the extent of turning their backs to them to lean against the table itself.

At first he had been instantly wary of them.

Twins were rare in the Human World. In the Demon World they were almost non existent, at least truly identical twins which these females were.

In his world this pair would have represented the biggest threat. Twins of their nature normally were more powerful then a singular demon. Their mirrored qualities somehow enhancing their energies.

Twins such as he and Yukina lacked this distinction considering their duality was not of the same gender.

He distrusted twins in the Human World mostly because their scents were the same. The logical part of his mind understood this did not make them the same person. On an instinctual level anything producing the same scent in two places was at best unsettling.

They were even more unusual in their mode of dress and style. Both wore uniforms that he had noted school age females wore though these were modified to show more skin. One had her black hair held back in tight buns, her bangs colored with every hue of autumn that he could think of. The other twin's hair flowed down her back from dual ponytails, pink and blue mingled with the black of it.

Both sported an assortment of piercings though none situated to mar their features.

He supposed they were attractive though his taste was firmly set only on certain features of a singular person.

They spoke in a friendly, upbeat manner though they tended to finish each others sentences, to his ear their voices blended easily to become one.

If he understood correctly it was these females, absurdly named Candy and Store, that were solely responsible for the sudden collapse of Kurama's network for information.

They apparently viewed Kurama in a way that was very close to idolization though closer to him being a rival of sorts.

The entertaining part, the aspect that made him smirk in an almost painful manner was they seemed to be unaffected by that aura of unapproachable that Kurama normally exuded.

Adding to that was the obvious attraction both were showing towards the fox demon.

Granted Kurama seemed outwardly to be taking this in stride but he knew internally the red head was flustered.

He was well aware that Kurama was not approached very often in this aggressive fashion. When it had happened Kurama did at times accept what was being offered by these women. He doubted Kurama had ever been faced with two females to choose from.

For short bursts of time Kurama did entertain female company but he was discreet to the point of seeming paranoid. Those encounters were always brief in nature.

It was not because Kurama viewed humans as inferior. He simply had not connected to any of them on a level that would have kept someone of Kurama's nature interested.

As was typical of Kurama the conversation between the three of them flowed with complex wording that he tended to simply tune out.

He did not care about the intricacies of delaying or changing information though Kurama seemed impressed by the two.

He understood what was being said but he was far more entertained by Kurama's growing uneasiness.

The humans would not have noticed the signs.

The way Kurama sat in his chair slowly became stiffer.

The almost smile on Kurama's face became less natural.

Signs that the fox demon was not only well aware that the females were intensely interested in him and were obviously hoping for something more.

After all the times Kurama had teased him about Shizuru he basked in the passive revenge.

Yusuke seemed to also have noticed Kurama's discomfort. A sly smile had spread across the ex detective's face as the girls continued their attempts at conquest.

He was so entertained by the scene that he noted belatedly when a human male walked up to the table. He studied the man for a second then easily dismissed him as a potential threat. The human's mode of dress was much more formal then he was use to but he knew the clothing identified the man as someone who dealt in business.

"Yusuke Urameshi?" the man asked politely.

It was normal for Yusuke to be approached first. He was easily identified as the most outgoing of their group and exuded the obvious authority of someone use to leading. If nothing else Yusuke was charismatic without meaning to be.

"Yeah?" Yusuke replied curiously.

He noted with interest that the twins had instantly turned their attention to the well dressed man. Their dark eyes centered in a way that conveyed suspicion.

The man reached into his coat, producing a card that he held out to Yusuke, "My name is..."

"Satou Eiji." Store, the female with the buns supplied.

"Of Gold Industries." Candy, the one in pigtails added thoughtfully as she gazed at the man, "Its been awhile since we've met someone clinically insane. Did you steal those clothes when you escaped the asylum?"

"Though you are nice to look at. It was a good choice...the suit I mean. It makes you look a lot less suspicious." Store added trading glances with her sister, "Do you suppose its just a mistake?"

"He probably is going to wish it were." Candy responded with a small laugh.

"I have business with Mr. Urameshi." the now named Satou informed the twins with an edge to his voice.

"Really? Like what?" Yusuke asked belatedly reaching for the card still being offered.

He was no longer paying much attention to the male.

There was another presence behind the human that instantly captured his undivided attention.

He no longer wondered at the sense of settling he felt internally when he was near her. It was simply the way she affected him.

Shizuru appeared unharmed as his practiced eye traveled over her quickly. He had entertained the idea that when he did find her it would be in an injured state considering what Kurama had told him.

His movement to rise from the short wall he had been occupying stalled as he noted the absence of emotion on her face. The fact that her eyes did not travel immediately to him spoke of a threat he had not identified.

Instinctively he remained where he was though the human seemed oblivious to her nearness.

Before Yusuke could touch the card Shizuru reached for it and plucked it from Satou's fingers. Surprised by the action the man turned.

There was a difference between blood draining away and the sudden absence of it. Even Satou's fingers seemed to pale in the presence of Shizuru.

"Ms. Kuwabara." Satou managed to say as Shizuru perused the card she held in her fingers.

"I'm thinking you're not superstitious." Shizuru stated still not looking at the man.

"Superstitious?" Yusuke repeated confused.

He tensed immediately at the strange, unknown quality to Shizuru's voice. This was not a sword being drawn with slow intent. The huskiness had altered to something akin to an edge slicing into skin. This tone was not promise but the exact action.

"Yeah," Shizuru said finally raising her eyes to Satou's, "there's this rumor going around that you guys are bad luck for people."

"Bad luck?" Kurama prompted trading glances with him.

"Just mentioning one of you apparently leads to all sorts of accidents. Some of those rumors have some pretty nasty details." Store supplied.

"Like that guy that ended up in the hospital for two months." Candy ruminated.

"Or the one that almost drown after he broke his ankle at the docks." Store added.

"Its just rumors though." Candy said shrugging.

"Can't put much stock in that sort of thing. Then again you might want to. There is supposed to be a grain of truth when dealing with rumors." Store informed Satou her voice holding too much sarcasm to ignore the careful wording.

"Its the strangest thing really." Candy added grinning in the direction of Shizuru.

It was in that moment he noted that the twins were not the normally tame humans he was more accustomed to.

There was a definite sense of vicious anticipation on both of the females faces.

"Please don't misunderstand Ms. Kuwabara..." Satou began calmly enough though there was strain in his voice.

"I wonder what happens to people that actually have the nerve to talk to them." Shizuru said over the man, "Your boss must not like you very much. If I were you I'd start thinking about visiting a temple. It probably won't help but it won't hurt either."

"That's your cue to walk away Eiji." Candy announced with a giggle.

"Or run" Store suggested mildly.

"She does have a knife." Candy added.

"I still think he's insane." Store said with a shrug.

Apparently this exchange was enough to convince the male that his presence was unwanted. Without another word he briskly walked away.

Shizuru only moved enough to watch the man as he disappeared in the crowd.

Candy and Store abandoned their positions of bracketing Kurama to stand infront of Shizuru in seconds.

"Which one?" Candy inquired taking the card as Shizuru offered it to her.

"The next step up." Shizuru replied sounding vaguely distracted, "You two finished Suichi ogling?"

"That's not possible." Candy denied glancing at Kurama, "But we'll take care of it. Anything else?"

"Go eat," Shizuru suggested her voice returning to its normal tone as she smirked, "I'm not being blamed for you two getting sick."

"She's such a confusing personality." Store remarked to her sister, "But I like her."

"Me too." Candy agreed.

"I'm right here you know?" Shizuru teased then dug into her pockets, "Get out of here."

"See you later Suichi." Candy said with a wave.

"You offered me up to the Candy Store as trade?" Kurama asked as the twins walked away, "I hardly see that as fair play."

"Yeah amazingly enough just the off chance of getting to meet you was all they wanted." Shizuru returned lighting the cigarette she had taken out, "What? You thought I was doing it alone? Don't make the way I look at you change Red. You should be flattered they knew who you were."

"Or terrified," Yusuke put in grinning, "those two looked like they wanted to eat you."

"Yes I did notice Yusuke." Kurama censured lightly.

Shizuru drifted over to where he sat. As usual when they came back together he felt the same electric warmth course through him as he had when he had first noted his growing attraction to her.

When she had settled beside him on the wall his body automatically reoriented towards her.

"You're late." she commented.

"You were not home." he countered.

"I left you toys to play with." she said then chuckled.

He barely kept his disgust from fully showing on his face. There were times he viewed her sense of humor as the most demented aspect of her.

"Are we to assume your appearance means you are finished with your project?" Kurama asked carefully.

Shizuru took a drag from her cigarette, "If I were you I'd view it as me being annoyed enough to personally tell you to stay the hell out of my business. If I wanted you to know anything I'd tell you myself. Since I haven't I'm pretty sure that you're all smart enough to take the hint."

"One should always weigh the value of someone when considering such things Shizuru." Kurama replied.

"One should know when to butt the hell out." Shizuru half snapped, her eyes narrowing, "I don't really meddle in your four musketeer act so I expect you to do the same when it comes to me. Koenma didn't snap the whip and tell you to get involved so don't."

"Koenma does not control anything when it concerns you." he could not help but snap at her.

She was being purposefully insulting, that much was obvious.

He did not care what her reasoning behind doing so could be.

It would take more than a few barbed comments from her to convince any of them that there was not something distinctly off about her present situation.

The exchange between herself and the twins had inferred Shizuru was definitely in a leadership role when it came to Narumi's gang. That in itself put her in danger. That was an unacceptable state to leave her on her own.

But his words had sparked her rage.

"You don't control anything when it comes to me either." she pointed out.

He snorted indelicately, "Controlling you is the last thing I would attempt. I prefer not to waste my time."

The heavy, dangerous atmosphere that had begun to develop around them instantly disappeared with his words.

This was normal between the two of them.

Though to others their exchange should have led to higher levels of insults and growing anger, to them it was a matter of understanding each other.

They communicated on a level that took less words, involved fewer emotions.

The time they had spent inside each others memories had allowed them to see beyond the surface.

They argued but that was in thier nature, as was understanding what lay behind the worst of thier rages.

Shizuru smirked with her usual humor before leaning over to place a soft kiss on his lips.

It was only a brief touch, just enough for him to resent the fact that they were in a public atmosphere where she was less inclined to do more.

"I'm free tonight." she offered as she moved back from him.

"No your time is spoken for." he corrected her.

* * *

Sequels are HARD to write. I know with Holding Still I cranked out the chaps. This one isn't coming as easily.

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	5. Suspect

"Thought you'd be in a better mood once you knew why you weren't getting any info." Yusuke commented quietly.

Kurama allowed his eyes to focus on the youth across the table.

Shizuru and Hiei had left for Shizuru's house a few hours prior.

They had opted to hang out at the restaurant since neither of them had made any other plans for the day. He was still attempting to organize his thoughts on the matters surrounding Shizuru.

"You would not say such things if you understood what it means for those girls to be the ones working against me Yusuke." he replied slowly.

"So explain it," Yusuke suggested with a shrug, "I got nothing better going on. It's a big deal?"

"In your terms the comparison would be like sending an entire military to defend against a single person." he explained frowning, "The Candy Store is the stuff of the darkest legends here in the Human World. Those two girls have a lot of power behind them aside from their own considerable intelligence. They were completely at ease following Shizuru's direction. In fact they deferred to her. Shizuru used them as a warning by having them come to me personally."

"Huh?" Yusuke responded confused.

"Not many have actually met them Yusuke. In fact until they showed I was still under the impression the Candy Store was only one middle aged man." he admitted with a small self depreciating laugh.

"So them showing up was like telling you a war was about to start?" Yusuke reasoned.

"Or perhaps already has in some manner. One does not usually display the biggest weapon in one's arsenal at the beginning of a conflict." he confirmed a little surprised.

"So she isn't seeing those two as her biggest weapon?" Yusuke asked, his brows rising.

Yusuke's ability to turn complex ideas into simple ones did at times amaze him. He had witnessed the ability at its fullest when Yusuke had put forth the concept of the Demon Tournament. Though now he was not so certain he wanted Yusuke to fully understand the subtle hints that had been given.

"Shizuru is involved in something bigger then just Narumi's gang." he said rubbing slightly at his forehead, "Much more dangerous as well. Before I viewed Shizuru's visits to the major yakuza families as nothing more then courtesy. I fear I was wrong in that assumption."

"You're making Shizuru sound like a mob boss you know." Yusuke pointed out leaning forward on the table, "When did that happen?"

"Perhaps long before any of us were involved with each other." he surmised leaning forward as well, "The truth is there is a lot of her past we know nothing about save perhaps Hiei. Though the farther this progresses the more I doubt even he has an idea. Shizuru is something of an enigma."

"Hmmm...maybe we should get Bottle Boy on the phone. See if he knows something..."

His brow furrowed, "I fail to see how this would interest Koenma."

Yusuke laughed, "You kidding me Kurama? When was the last time something big happened around us that he didn't at least know about?"

It was a valid point.

He had only passingly thought of contacting Koenma though the odds were against the deity knowing much considering what they were discussing. It was a purely Human World involvement but if what he was beginning to suspect was correct the reapers of the Spirit World might be more active right now.

He could only hope he was wrong.

That Yusuke had only made the connection to the Spirit World out of habit.

That Koenma had no real information for them to find out about.

If he were correct then there was a definite reason Shizuru would not want three of the most powerful demons in the Human World to become involved.

He also suspected her "big sister" attitude was also in full swing in regards to this particular matter.

Either way he had the growing sense that there was actually very little that any of them could affect in this instance.

This was after all a world that Shizuru moved easily within.

Powerful demons or not they could not hope to match her expertise in this area.

And even he was prone to uneasiness when it came to not being able to solve any given problem without using his own prowess as a demon. The idea of being shackled to not using his demonic energies in defense of a loved one was unsettling.

_I hope I am wrong in this..._

* * *

The feeling of the cold water on her skin was refreshing but only to a point.

Hiei was presumably asleep on her bed but she was well aware of his habit of waking to any movement around him.

She had not been able to slow her mind down enough to do more then cat nap for a short amount of time.

She stared at her reflection as she dried her face.

She looked less tired then she had thought. There were no dark circles marring the skin beneath her eyes. It was the eyes themselves that held the enormity of what was weighing on her mind.

She had wanted to lose herself in being alone with Hiei. Their nights together were never anything short of amazing.

This time however her fingers had brushed something new, something particularly disturbing.

Intellectually she understood that he was not sitting behind a desk in the Demon World.

That he spent a great deal of his time in some type of physical battle.

She knew and yet the reality had never hit her as hard as it had in that moment of feeling those furrows of warped, healed flesh at his side.

Hiei did not scar for overly long. She had seen him in various states of injury but not to the degree that those indentations in his skin intimated. It was safe to assume he had been injured recently.

It did not take a huge leap for her mind to compare the signs of his injury with Narumi's.

It was only coincidence that both were injured on the same exact side, in the same area.

The odds that they had been harmed to such a degree near the same time were astronomical at best.

It was just chance that both of them were so deeply connected to her.

There was no connection in any of it despite the fact that her mind circled those facts as if unwillingly to fully accept their meaning.

She was thinking too much.

She needed her head to be clear for the meeting tomorrow.

She would be meeting with one of the new members of the Black Black Club for the first time to discuss the role they wanted her to play in the fights.

Hiei being there only added to the issues surrounding the meeting.

There was no way he could accompany her.

From the way he had reacted earlier she knew he was not going to make any of the situation easier.

In fact she was fairly certain convincing him to leave her side was going to be a monumental task in and of itself

It meant she was going to have to use tactics she had not wanted to use.

_It's only going to get worse. Kurama isn't going to let this go either. And Yusuke's too bored not to get involved somehow..._

She had no idea how she had convinced herself originally that the group would stay separate. Though in the beginning it had been a very easy thing to assume.

They had very little to do with her daily life at that time, even Kazuma spent more time in Yusuke's company then in her's.

It had been a safe assumption that she would be able to continue her life in the way she always had. The choices she made about who to associate with had never involved any of them before.

Even after starting the relationship with Hiei the adjustments she had made were small.

Their mutual aversion to talking in too much detail about their lives away from each other had been beneficial.

While she was an equal accomplice in the matter she did at times wonder if it was something they did out of respect or out of a way to retain distance from each other.

The truth was it had become something she dreaded.

Sharing the present and perhaps a future with someone was far different then them finding out about your past.

Hiei had shown a certain amount of antipathy when it came to the idea of his past being revealed to her through his memories.

She had somehow known the darkest corners of her own would never be revealed to him in that way.

Neither of them would have been accused of being angels.

His memories had been full of the emotions of his past that had in a way cast a noble light on his actions she would have been hard pressed to notice before.

She could not say the same about her own.

Her choice of pulling away from those activities had been based solely on Kazuma.

More precisely based upon the idea that she did not want to continuously leave herself exposed to acts of blackmail through him.

Compassion was supposedly a respectable trait.

She had no idea where the ability to turn off that trait fell in that line of thinking.

She could not help the small twist that came to her lips. It almost seemed as if her reflection were mocking her train of thought. It might as well have been.

Taking over the gang for Narumi had made her realize she had not set aside that mindset she had spent so long in during her past. She had been repressing it instead, pressing her back against the door that held the more severe traits behind it.

It had been nothing to her to set the Candy Store after whoever it was that had sent Satou to Yusuke and the others.

It had not garnered anything more then a passing thought of how quickly it could be accomplished. She anticipated the utter ruin of someone without concern knowing it was done because she wanted it to be.

When was it that she had begun imagining that she had redeeming qualities within her?

When was it that she had become so adept in pretending she was anything Kazuma should be proud to call family?

What exactly had been the point where she had stopped feeling as if the compassion had been forced on her instead of being a real part of her?

Gazing into the mirror she could not see those traits she knew Kazuma thought were in her.

She saw a hard, cold resolution that she recognized and would do nothing to alter.

Compassion had nothing to do with the criminal world. It was a liability that would cause mistakes to be made.

She sighed heavily to herself before moving to leave the bathroom to rejoin Hiei in the bed.

She had to get at least some sleep.

* * *

He was perfectly aware of the moment she left the bed.

Again they had neglected to discuss the details of what they had been doing while apart.

He had felt the way her hand had frozen on the scar tissue, the slight tremor that had traveled through her fingertips.

He had not missed the soft inhalation that could only have expressed shock and dismay. It had barely been above a whisper but from her it was a troubling sound.

He did not like that it was directed towards him.

That sign that she was so affected by the proof of his wounding.

For Shizuru that was tantamount to Yusuke's female bursting into tears. Considering the source he much preferred Shizuru's quiet if unnerving reaction to the shrill, useless one of the other female.

He had frowned at that moment thoughts of what exactly was in her mind floating through his. It was not often her reaction provoked any uneasiness within himself. He could not deny that was exactly what he felt as her attention remained on the scaring.

He could not accuse her of hiding something from him though that was how it felt to him as he listened to the small sounds in the bathroom.

He would not question her but he had no plans to allow her out of his sight.

It was the oddest sensation that pervaded him.

Before when he had followed her it had been more from curiosity then anything else.

Kuwabara had been correct in that if Shizuru armed herself that weapon was rarely used in defense of her person. Not that she was often in a situation that required that. If she did need to defend herself she was more than capable of doing so with her own fists. Often she cast aside any implement she might be carrying to do so.

Now he was entertaining thoughts that included following her in a manner that was at best deceitful in nature.

He did not normally have two different emotions warring with each other as he made these type of decisions.

He could careless if her feelings were injured.

He had informed her previously that his involvement with anything concerning her was subject to the situation at hand.

He was uncomfortable with the idea of betraying her trust in this manner.

Shizuru would never have attempted to trail him in the Demon World.

Not that she could, that would have been a useless endeavor that she was much to intelligent to even have a passing thought of.

It annoyed him immensely that he seemed to need a reasonable excuse to keep tabs on her.

Even he was aware of how empty his reasoning was up till this point.

By the time she returned to the bed he was much to tense to relax back into sleep.

As usual she was the center of the most annoying, confusing internal shifting he had ever been subjected to.

He did not appreciate that fact.

* * *

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	6. Stepping off the Edge

_Italics _represent memories or thought.

* * *

The sun was low in the sky casting a heavy yellow wash on everything it touched.

The sidewalks were full of commuters. Most on their way home from work ready to put an end to their work day. Others searching for entertainment among the shops and restaurants that lined the street.

From her vantage point leaning against one of the many planters that lined the street she could see everything that she needed to.

Everyone who past by her barely gave her a glance. She was use to that in this section of the city. Her clothes were unremarkable and there were few here that knew who she was on sight.

She knew she had a few more minutes to wait.

_She despised these types of men. _

_The old world ones that seemed to think that because they romanticized some archaic era that made them more knowledgeable about everything and everyone around them._

_Takahashi Katsuro was exactly that type though he dressed in three piece suits that were way beyond the scope of her own salary._

_He was otherwise every bit the typical well groomed business man from his well tended to short black hair to the tips of his shined brown shoes._

_If she had not been told he was a member of the Black Black Club she would have dismissed him without a second glance._

_She had been escorted to the gardens in the back of an old style house where Takahashi waited apparently feeding the fish in a large pond. _

_It was a scene meant to set the person at ease which only made her more wary of the unassuming man as she waited impatiently for him to abandon the guise of harmless._

Cars and buses moved easily along the intersection.

In it's own way the movement around her was calming.

Normal in ways that she could only watch since there was so little of such a thing in her own life.

"_I have to admit I was surprised to hear you had agreed so readily to become a part of something you have been actively opposing." Takahashi finally said dusting the food from his hands, "You never seemed the type to cow tow to pressure of any kind Shizuru."_

_A slight smirk touched her lips. _

_If nothing else he was at least well versed in her ways to know how much it annoyed her to be referred to by her last name. _

"_I really didn't come here to waste my time listening to you go over my decision." she replied slowly as she reached into her pocket for a cigarette._

"_I prefer you not smoke." Takahashi commented._

"_Yeah?" she returned lighting the cigarette regardless, "I prefer not being here at all. Sucks when you don't get what you want huh?"_

_Takahashi frowned momentarily before shrugging, "I believe you will eventually see this as a mutually beneficial arrangement. Our views are not all that different when it comes to the fights."_

"_Huh...that so?"_

_She had to admit she was mildly interested in what Takahashi was going to propose._

She tipped her head up blowing a plume of smoke towards the sky. Momentarily allowing her self to be distracted by the play of the quickly dispersing cloud.

Everything came with a price no matter what the deed. Good or ill there was always some manner in which one paid back the universe.

It was not that she felt pessimistic over the current events.

Her viewpoint was of a more realistic nature.

She could have been resentful but oddly enough she had only felt it was her due.

Kazuma and the others could play hero.

She was willing to play the other end of it if it balanced things out.

"_This is Chancer," Takahashi introduced a bleach blonde youth who dipped his head in acknowledgment to his name, "A few years back there was a small explosion of unique abilities among the humans in our city. Chancer was one of those that found himself burdened with a very interesting gift."_

"_That so?" she murmured eying the kid._

_She had instantly grasped he was referring to people like Sniper or Seaman from the group the maniac Sensui had used a few years back. She did not allow her surprise to show on her face that Takahashi had access to someone like that. _

_Before this moment she had not put much thought into there being additional people that had been affected in the same way or what had happened to them. It did stand to reason that they existed. It was not as if that sort of thing simply stopped without a reason for it to do so._

"_You might be surprised by how many people wander around with abilities they have no access to. It is not a flaw but an act of nature. A type of mental block that keeps those abilities from becoming anything but the mere potential. Chancer can not only find these people but remove that "block"." Takahashi explained with the air of a proud owner._

"_Not overly impressive if you ask me." she commented drily._

"_Needless to say I want your agreement to allow Chancer to remove the block inside of you Shizuru." Takahashi went on gesturing for Chancer to approach, "I assure you it won't hurt."_

"_You going to tell me why I would want that to happen?" she asked raising an eyebrow, "Last time I checked my plate was full of crazy already. I wasn't really looking for something else to add to it."_

"_Cause he wants you to be his executioner." Chancer supplied with a wicked grin, "You don't stand a chance in the ring. Being a bad ass won't keep you alive."_

"_I'm not a hired gun." she snapped turning to Takahashi, "What the hell makes you think I'll kill for you?"_

_Takahashi smiled and she was reminded of a cat that was in the act of playing with a mouse._

_A cold pit formed in her stomach in reaction to that smile._

She still firmly believed that Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, and her brother had done more than enough for the Human World.

She could not have gotten involved in the things they had done.

They had earned their lives beyond the nonsense that she was dealing with.

She took another drag of her cigarette keeping out of the way of the foot traffic on the sidewalk.

It was interesting to watch others playing out their ordinary lives while her's felt it was spiraling to some unknown conclusion.

There was a part of her that would have liked to discuss the decisions she had made with someone else. In the end there had been no time for it. Options were given and decisions were expected in that moment when dealing with people like Takahashi.

"_You're just going to play along?" Chancer asked scowling at her._

"_Some of us don't have a choice kid." she replied folding her arms, "So what now?"_

"_Well I guess now I flip your switch." he answered stepping closer though his brow furrowed, "Normally I wouldn't care but...your energy...its different. I don't know if what I do is going to work right."_

"_Different?" she repeated then sighed, "Got yourself in a real bind huh? Did you volunteer ?"_

_Chancer shrugged, "It's not so bad. I get money for my family."_

_Typical, the young punk could not have been more than fifteen or sixteen at most. _

"_Did you tell Takahashi that there might be a problem?" she asked._

"_That guy doesn't care if there is one." he replied turning his eyes to the ground, "I just thought you should know..."_

_It was almost cute the way the kid was becoming timid without Takahashi nearby. _

_There was something about him that screamed he would rather not be in this situation. That he would rather not do what Takahashi wanted of him._

_It was easy to read in his features that he also had no choice._

_Normally she was not inclined to physical contact but for some reason she reached out a hand and took one of his in it._

_For a brief instant shock traveled across his face as his eyes darted up to her's._

"_Light me up." she insisted boldly, "Let's see what happens."_

She had spent years feeling strangely out of control.

She despised that feeling in every way.

For some reason she felt that lack of control had diminished somewhat.

She shifted on the planter turning her attention to the other side of the street.

The reason she had come to this spot in particular had just exited the offices of Gold Industries and was walking quickly to the corner.

She was very aware of a certain set of eyes on her as she always was when he was near.

She knew he had kept himself back as she led him to this location along the winding streets.

That he was confused by the fact that he had lost track of her earlier in the day.

That what he truly wanted to do was to stand near her instead of being on one of the rooftops above. Or perhaps she had annoyed him enough that he wanted to scold her but of course he would not. Hiei was not comfortable with that type of reaction so he would remain silently seething instead.

She had agreed to work within the fights.

To becoming what amounted to a hit man for the Black Black Club in order to dampen the homicidal tendencies of the participants.

The choice of the lesser of two evils had been given to her and of course she had taken the one that involved her self.

"_So basically you want the Dark Tournament instead of the dock fights." she surmised flicking the ash from her cigarette._

"_Yes I'm glad you understand my position." Takahashi said stopping a few feet away from her._

_The way he gazed at her was like a stranger coming upon a child that had just figured out some puzzle previously thought too old for them._

"_Look I don't see what that has to do with me." she stated plainly._

"_You represent a very loud voice among the families against the fights themselves though we both know your reasons are out of concern for the young men whom you associate with. You have no real interest in the fights which puts you in a surprisingly neutral position. Your opinion is trusted because of your lack of loyalty to any one group..."_

"_You talk too much," she interrupted, "so I'm neutral...and?"_

"_The choice is either you become our "Executioner" or we require one of those from Team Urameshi to take up the role. It's a matter of power and reputation Shizuru. You may not be aware of it but you do possess both with humans and demons alike. Your association with those demons you hold so dear has lent you a certain amount of respect within the demon community as well. Besides we both know this is not beyond you." Takahashi took a step closer and she was hard pressed not to allow her revulsion to show on her face, "It's not as if you haven't taken a life before."_

She had made the choice and stood by that decision.

All that was left was cleaning up a few loose ends.

The man she had been waiting for stopped at the intersection.

She had to force the issue of the boys backing off. It was a given that Hiei's was not the only set of eyes on her. She suspected there was also a pair of green ones that were just as avidly watching her

_Sorry guys but this is where you stop treating this like a damsel in distress problem..._

A car was coming down the street, a little faster then it should have been.

The man across the street, Satou, did not step forward into the car's path so much as he was abruptly shoved from behind.

The screams from those nearest camouflaged the sound of impact. Then came the sound of screeching brakes, the crowd as it moved around the broken body that lay on the pavement.

She pushed away from the planter, turning purposefully to gaze upwards towards the source of that sensation of his eyes.

Then she just as purposefully flicked the remains of her cigarette to the ground before walking away from the site.

* * *

"Another warning I believe."

He nodded slowly, his eyes following Shizuru as she disappeared around the corner of a building.

He had been somewhat confused as to why she had spent so much time standing in that place.

He had been enraged when he had abruptly been unable to find traces of her.

One moment he had been following her easily enough and the next she had passed through what amounted to a dead zone for his senses.

That had only had only happened on one occasion to him. Yukina's prison had been well draped in wards against any type of demonic perusal.

By the time she had "appeared" again Kurama had joined him.

Both of them had silently witnessed Shizuru's orders being carried out.

Strangely he had not taken those words seriously.

He could not help but see such activities as something that belonged in her past.

He had assumed her compassion would not allow for her to truly do more than break a few bones.

To cause what may turn out to be the death of a human was almost beyond his ability to imagine as a real part of her.

He may scoff at the others shying away from making that type of decision but in essence he had believed that it was too deeply an ingrained response to go against for Shizuru.

Abruptly he wondered if he knew her as well as he had thought.

Not that it caused any form of revulsion in him.

Considering his own past it was not in him to judge the act.

It was the source that caused the shot of cold disbelief to circle inside of him.

Her actions stated very clearly to him that she had known what his reaction would be. That she found it necessary to force them to recognize the situation as one she had no qualms with.

"We'll have to be more careful in the future if we intend to support her in this." Kurama mused beside him.

"Can you fox?" he asked without thinking.

He did not mean for the question to slip out.

He could not help the sudden doubt he had that the demons he considered his closest comrades would not find Shizuru's actions too much.

The fleeting thought that Koenma might somehow come after her caused another flare of emotion that he could not readily understand.

He was not normally given to such jumps in logic but somehow it did not seem all that far fetched.

He did not want to fight against any of them.

He would if it came down to it.

He would fight all three Worlds if he had to but he did not want to.

Another new aversion he had developed since the Demon Tournament that had only grown stronger once he had become involved with Shizuru.

"You should not ask such useless questions." Kurama censured in a teasing tone.

"Hn..."

* * *

Please review :) I know the chaps are coming out slow but I swear I am going to update as often as I can!


	7. Inside Out

The echo of her footsteps was a comforting if slightly loud sound along the corridor that led to Koenma's main chamber.

There was something to be said about the solid feel of it that only other reapers would have understood.

Being insubstantial for the majority of their existence tended to make these moments all the more meaningful to creatures such as herself.

At first she had been offended if not thoroughly confused by the pointed suggestion Koenma had given her to watch over a certain person.

She despised being assigned to spy on her friends no matter what the reason.

Koenma had been vague of course.

That was only to be expected from the deity who had begun to show even more reluctance to be specific since he had taken over as ruler.

Being a grim reaper did not often lend to instances where she did not have specific, detailed instruction about what she was supposed to do in any given situation.

That being the case when she was left to her own devices she had a tendency to become easily flustered when she was required to make a decision on her own.

She was well aware of the fact that because she became so flustered it came across as her being rather empty-headed most of the time though that was not the case.

She was simply a creäture of organization to a degree that without it things could quickly become overwhelming to her.

Her assignment to Yusuke had opened a new world to her.

It was the first time she had spent more than a fleeting moment with her charges. In doing so it was also the first time she developed any firm attachments to the souls she normally only ferried to the Spirit World.

Which was why she had taken having to ferry Genkai to the Spirit World so hard.

Why her job, which she had never resented before had suddenly become onerous.

She had become acutely aware that at any given time she might be asked to ferry any one of the others there as well.

That knowledge had been particularly devastating.

Watching Kurama fight just after that task had almost destroyed any sense of balance that remained.

Shockingly enough it had taken only a few words from a certain person to reestablish that balance and those words had cemented a friendship she had not expected.

Which was why she had felt reluctant to do as Koenma asked.

All she had been asked to do was keep an eye on Shizuru Kuwabara.

Of all the people she interacted with the only more surprising ones to be assigned to would have been Keiko or Yukina.

A perk to the odd assignment had been bearing witness to the oddest of pairings. One she would have never in all her years have considered a possibility in the first place.

She had been slightly amazed by the development of Shizuru and Hiei's relationship. Though she would never admit it to their faces it had both fascinated her and gave her a sense that anything good was possible.

She had known Shizuru was capable of great love but to find out that Hiei, once terrifying in his own right could respond to that ability was mesmerizing.

Between the two of them it seemed so effortless. Even when she had been witness to the two in an argument there was no comparison to the anger that entered such a thing when it was Yusuke and Keiko involved. Nor was there a hint of violence though that word was one of the first she would have used to describe both Shizuru and Hiei.

There was a timeless almost heated quality to the pairing of Shizuru and Hiei. A sense of patience between the two that did not in any way really extend to anyone else.

She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hiei valued Shizuru in a way that was comparable to how the fire demon valued Yukina.

That aside certain events had taken place recently that she felt required Koenma's immediate knowledge if not active involvement.

She was afraid for Shizuru in ways she had never been for any of the boys.

She was unsurprised to find Koenma at his desk diligently working away at the piles of paperwork that surrounded him.

Ogres moved in and out of the large office at a steady pace, some interrupting Koenma to answer pointed questions while others simply added more papers to the already large stacks.

"Lord Koenma sir?" she cautiously said as she walked up to his desk.

Koenma's reactions to being interrupted could be extremely explosive.

Instead of ignoring her first attempt as she expected Koenma's attention became suddenly focused directly at her.

For a second she could clearly see the weight of his new office expressed in the drawn quality of his features. She almost wished he would return to the baby guise he had used before. It was somehow easier to deal with such obvious strain when it was expressed in more innocent features.

"Time for a break." Koenma announced setting down the stamp he had been using.

"But Lord Koenma..." one of the ogres whined.

"I said a break!" Koenma snapped rising from his desk, "Now get your oversized, useless selves out of my sight!"

Grumbling under their breath the ogres did as Koenma ordered quickly.

"Sir?" she ventured uneasily, "I..."

"Come with me." he interrupted walking past her.

She followed him out into the corridor with a definite sense of uneasiness. After long association she had become adept at reading Koenma's mood. If she was assessing him correctly Koenma was furiously thinking which could only mean he was plotting something.

"You know history has a very narrow view Botan." Koenma said as they headed in the direction of the vast library, "It mentions mostly extremes in good and evil. History has a way of raising up only a select few people. For the most part the real people that influence things to any great degree live out their lives being completely ignored by history."

"That doesn't seem right." she said slowly.

"Actually its the way the universe operates best. If those people were in the center of the public eye, if their influence could be measured by something as narrow as attention then they would be ineffective. It's a system of checks and balances that's always in motion. The universe abhors a vacuum..."

Koenma trailed off momentarily obviously lost in his thoughts.

"Sir I really don't see what this has to do with..." she began perplexed.

"There are some things that if I knew them _**officially**_ I would have to do something about Botan." he spoke over her sharply, "Those official actions might not be in the best interest of the three worlds but I would still be required to do them. Culpability is the better part of politics."

She stared at the side of his face for a few seconds as they entered the library before looking away.

Internally she was fighting a growing sense of almost panic.

Koenma did not want her to discuss anything with him that had to do with Shizuru obviously.

She felt he should know what she had seen.

If she said anything something extraordinarily bad might be in the repercussions of doing so.

Koenma remained silent until they reached a certain aisle of books. Without pause he perused the titles until he apparently found what he had been looking for. He rested his hand on one book in particular, shifting it out from the others before taking the hand away.

"My father did things that make others question every move I make." Koenma said as he turned to lean his back against the bookshelf, "I have to remain as neutral as I can in anything that has to do with the three worlds. I can't seem to favor any one world...or any one person even if I know it's the best thing for everyone."

"Of course," she murmured, "you're the ruler of Spirit World Lord Koenma. If anyone is supposed to act that way it's you no matter what happens."

"Yes..." he agreed finally turning his head to look at her, "since I am so very neutral and busy I can't be expected to always know what my subordinates are doing, especially when they take a leave of absence. What they do on their own time is none of my business unless they break the laws that are still in effect."

She forced away the panic that had threatened.

Since he was being as careful as he was in his wording she could easily see the unsaid instructions, make the connections he wanted her to.

Since her creation she had never taken a holiday. Reapers simply did their job as was expected of them under Enma.

"I think I would like to request some time off." she said formally.

"I approve your request." he replied standing straighter than concern colored his face, "Be careful Botan. There are things out there in the universe that can kill even reapers. It would be extremely inconvenient to have to deal with replacing you."

"Yes sir." she responded.

Koenma nodded then walked away leaving her staring at the book he had been toying with. Hesitantly she walked over to it and pulled it from the shelf.

She was a creature of direction but she was also the only grim reaper that she knew of that was allowed free association with individuals past the point of being ferried to the Spirit World.

Koenma's trust in her abilities showed in his lack of real information.

In the way she was given free rein in certain situations to do as she saw fit.

The unassuming book was tucked into the folds of her sleeves as she wandered out of the library.

Technically none of the books were supposed to leave the library. The history of all three worlds could be found within it. It was an unspoken rule that the truths that dwelt in those walls was to stay there even if most of the volumes were never looked at.

She was not going to look at what the book contained until she was well away from Spirit World.

In some ways she was a little intimidated by the idea of knowing what was inside of those pages. If Koenma felt she needed to know this information there was a very good chance that she was going to wish she had remained in the dark.

As she left Spirit World behind she organized her thoughts.

First she would find a quiet place to read the book.

Then she would have to set about relocating Shizuru.

Thankfully Shizuru had not concentrated on hiding herself from Spirit World perusal though the demonic warding did in its own way interfere with keeping track of her.

She would not be consulting with Yusuke or the others as she was use to doing.

Shizuru would never forgive her if she leaned on any one of them in this.

Still she could not help the heavy sensation inside of her that had become a constant recently in regards to her friend.

Few people appreciated the different levels of peril involved with any given soul. It was not only a matter of the physical realm but also of the spiritual. There were still laws of the three worlds, lines that could not be crossed without severe repercussions that could last an eternity.

Regardless of what Enma had done during his reign the Spirit World could not go against the purpose that its creation served.

No more than Koenma could though she knew the current ruler would have much rather abandoned the weight of responsibility that had been placed on him.

It was interesting to her that she was surrounded by such polar opposites when it came to responsibility.

On one side were Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara who balked at the idea of real responsibility making every step almost excruciating through complaints or flat-out refusal. Only giving way when manipulated into believing it was by choice that they did so.

On the other stood Koenma and Shizuru who took up those mantles regardless of their personal preferences knowing full well the reasons for having to.

Which was why when dealing with Shizuru she was going to have to abandon any pretenses that she was use to using with the first set.

At least she would not have to worry so much about revealing the information piecemeal to Shizuru.

That in itself was the more difficult of her tasks with Yusuke. Deciding what could and could not be revealed was intensely difficult especially when adding Kurama to the mix.

The fox demon was normally the first to figure out any situation.

Thankfully since he found amusement in watching the others being manipulated he rarely exposed her.

Though on more than one occasion while being forced to act shocked by something one of the other three deduced he had made her feel embarrassed. She was not all that great of an actress and the knowing smile he would cast her way made it difficult to keep the right amount of concentration.

Shizuru would not smile at any hint of being manipulated.

In fact she was certain if Shizuru felt she was hiding something her friend would not only take it as a personal betrayal she would make a point of finding out about warding herself against Spirit World.

_I can't let her be alone...not with what's happening..._

She knew Shizuru's first reaction would be to reject her presence.

She had to figure out a way to convince Shizuru that it would be a good idea to keep her nearby.

Her emotions were becoming jumbled.

She understood that was because of the addition of the book, because of Koenma's warning that reapers could indeed be destroyed.

Before she had returned to the Spirit World she had already been afraid for Shizuru.

Now she had the distinct impression that her fears should be expanded to include others.

* * *

Please keep reviewing! It definately helps :)!


	8. Shockwave

_Italics _represent memory or thought

* * *

The wind rushed past him as he moved over the rooftops and through the trees as he came upon them in the city. Normally it was a siren song, a heady tone that caused his entire being to relax.

He could not convince his body to move fast enough, the discordant song grated harshly in his ears.

Everything around him surged past in a blur of motion and still he pressed himself for more.

It was an impossibility and yet it was exactly what had occurred.

His chest felt tight, filling with dark poison.

His mind would not clear itself as he needed it to.

Faster than any human could register with their weak eyesight he rushed towards a place he knew to be safe to attempt to empty himself of that black toxin ripping at him.

His lips peeled back from his teeth as he moved in a silent snarl.

_He was waiting for her alone in her place._

_Kurama had suggested he speak with her alone, the coward._

_He had never bothered to explain to Kurama the way their interactions were so very separated in this venue. They had never crossed that agreement but that was exactly what he intended to do._

_He had never imagined that there would come a time he would find it necessary to do so._

_That part of their lives were lived so separately that he had failed realize he had no clue who Shizuru considered as an enemy. He only had vague impressions of what dangers presented themselves in her dealings with these criminals._

_He had been woefully lax in an area he would not have allowed within his own personal sphere of influence._

_Not too long ago he had been furious with Mukuro over her short sightedness when it came to Tsuneo and both of them had paid the price for it._

_It had been done by choice, this purposeful ignorance that had been made so glaringly obvious by Kurama only a few minutes prior to the fox demon taking his leave._

_He had settled pointedly on the back of her favorite chair since it gave him the best view of the front door._

_He could not get past the memory of her face as she had looked up in his direction from the street._

_Yes her expression had been full of that warning Kurama spoke of but there had been other things shifting over those features that he knew so well..._

His side ached in long, burning tides demanding that he rest but he ignored it grimly.

There was no release in this motion.

There was no escape as the adrenaline shot through him. It only seemed to feed the growing bands of fury and shock that clenched at his chest.

The more he pressed his body to action the more aware he was of every adjustment made, of every touch.

The more he wished to stop and destroy something, to turn what ate at him internally against some outward source.

Here that was unfeasible, nothing would stand against what he held inside.

Without thought he turned his body towards the entrance to the Demon World.

"_What no Kurama or Yusuke?" she asked with mild humor._

"_I do not need their presence to speak with you." he pointed out watching her as she moved through the house to the window of the living space, "What do you mean to do?"_

_It was the broadest question he could ask of her. He was still not all that certain that they were capable of knowing these things of each other without unforeseen repercussions. She had to have her reasons for wanting it to remain this way just as he did._

_The atmosphere in the dwelling had changed the instant she had walked in._

_There was an electric, vivid feel that had rushed in creating a tension he had never associated with any conversation between the two of them. An anticipation that caused his core to speed up that he could not control._

_She opened the window then went about lighting a cigarette, "No idea what you're talking about."_

"_Being purposefully evasive is beneath you." he snapped annoyed with her choice._

_She blew a cloud of smoke out the window before turning to lean against the ledge, "You have to be more clear Hiei. I've told you before. If you don't say it how the hell am I suppose to know?"_

_This was not one of his preferred nuances of her personality. This requirement to speak more than was necessary from her had always been difficult for him. In their time together he had become more use to doing so but that did not mean he enjoyed the process in any way._

"_You are willing to kill." he said knowing his eyes narrowed, "What else are you willing to do for this friend?"_

_Now it was her eyes that narrowed, "What would you do for Yusuke or Kurama or Kuza for that matter? Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to Hiei."_

"_If I did not I would not bother uttering them!" he growled at her, "this is no simple revenge Shizuru. You would not go to such lengths to warn us away if that were all it was."_

"_You're all like a bunch of old women sitting around needing the latest gossip." she accused then sighed, "Gotta say this isn't the sexiest side of you."_

"_If that is the best you can do then you might as well simply state the truth of it." he replied unimpressed with the insults._

_Another pause filled a second later by a plume of smoke that drifted over her shoulder and out the open window. _

_That undefined tension increased causing the distance between them to widen in some unseen way._

_He could tell by the way she was looking at him that she was weighing her words. He tensed internally knowing that could only mean more evasiveness, more useless words that would only serve to annoy him._

"_How's Mukuro doing these days?" she asked approaching him slowly._

_That she would approach should have made him relax instead he found himself restraining the urge to draw back._

"_Living," he returned, "it is pointless to..."_

"_How long did you stay in that tank of her's?" she said over him, "How close were you this time Hiei? Were you almost dead?"_

He should have been more aware.

He should have recognize that change in the air had been really the change in her. He had failed to realize that she was confrontational for her own reasons.

That made Shizuru a dangerous, wildly unpredictable creäture.

He should have noticed his own growing reaction to her words and actions, become guarded as he would have before knowing her.

He had become complacent, allowed himself the false impression that he had mastered himself.

It had spiraled out of control so suddenly, for no reason that he could fathom.

_She was crowding him, using her body in a way that instantly brought to mind a fighter facing off._

_Already off-center because of the very air that surrounded them he shifted on the chair without thinking._

"_What occurs in the Demon World is none of your concern." he growled despite what he had thought earlier, "I was injured. It means nothing."_

"_Wrong answer." she snapped._

"_It is the only answer I have for you." he returned starting to rise, "If I must take you to Mukuro's to keep you from foolish..."_

_There was no warning._

_No minute adjustments._

_There never had been when it came to her, a habit he had once found enviable._

_His injured side exploded with intense, fierce agony._

_Before he could adjust to the realization that Shizuru of all people had just attacked him he was reacting._

_A low growl erupted from his chest._

_His lips peeled back as he bared his teeth at her._

_His hand began to rise, already balling into a fist._

_It was her reaction, that she shifted in the act of bracing her self that brought him up short._

_Everything inside of him reeled within the unreal disarray of shock, the knowledge of what he was doing._

_His hand froze in place, his insides twisting with too many emotions none of which calmed the torrent of fury that still ate at his barely held in check control._

_That was the ugly, bitter truth of the situation._

_If she moved in the wrong way, if the situation were to escalate he lacked the control necessary to not attack._

_He could see in her darkened eyes that she was well aware of that fact._

_He could not stay in this place, not with her._

_He did the only thing he could in that moment._

_He fled through the open window._

He settled on the strong limbs of a tree to rest momentarily. The ache had grown to a much more debilitating pain causing his breathing to become labored.

His eyes wandered to the hand that he had begun to raise against her.

He was angry with her needless to say.

He had never expected a threat to come directly from her.

She had shadowed the singular place he had viewed as a safe haven of sorts.

That anger was in no way comparable to the fury he felt towards himself.

That decided lack of control, that explosion of near violence.

He could have killed her.

He was not a human, his strength was dictated by control and in that moment there had been none.

It was contemptible what he had almost allowed to occur.

For the first time in memory he was ashamed of his reaction.

Ashamed that a human had caused him to have such a base response.

Ashamed that **_she_** had witnessed him react not as a thinking individual but as a creäture with only instinct guiding him.

"_Running is instinctual. You are not an animal Hiei. I expect more from you than ignorance."_

He forced himself to recline against the tree, to close his eyes and regain his breath if nothing else.

He was not far from the opening to Demon World. He could almost feel its seductive call moving along his skin.

It was Kurama's words that held him in place though he was far from able to form a true cohesive thought.

He would stay where he was for now if only to prove he was not actually fleeing from what had occurred.

He opened his eyes only to find himself gazing at the hand again as if it were a separate part of his body.

If he were truthful in that instant he almost wanted that to be the reality.

* * *

She stared out the window into the dark yard not fully focusing on any one thing.

She had no real idea just how everything had gotten so completely out of hand.

Or rather she did but she could not believe how surreal it seemed.

She had not exactly meant to argue with Hiei. It was just an additional reaction to what had occurred before she had returned to the place.

After leaving the scene of the accident she had stopped by to check on Narumi. Not more than five minutes passed before a man claiming to be Takahashi's second came to the house.

Takahashi had sent the man to inform her that she was expected to do more than act in the interest of the Black Black Club but also to act as another of his enforcers.

That particular man was on his way to being delivered by several of Narumi's male enforcers in a state that was much worse than when he had appeared in front of her.

It was a very clear message she wanted to put across to Takahashi.

It was dangerous to say the least, antagonizing someone of Takahashi's influence but the alternative was unacceptable.

With this on her mind she was not exactly in the best frame of mind to deal well with Hiei's brand of concern that more often than not came across as purely arrogant and proprietary.

He may not have meant to move as if he were going to physically take her to Mukuro's but since she had spent the last week in a heightened state of alertness that was how she took it.

It had been an automatic reaction, the blow to an area she knew was already injured but it had been accompanied by the smallest of bursts of the energies that Chancer had given her access to.

That energy was not under her control in the ways it was for the boys.

It was the main reason she had frozen in the act of bracing herself.

The realization of what she had just done, how very wrong it could have gone, and how very wrong it could still go.

Witnessing his reaction had startled her but it was not something she had thought was beyond him.

She knew full well he was a demon, that if she were to do more than freeze as he had there would be repercussions that perhaps neither of them could literally live with.

The second their eyes had locked she had known he would disappear.

_Damn it..._

She rubbed at her forehead trying to rid herself of the tension headache that had abruptly appeared.

She would have much rather tried to go after him but something about the look in his eyes gave her the impression it would be awhile before he would be willing to see her.

It was just another addition to the already heavy weight inside of her, only this weight felt much more as if a part of her had suddenly abandoned her.

She scowled at the thought, uncomfortable with the comparison.

_He's not gone..._

She was not all that certain that was the full truth of the matter.

* * *

Please review! Thanks :)


	9. Offerings

Narumi stared at her friend in utter disbelief, "Have you completely lost your mind?"

Across from her Shizuru shrugged indifferently opting to remain silent instead of responding.

It was bad enough that she was still recovering from having been shot, hampered mostly by the still present ache in her side that required her to limit her movements. It would probably be at least a week or so before she would be able to walk upright semi comfortably.

Shizuru was not making it any easier for her stay on the sidelines.

It had been extremely difficult for her to hand over control of the gang even if it was into the hands of someone she trusted.

She had been dealing with her growing worry and frustration with Shizuru's choices that dealt directly with Takahashi who according to the Candy Store was a force beyond the families.

That was a level she never personally dealt with. She was more than content with dealing directly with the family she held territory for. While she was adept at dealing with that low-level of politics she also understood her own limitations.

Shizuru was taking risks that even for her were within the realm of insane.

She had only just learned the full extent of Shizuru's open defiance of Takahashi's attempt to control her.

She normally approved of her friend's reactions since they typically followed along the same lines that she would have followed but this was well beyond anything she would have considered sane.

She understood the reasoning behind it but it was not as if Shizuru was a complete novice when dealing with criminals.

Of course this was also why Shizuru had withdrawn from actively being involved in this lifestyle. While the other woman possessed the intelligence to deal with it she had no patience for the politics involved.

That in itself made Shizuru a dangerous person and more than once Narumi had heard comments that it was a good thing Shizuru stayed well away from the inner workings.

Loose cannons such as Shizuru were considered weapons of last resort for a reason.

She sighed heavily, "Look you know it's going to come back at you..."

"Yeah I know." Shizuru replied with another shrug, "I'm not stupid."

"Could've fooled me," she growled annoyed, "What's the point of pissing him off? What are you going to do when he decides he's going to make you do what he wants?"

Shizuru smirked, "Then I guess I'll have to make it more obvious that I'm not. Takahashi isn't the only one out there Narumi. I start letting him force me onto his side and that neutral crap is just crap. Otherwise all I'm doing is digging myself deeper and there won't be any out for me. I never planned for this to be a permanent job you know."

"You never planned on getting involved in the first place." she reminded her.

Another shrug as Shizuru lit one of her cigarettes.

"Look he's going to end up asking me to do something else as it is but he'll ask instead of trying to make me. Depending on what it is I'll probably do it...my way. Don't get your panties in a wad over it. Not like it'll involve your gang." Shizuru reasoned.

"You are insane." she stated firmly, "It better involve my gang you moron. You don't want you're perfectly adequate, would definitely kill for you, guard dogs involved so you use my guys to back you up! You aren't invincible and you sure as hell aren't being smart!"

Shizuru's eyes narrowed, "Don't get any ideas..."

"Don't force me to corral you." she snapped, "Dead isn't going to help anyone. Just because you and master of all that is antisocial got into an argument doesn't mean you get to pretend nothing affects you."

"He has nothing to do with it."

She smirked at the obvious annoyance in Shizuru's voice.

It was a low blow, that Hiei had been absent for four days straight really should have been off-limits. As far as she was concerned if that was what it took to get Shizuru back on a path that involved at least some sense of self-preservation then she was willing to use it.

Besides she intensely enjoyed any dig she could get in regarding Shizuru's love life.

Even if she had wanted to avoid the subject, like an addict she could not resist.

She rubbed absently at her side trying to rid herself of some of the stress Shizuru was single-handedly adding to.

It had been a long time since she had considered the possibility that Shizuru just might be beyond her to fully understand.

What appeared on the surface to be reckless, with Shizuru there was always a hint of calm calculation.

The only time that was not apparent was when she was moved to take actions that even she did not understand.

That was the part that caused most of her concern.

Those times that it was so fully out of Shizuru's hands and it seemed like the entire universe was conspiring against the possibility of her continued ability to live.

In truth there were to many of those times in their past, times that she was probably the only one aware of just how close her friend had been to death.

Times that she had, in a moment of horrified realization begun to plan out just how she was going to explain to Kazuma what had happened.

_Of course now I'll have to explain it to the fun size demon too..._

That was not one of the more appealing thoughts that had traveled through her mind recently.

She had no problems with the fact that Shizuru had decided to get involved with a demon. Strangely enough it had only made perfect sense.

Who else would be able to match someone like Shizuru?

It just added to the list of decidedly dangerous interactions that she had to contend with when it came to being a part of Shizuru's circle.

Before she could open her mouth to question Shizuru more there was a light knock on the door that led to the back porch.

She exchanged guarded looks with Shizuru who levered herself out of the chair she had been occupying.

She silently cursed the fact that she was so encumbered by her injury that all she could really do was watch as Shizuru opened the door.

She caught a glimpse of someone smaller than Shizuru whom she guess was female dressed in a kimono before Shizuru promptly slid the door shut on the person.

There was the briefest moment ,that could have been pure hallucination on her part, where Shizuru's expression became pained.

That coupled with her own recent worries almost brought her out of the bed.

* * *

It had been a childish reaction, she was well aware of that.

It was also one of the most redundant ones considering the fact that if Botan wanted to she could plainly move through the door without it being open.

It had just been an impulse, a way to attempt to organize her thoughts into something much less reactive.

The simple truth was the instant she had seen Botan whose face held an expression she had last seen at the Dark Tournament she had become instantly filled with anticipated loss, denial and a burning rage.

For the briefest moment she had almost gone after her friend, she had felt that something different inside of her surging in response to her emotions.

_First Hiei...now Botan...I have to get a handle on this..._

"Shizuru?" Botan ventured quietly from the other side of the closed door.

"Just...shut up." she half growled staring at the ground as she gathered her wits.

"Shizuru I'm not here for the boys." Botan assured her.

She slowly opened the door again, "What are you doing here then? You don't usually come around me without them around."

In reality that could be extended to being around Keiko and Yukina as well but Botan had never sought her out by herself. They were friends that saw each other only when the others were around. It was an odd way to interact but then again that was a part of her normal life.

"I...I want to help you with what you're doing." Botan said haltingly.

She frowned, "Why do you know anything about it?"

Botan's eyes cut away guiltily and she could easily guess what that meant. For some reason Botan had been spying on her. The question was just how much Botan knew and why Koenma would be interested in any of it.

"Hey what's going on?" Narumi demanded from the bed.

"Good question," she replied not bothering to move from the doorway, "Narumi this is my friend Botan. Botan that's Narumi."

"And what the hell are you?" Narumi asked glaring at Botan.

She traded a glance with an obviously flustered Botan then smirked, "She's a grim reaper..."

"Shizuru..." Botan censured worriedly.

"Of course she is," Narumi commented with mild disgust, "You date demons. Why wouldn't you have a friend like that. By the way I don't have plans of dieing any time in the near future."

"Well no you aren't on any of the lists that I know of." Botan returned matter of factly.

Narumi blinked then sat back in her bed with a sound of annoyance, "What the hell...the things I have to deal with just to be your friend suck."

"Yeah and weirdly enough you stick around." she responded with a small laugh, "It's not like being around you is all sunshine and daisies you know. We're going to take this outside."

She did not wait for a reply before moving so that Botan had to back up onto the porch.

That ominous look had returned to Botan's features and once she had closed the door she pulled Botan farther into the backyard.

"So what is it?" she asked quietly when they were far enough from the door.

Whatever Botan had to say she wanted it said away from even Narumi. There were very few things that affected the blue haired reaper normally chipper disposition.

It was a given that whatever it was she had to say bordered on some perceived tragedy.

Tears began to form in Botan's eyes which only served to heighten the heaviness she had been plagued with recently.

"It's okay," she reassured, "seriously whatever it is I'll deal with it."

If anything Botan's distress seemed to increase with her words.

"It isn't right." Botan finally whispered in a choked voice, "It isn't fair."

She was uncertain exactly how to respond to those statements.

Right or fair rarely had anything to do with her life. Those terms were more things applied after the fact since she did not bother ever wondering about the morality involved in her actions.

That sort of stuff she left to Kazuma to worry over since he was the one with the overblown sense of honor.

"I'm sure it isn't." she offered slowly, "Just tell me."

The tears doubled then began to flow down Botan's cheeks.

Strangely enough that sight, death's angel openly weeping that seemed particularly freeing.

The weight inside her shifted then fell away leaving behind a sense of calm acceptance of the things she had been fighting against.

Without a word she reached out and took Botan into her arms, holding her as she began to sob.

It should have made her more afraid to have Botan react in this fashion.

She should have become slightly alarmed by the dispassionate regard that slowly replaced the acceptance of the moment before.

All she knew for certain was that she was relieved it had nothing to do with anyone else.

Finally and simply she was the only one involved.

For awhile she held Botan's shaking body in silence wondering when she had decided to be so physical with the people around her when normally she would have avoided it.

* * *

She closed the book and sat back in the chair, her mind much to full of information.

After Botan's first outburst the reaper had been unable to actually tell her what had made her so upset without bursting into tears again.

Instead Botan had handed her a nondescript brown book with a severe, solemn expression.

She understood now why Botan would be so upset. Why it had been so difficult for her to express what the book contained. The meaning of that information would be very harsh for someone so intimately involved with matters of the soul.

"Shizuru I..." Botan began.

"Don't" she interrupted gently because it felt unnecessary to add to Botan's distress, "it's not really something to worry about right now."

"But..." Botan argued frowning.

"I get it Botan." she assured her, "It's a lot to take in but I get it. I'm just not going to worry about it. It's really just an afterward isn't it? You better not have any ideas about telling _**them**_ about this."

She held Botan's eyes with her own. She was unwilling to let this particular information travel any farther than it had already. Koenma was obviously staying out of it as much as he could so at this point Botan was the only risk.

She could see the battle in Botan's eyes.

It was a knee jerk reaction for Botan to reach out to at the very least Kurama when it came to something problematic.

This was a little more than problematic but when it came down to it there was no real solution to the matter.

It was going to happen eventually and they were both well aware that the boys did not do well when it came to the idea of a battle that could not be won.

"It won't help,"she said into the weighted silence, "you know that Botan. I don't want that to be what they think about when they look at me."

"But isn't that one of the reasons you don't want them involved in the fights?" Botan asked her quietly, "You don't want them seeing you doing those things?"

She was abruptly unable to maintain eye contact, uncomfortable that Botan would bring up any ulterior motives to what she had done.

There were her own selfish concerns involved.

The worst thing she could imagine happening was not the deaths of the people she cared about.

"You said you wanted to help," she said changing the subject, "What did you mean?"

"You're having problems controlling the energy you allowed that boy to release right?" Botan asked allowing the new subject, "I may have a solution...or rather I may have an option to help you."

"You don't sound all that sure." she pointed out interested despite the strange look on Botan's face.

"Welll...just remember I said it was an option," Botan said then smiled, "I'm sure if we give him the right incentive he'll coöperate."

"And by incentive..."she prompted uneasily.

"Nothing big really." Botan assured her, "I'm sure we can find something in the Human World...ummm strong enough."

* * *

Please keep reviewing! It helps the mojo when I know if I'm doing ok or if I'm being totally boring XD


	10. Awareness

_Italics _denote thought or memory

* * *

Yusuke Urameshi's ramen stand was enjoying a trend of popularity among a certain group of consumers.

On first glance most would not have paid attention to the people. There was nothing overly remarkable about them if one took into consideration Yusuke had wisely positioned his stand at a point where the district of two different high schools intersected.

The variety was impressive though the trend seemed to involve a heavier female contingency.

Again unremarkable since Yusuke still had an aura about him of a street wise punk and that was known to attract the attention of many females much to the annoyance of Yusuke's girlfriend.

It did not help that Yusuke had a certain charm about him when it came to his customers. It was an odd day when he received less than three confessions from the women that flocked to the stand.

Yusuke took these confessions in stride deftly rejecting these confessions in a way that left it difficult for the women to leave in anger or abject defeat.

It was one of the many skills Kurama would not have assigned to Yusuke until he had witnessed the phenomenon himself. On the surface Yusuke continued to seem oblivious of the concepts of social graces. The illusion was shattered once Yusuke dealt with anyone on a singular basis, then the ex detective showed a propensity towards kindness and real interest in those around him.

Yet even Yusuke at his most charismatic could not be held accountable for the amount of business in recent weeks.

There was never an empty seat at the stand, and at times there were small groups who sat or stood near the stand. There was a constant flow of customers which meant a constant flow of monetary gain.

Yusuke had been the first to become suspicious of it.

He had thought perhaps Yusuke was exaggerating the increase but after a few days of observation he could not deny the reality of it.

Not all the customers were suspicious of course. There were legitimate customers, those that obviously favored Yusuke's cooking.

There were also those that were slightly out-of-place. These people were much too alert to their surroundings, their attention always away from the main attraction of Yusuke.

It was a good thing that he worked freelance, the ability to make his own schedule allowed him the flexibility to do as he pleased including spending several days at Yusuke's stand.

The watchers were fairly good at what they were doing. The individuals shifted throughout the day, no one person there for longer than could be truly noticed by someone not aware of them.

It was because of their pointed attention beyond the stand that he had spotted the secondary group of individuals doing much the same thing.

These other watchers were even more subtle than the ones around the stand.

The difference being that this other group were obviously watching him, Hiei, and Yusuke.

Again to the normal observer this attention would have gone unnoticed. He was not a normal observer.

He got the distinct impression that the three of them were somehow standing in the exact center of some conflict, one that was at a stalemate for the moment.

"Not just me is it?" Yusuke asked setting a bowl of noodles infront of him.

"Unfortunately no," he confirmed picking up the chopsticks Yusuke had provided, "I believe if we were to visit Kuwabara there would be something akin to this near him as well."

"Probably," Yusuke sighed heavily wiping his hands on a towel that hung from his apron, "can't leave him hanging like that Kurama."

He had to agree at this juncture. While he was loath to involve Kuwabara it seemed much more prudent to have him near instead of somewhere they could not get to him quickly if needed.

_Yet another thing that Shizuru will not appreciate. Then again there seems to be little that she would appreciate lately._

This thought brought another situation to mind.

For days Hiei had been silent.

It was not abnormal for the fire demon to say only a few sentences on any given day. While Hiei could never be accused of being gregarious he was apt to at least toss an insult or two.

This time however there was not even that.

It was the quality and length of his silence that in a very disturbing way brought to mind the last time Hiei had gone for so long a time without communicating.

Since Hiei was opting to spend time with him instead of Shizuru it was easy to assume the problem originated between the pair.

They were still attempting to keep track of Shizuru, and they were still having difficulty in maintaining a consistency in that area.

There were simply areas that Shizuru visited often that they were unable to follow her in.

The variety of those places was telling in and of itself.

He had not been aware that there were so many places within the city that were warded against demons. Of course he did not frequent the types of places that appeared to be. It could very well be that the warding was a recent addition. The question remained why it was necessary in the first place.

"Koenma is still unresponsive?" he ventured quietly.

"Yeah," Yusuke said scowling, "can't get him at all. Not even Botan is picking up on that end."

While he had been uncertain as to the usefulness of contacting the deity it was extremely rare for Botan to remain silent as well.

"Starting to get the feeling everyone else knows what's going on." Yusuke grumbled.

"You are probably correct in that." he responded picking at the food, "Perhaps it is an issue of retirement. Koenma has stressed several times that Spirit World issues are none of our concern any longer."

"Well so what?" Yusuke half growled, "Never stopped him from finding a way to get us thrown into whatever it is he can't handle. Why would this be any different?"

"A lack of demonic..." he began then trailed off, "unless of course he cannot be officially involved in what is happening."

He was acutely aware of Hiei's eyes suddenly on him.

"It may not be a matter of her choice."

Before that moment Hiei had been leaning against the stand beside him supposedly watching the humans mill about.

He had already taken into account Shizuru's spiritual awareness. That was almost always a certainty when it came to her actions.

Having Hiei voice it in so specific a manner, with that tone of undefined animosity increased his own conviction that not all the seemingly random events were so random at all.

After so many days of silence hearing that statement from Hiei solidified an immediate decision on his part.

If the lack of contact with Koenma was due to politics and not because of a lack in information then it put an even more ominous tone to what Shizuru was involved in.

"If the information remains unattainable I will have to personally pay a visit to the Candy Store to clean out their inventory." he stated simply.

His words gained a glance from a young woman nearby which was what he had hoped would occur.

It was not an idle threat.

He was willing to use every advantage he had if things remained so one-sided.

He could not help but notice that Hiei's expression had darkened considerably as the fire demon glowered at the pavement.

_I wonder what exactly is bothering you so much..._

* * *

"_Why is it that you have no issue with what you are forced to do?"_

_He had not meant to ask the question aloud though it was often one that slipped through his thoughts at times like these._

_Shizuru glanced at him with mild interest before returning to watching for whatever it was she had been drawn to the park to encounter._

_If he were there he accompanied her during these instances, sometimes he kept to the outskirts and others he remained at her side though he made sure to remain only an observer._

"_Why do you get into fights with whoever says "Hey"?" she returned amusement in her voice._

"_That is not the reality." he censured only a little annoyed._

_She chuckled, "It's called going with the flow. I don't see the point of fighting something I'm going to end up doing anyway."_

_That statement he did not understand. _

_If a situation presented itself he did not simply follow the line laid out for him._

_He most definitely would never succumb to pressures if he did not see an outcome that would give himself something in return._

_Of course this was not himself being spoken of, Shizuru was much more open to these concepts than he would ever be._

_In a strange way he resented the force behind her actions for her._

"_Doesn't mean I like it." she added with a shrug, turning slightly towards him, "I just don't really have a choice. Every once in a while though it pays off."_

_He found he could not look away from her eyes, from that knowing smirk that graced her lips._

_Again that sense of unreality washed over him along with that warming tightness in his chest that she seemed able to invoke on a whim._

_He could not say he was fully comfortable with her ability to infuse such simple words with deep, undeniable meaning._

_When she gazed at him in this manner he was mesmerized by the idea of being on the receiving end of such emotion._

_He tore his eyes from her's wanting to look anywhere else. _

_There had to be a limit to such things._

He knew the moment he said the words out loud he could not deny the impulse to delve further into Shizuru's world.

Loss of control or not he had distanced himself much too far in the pursuit of reattaining his equilibrium.

It had not been his intention to spend more than perhaps a day away from her.

Of all the creatures he had dealt with only she could cause him to delay his inclination towards immediate confrontation. She continued to be an unknown when it came to real conflict between the two of them. Layers of meanings and ambiguities made a simple confrontation into something that lacked definition. It was never a straight forward situation.

There were several things that kept him to the fringes along side Kurama.

One of those reasons was the memory of her face in that moment.

He had been unable to read beyond the obvious caution there.

Or there was the smallest of chances he had not wanted to.

He did not want there to be fear in her when they crossed paths again.

He could not deny that there was a chance that his reaction had shaken her. For all her strength she was in the end only human, having his deepest nature exposed in such a threatening manner may be too much for even her.

He did not want to ponder what her recoiling from him might affect.

A year ago and a half ago he would not have considered such a thing as anything more than inconvenient.

It annoyed him to no end that he could not quiet these thoughts, that he could not simply discard them as irrelevant as he did with most thoughts that were troublesome.

The memory had come on the heels of Kurama mentioning Koenma.

Anything with even the hint of Spirit World tended to have dangerous if not fatal influences in his personal affairs.

He had been flooded with that same unfocused anger he had gained in the process of knowing Shizuru.

Impulse had brought him into the relationship and in many ways he was still ill-suited for dealing with the emotions involved.

He knew being near her brought him as close to peace as he had ever been in his life.

He also knew they had come to a point together that was dangerous and without the knowledge about why it had become so that peace was at risk.

Normally he would have found some way to speak of these things with Kurama.

The fox demon could be counted on to understand the things he found impossible to explain.

For some reason he balked at the idea, stubbornly refusing to admit there were still things about humans in general that he did not understand.

He also could not bring himself to admit to his own inexcusable reaction.

He could feel the tension building in him again.

It made no sense that he found it so difficult to focus on the more physical aspects of the current situation.

This only served to heighten his agitation.

He needed some type of action to rid himself of the thickening pressure inside of him. Some way to clear his mind of the nonsense that filled it.

"Hiei?"

He lifted his eyes to glance at Kurama who was watching him with a troubled look.

He glowered at Kurama, "What is it?"

"I believe we need to return to Shizuru's tonight." Kurama said though his brow furrowed.

"And you seek my permission?" he asked then chuckled darkly looking away, "As long as it leads to an end of this absurd lack of movement what do I care."

He purposefully shoved away the wash of uncertainty that had slipped through him.

It was not something he felt Kurama needed to be aware of.

His pride could not extend so far that he would remain away from her side.

Even if she no longer wanted his presence.

Despite the fact that he had yet to resolve his own internal conflicts.

None of it mattered when it came to her continued survival since it seemed she was determined to continue the cycle of utter disregard when it came to that exact thing.

* * *

Reviews please :)


	11. The Darkening

It was the strangest thing.

Pain, fear, panic, anger.

All of them had a distinct quality to them that was hypnotizing.

It was almost a taste, almost a smell, almost something felt along the skin in vibrations that soothed and electrified all at once.

It was a driving, heady experience to notice these things that had previously held no interest for her.

It was not that she enjoyed being the giver of them.

There was no sense of sadistic joy in the torture of others. If anything she was almost bored with the actual physical aspects of it. It was the resulting affect that captured her attention so completely.

The blood flowed.

The muscles strained.

The voices shrieked and wailed, begging for mercy that she had no intention of giving.

The act of mercy would be given when she had what she needed.

In the end there had been three voices rising with anguish when at first there had been expectation of only one.

That was their mistake, their assumption that she was going to be tamed through such a hollow act.

It was not that she felt tainted by the blood she so carefully had washed from her body.

As she had predicted Takahashi had sent another errand boy with specific instructions to attain certain information by any means she found necessary.

What she had not expected was the inclusion of a third-party in the form of another man who apparently represented another of the Black Black Club.

Unfortunately for these men in particular what she found necessary was that they join in.

For every cut, bruise, or break she caused to be on the victim they endured the same.

Eventually she had been able to glean the information from the weeping, stuttering man who had been unlucky enough to become mixed up in a higher end drug scheme. Or rather his brother had allowed him to take the fall for it.

She allowed the man to witness what she did to the two others.

She figured it was only fair that the man get at least some small vengeance for what turned out to be his fault only through poor choices in who he trusted.

Luckily before the men had shown up Botan had left to procure whatever it was that they needed to get the cooperation of her supposed "option".

When she had returned to the house Narumi was sequestered in she had immediately gone to the shower.

She did not want to deal with any unnecessary conversations with Botan that would come up if she were to return and find evidence of what she had just done on her.

She had bathed and put on fresh clothes.

Still in the bathroom she paused in the act of brushing out her hair, her reflection gaining her undivided attention.

That sensation that she had been so caught up in during the torture session had slowly dispersed like fog being cleared by a gentle gust of wind.

It had left behind the vaguest sense that she had been caught up in something monumental that might take a while to fully understand.

It did not necessarily upset her. It was more as if she had done something she had neither liked nor disliked and was still trying to figure out what that meant.

Somehow it was surprising to her that the face reflected back at her showed no signs of what had overcome her earlier though it had not felt as if it were something other than her.

She knew intimately what that felt like so she did have a comparison..

She knew logically that she should have some issue with what she had done.

That she should feel something.

Disgust.

Guilt.

Some part of her should be twisting with some type of moral dilemma over the situation

The best her inner self could do was recall not two weeks ago she would have felt those things very clearly. She would have been disgusted with just the suggestion that she be involved in anything that had to do with those activities.

So there should be something in that reflection, a sign that something was unusual.

Shouldn't there be?

All she saw was herself, nothing beyond that. She could even meet her own eyes knowing full well the extent of damage she had inflicted on three fairly defenseless people.

At least tied to those chairs they had been defenseless.

_Is this me now?_

There was a knock at the door, "Shizuru?"

She turned away from the reflection to unlock the door.

The storm cloud that had taken over Narumi's expression was definitely impressive.

"You shouldn't be moving around too much." she warned finishing with her hair.

"What the hell do they mean you kicked them out?" Narumi asked angrily.

She sighed silently moving out of the bathroom, "They were there. I didn't need them."

"And the screaming?" Narumi prompted following her slowly.

She matched her pace to Narumi's slower one trying not to be overtly obvious that she was there in case Narumi faltered.

"You're guys are a bunch of tattle tales you know." she offered paying more attention to Narumi then her words, "You don't want to know the details..."

Narumi grabbed her by the arm with more strength then she had thought the other woman capable of at the moment.

Their eyes locked immediately.

"You sure are a piece of work Shizuru." Narumi said tensely, "This is how you want to play this? You think for one second I don't know you that well? You think I can't see it happening again?"

She pulled her arm out of Narumi's hand easily enough, "You're really going to bring that up again huh?"

Childhood friends tended to be living yearbooks of a person's life. For all her reputation as being cold and controlled there had been a time in her life that held the darkest parts of her past.

A year that may as well have been lost considering how utterly without definition it was.

It was during that year that the families had first taken real note of her.

By the end of it there had been a few that wanted her dead but that was when her gift had turned out to be useful in some real way.

When someone interfered in the life of family members in ways that obviously saved their lives the idea of killing that person became to dishonorable for even the families to order.

The things she had been a party to during that year could not exactly be assigned to such idealistic concepts as good or evil, right or wrong, smart or stupid.

The best that could be said about it was that she had been extremely active in situations that only the most hardened criminal would have been able to live through.

It had been Narumi and the sudden, undeniable surge in her spiritual awareness that had stopped her from what could have been considered a type of passive suicide.

"You really don't need to worry about it." she assured Narumi as they made it back to the main room, "Now sit the hell down before you hurt yourself."

Narumi gingerly moved to the nearest seat. She had paled because of the excursion and pain of moving around.

"You aren't getting away with it that easy." Narumi grumbled eying her, "Talk to me Shizuru."

"I have a week. Saturday is the main introduction." she said slowly, "I don't have time to be messing around with anything else. If Botan can get whoever it is to help then I have to concentrate on that."

* * *

Narumi studied her friend intently.

A week was not all that long for any type of training. Both of them were well aware of that. Their type of fighting did not involve "training" so much as it involved the right circumstances to gain experience.

Either your body was made for the concept of street fighting or you were the type that needed real discipline to achieve success in that area.

There was no grey involved in it.

That being said one style did not necessarily translate into another. In fact most styles negated the natural inclinations needed for a real street fighter who relied more on what worked then on ideals like honor.

Being a female street fighter required even more ingenuity then it did for the men.

Shizuru was the only other female fighter besides herself she knew of that excelled in fights that involved both sexes.

A week was not enough time to learn something different.

She had no problem admitting the knowledge of how close Shizuru's "job" would start caused a renewed sense of dread to course through her.

"I can't talk you out of this can I." she finally conceded with a heavy sigh.

Oddly enough Shizuru's expression relaxed, "I told you I don't have a choice Narumi. I have to do this. Stop being such a nag."

She rolled her eyes, "Fine...but I better have good seats for this crap. If you have to do this then I get VIP treatment."

Shizuru chuckled, "I already took care of that. Technically you're one of my coaches."

"Somehow I think you just insulted me." she snapped frowning.

Shizuru's easy acceptance of the situation did not do anything to assuage her doubts. If anything it only confirmed the fact that she needed to go about providing a safety net for Shizuru to fall back on even if she had to do so in secrecy.

"I gotta get going to meet up with Botan." Shizuru said with a shrug, "I'll give you a call about the time and place for this."

She nodded, allowing Shizuru to walk out of the room.

She did not do anything until she heard the front door close behind her friend then she motioned to one of the girls that hung out in the house for when she needed anything.

"Go get me the phone." she ordered darkly, "then find that damn monkey Store. I have some things I need her and that fanatic sister of her's to do."

"So we are going to back her up after all?" the girl asked smirking.

"Like there was any doubt?" she asked shaking her head, "Go on."

The girl nodded leaving her to scowl at the nearest wall.

She would have to be somewhat careful with her plans but hopefully Shizuru was going to be much too busy to pay any attention to anything going on in the background.

* * *

Shizuru sighed as she waited for Botan to bring the "option" to her in a sparsely forested area outside of the city.

At this point she could not present herself as an "Executioner" in any real meaning of the word.

Most definitely not in the way Takahashi wanted it to appear which was as dramatic as possible so that it would excite a crowd of onlookers.

In the end it all boiled down to a matter of showmanship not necessarily prowess.

Takahashi had selected her simply because her presence alone tended to attract major attention within the gambling circles of the city since she did not normally attend. When she did attend the fight she was singularly responsible for drew the most money.

She had to admit Takahashi was a clever person if completely corrupt.

Once it was revealed that she would be taking such an involved role an entirely new betting system would be opened dealing just with her alone.

One week was all she had to figure out exactly how she was going to get from where she was now to a point that was at least marginally acceptable.

Which was exactly nowhere to be honest.

So far she had suppressed the majority of surges that she had felt though in reality she was not all that certain that feeling went along with anything actually physical.

When she had felt its presence when she had struck Hiei it had been more simply being aware of it then seeing it.

For all she knew there had been no energy involved then or at any other time though Narumi claimed she had seen it the night she had been shot.

_What I really need is Genkai..._

Of course that was out of the question.

The old woman would have been the perfect person to go to in this situation. Her death had made that thought only wishful. For obvious reasons she could not go to any of the boys and any other option she knew of was already involved in the dock fights themselves.

It would be counterproductive to show this type of constraint on her abilities.

She felt the strong presence of a demon before she actually saw who it was that accompanied Botan as the pair appeared through some of the brush nearby.

_I'm so screwed..._

"Before you say anything he has a lot of experience with energies that take extra work to tap into..." Botan began to explain as they reached her.

"Extra work?!" she repeated frowning, "I only have a week Botan? Does he even get what I need? Is he sober enough to?"

"Well as I understand it the little blue haired sheila wants me to put in my two cents, training or some such." the demon said into the silence then ran a hand along a part of his scalp not occupied by his impressive blue mohawk, "not to sure about the details and I ain't no Kurama. Rather fishy to be askin' me and not him I'd say."

"If you can't do it then..." she began crossing her arms.

"Never said that." Chu dismissed, "just may not be my cup of tea is all. I've never tried showin' someone how to tap what they've got...you though...you're somethin' special. Could feel you a mile out. Weird though, can't feel you now."

It was not a comfortable sensation having someone as large as Chu looming over her with a mildly suspicious frown on his face.

"I don't have control over it." she admitted matching his frown with one of her own, "Being drunk isn't going to help me you know."

"Here now," Chu grumbled actually managing to pout without it being a ridiculous expression, "that's just my energies. Just how I'm made. Everybody's different you see. That power you got there just shows up right. Out of the blue and not just when you want it."

"How.." she began a little surprised by his assessment.

"Happens," Chu replied with a shrug, "known some that work like that. Most times it takes fights and such to get that kind of strong. You I figure got somethin' special about you. Somethin' that was waiting inside you for just the right time. You sure you're that Kuwabara bloke's sister? You don't look anythin' like him you know?"

"Just remember we agreed you wouldn't say anything to Yusuke or the others about this Chu." Botan reminded the demon.

"What? You think I'd run to Urameshi like a little girl all spoutin' your business?" Chu asked then chuckled, "S'not what I'm about. You want this to stay between us then that's your own."

"I can live with that." she said finally feeling as if the situation might work in her favor, "So now what?"

Chu grinned, "Now we find out just how to get them fireworks to go off."

She could not help but respond to the excitement in his voice with some of her own.

If nothing else Chu had impressed her during the fight with Yusuke in the Dark Tournament. Any demon who saw the prospect of using their fists over their energies as the better situation was bound to have a closer mind-set to her's.

She definitely approved of Botan's choice.

* * *

Needless to say please leave your reviews! Thanks XD!


	12. Rebel

He had to admit he was fairly impressed by the network that Store and Candy had set up.

Not an hour beyond he, Kurama, and Yusuke arriving at Shizuru's there was a knock at the door.

Yusuke answered it, returning a moment later with a peculiar expression on his face.

Following him were the twin information experts dressed as usual in a manner that was outrageous by human standards though in the demon world it would have been considered slightly conservative.

"You three are a real problem." Candy accused with a small smile, "Can't keep your hands out of the cookie jar can you."

"Cleaning out our inventory huh?" Store questioned directly to Kurama, "Subtle yet with just the right amount of teeth involved. We do appreciate the advanced warning though...not that it would've been an easy thing to carry out even for you."

"It brought you here did it not." Kurama returned with a smile of his own, "I believe you came to show your hand..."

"Not so fast." Candy interrupted folding her arms, "Thing is since you backed off we've put better securities in place."

"This has nothing to do with our wants." Store took up trading sour looks with her twin, "We have no problem going head to head with you Kurama. In fact we were looking forward to it."

It was his turn to trade looks with Kurama. Only this exchange held a different meaning. There were not that many who referred to Kurama by his demonic name. Those privy to such information were either demons or a very select few humans that could be numbered on a single hand.

Candy giggled, "Its cute when they get all bristly."

"Be nice Candy." Store censured lightly, "It's not their fault Shizuru has kept them so in the dark. They have been very busy. I doubt it ever occurred to anyone what she's actually been doing all this time."

"Ladies," Kurama interrupted smoothly, "This is getting us nowhere. If you did not come to share information then why exactly are you here?"

He could hear the warning note in Kurama's voice though he doubted the women understood what danger that particular tone represented.

Kurama guarded his secrets with the air of a religious zealot. Having others know those things put the fox demon on edge in a way that closely resembled when he was preparing for a fight.

"We've been told to bring you to Narumi." Candy replied dropping a pretenses, "It's not something we're allowed to question."

"And no you aren't going to trick us into saying anything about how weird this is." Store added then sighed, "Truth is we're not really all that sure what Narumi wants with you guys."

"She's been playing pretty tight-lipped with info lately too." Candy pouted then smiled at Kurama, "but this will be fun since we get to spend some extra time with you Suichi."

"Is it me or are they doing that name thing on purpose?" Yusuke half whispered at him.

"It is purposeful." he stated glaring at Kurama, "I will follow the vehicle. I do not want to spend my time being subjected to your mating ritual."

Kurama's eyes narrowed slightly, "If you wish."

Yusuke shook his head laughing, "This could be fun."

He did not bother to respond to what amounted to an absolutely ridiculous statement.

There was no "fun" to be had being trapped in a vehicle listening to Kurama stave off obvious advances from the twins.

It irritated him just to imagine it.

But Yusuke had been human first. The ex detective's idea of that word did not necessarily coincide with his own.

"Can you really keep up?" Store asked as she turned towards the door.

Kurama chuckled, "If he knew where we were going I assure you Hiei would arrive before we did."

* * *

Following the absurdly slow progress of the human vehicle was a practice in patience.

He was certain it was moving along at a fast pace for them he could not stand the lack of real speed involved. He could have waited to follow then simply tracked them if it had not been for the fact that the want for information concerning Shizuru was almost overwhelming.

He could not help but wonder if that was how she felt when he left to return to the Demon World.

There was a decided lack of information involved.

Kurama rarely knew anything about his time there and as far as he knew that was the only direct link Shizuru had to him after he left.

It was not as if the moment he stepped into the Demon World thoughts of her left his mind.

It was the situations he had to deal with in Mukuro's name that held him there aside from his own ambitions.

Somehow he did not believe that what Shizuru was involved in had anything to do with her personal ambitions.

The only thing that had made any sense out of the increasingly odd situations was the interference of her spiritual awareness. Yet to his knowledge it had never directed her in such a complex manner in the Human World.

Even with her obvious ties to Narumi's gang it had felt as if she were still completely independent and indifferent to the gang itself.

She was not a person who blended easily within a group, no more than he did.

By the time the vehicle stopped at what appeared to be an older dwelling he was more than ready to face Narumi.

Waiting for the others to exit the car was another practice in barely contained annoyance. Which was only added to when he realized he could hear a very muffled, but very familiar grating tone inside of the house itself.

"I believe the fool has been brought here as well." he informed Kurama as he joined them in approaching the building.

"Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked frowning, "Why...?"

"You should've guessed that was going to happen." Candy said casting a scathing look at Yusuke as they reached the front door, "Just follow us."

They followed the twins silently inside. Outside of the dwelling had been unremarkable, even the three men obviously guarding it would have been difficult to notice for someone not use to noticing those things.

Once inside those signs were more obvious only because each person they passed stopped to gauge them for a moment before moving on.

It was not something he would have been bothered by. That reaction was typical for those that were unfamiliar within Mukuro's complex.

The closer they came to the back section of the house the louder Kuwabara's voice became.

The twins walked them to a certain door, not bothering to knock before opening it.

That action released the full barrage of Kuwabara in full voice and set his teeth on edge instantly.

Dealing with Kuwabara had never been his strong point and he was certain that would stay a constant no matter what occurred.

He preferred to let the others speak to the mobile brick wall then to actively do so unless provoked by some outrageously moronic comment.

He had a certain amount of respect for Kuwabara. That did not mean he particularly enjoyed being around the oaf for longer than was necessary.

"...it's not the same thing and you know it!" Kuwabara bellowed as they entered then noticed them, "Oh hey guys."

The room was dull in that there was very little decoration to it. Narumi sat in a single chair much like the one Shizuru had in her home. It faced a long couch giving the impression that this room was normally used for meetings in which Narumi held the control.

Narumi herself had the look of someone holding back but only barely. There was the slightest glint of danger in her eyes as they roamed over them.

"Great you brought Noisy, Pretty, and Gloomy. Now I can stop listening to Dummy." she commented making a gesture at Kuwabara, "Why did I decide this was a good idea?"

"That's what we'd like to know." Candy said drifting over to stand behind the chair Narumi sat in, "Or are we not going to keep up with everything anymore?"

Narumi shifted stiffly. It was obvious that she was favoring her left side in that small adjustment. That reminded him of Shizuru's reaction to the scarring that was still on his own body.

"Things changed," Narumi said with a small shrug turning her attention to them, "Why don't you guys sit. This might take a while..."

"Where is she?" he demanded shortly.

He had assumed Shizuru would be at this place as well but there was not even the slightest hint of her in the dwelling.

Narumi's attention centered on him as Yusuke and Kurama joined Kuwabara on the couch. He had no intention of sitting. So far this place held no interest for him beyond what Narumi might say.

"Let's get some things straight Hiei," Narumi said in a tone that spoke of someone use to being listened to, "this isn't a simple fix. This is going to be a trade. I tell you what I know and you do what I want, the way I want it. I'm not going to get her killed because you go off half assed. This has to go a certain way."

He opened his mouth to respond to the ludicrous demand but was stilled by a cautioning look from Kurama. He sighed internally allowing the fox to gain the information they required.

"Some friends you turned out to be." Kuwabara growled at Yusuke and Kurama, "All this stuff going on and none of you told me about it?!"

"You were indisposed." Kurama offered never taking his eyes from Narumi, "We had very little information to begin with..."

"Still do," Yusuke pointed out, "When are we going to get to the part that makes sense?"

"It probably won't," Narumi answered shifting again, "Not all the way. I know a lot but not all of it. Shizuru went quiet on details when that demon shot me..."

"A what shot you?" Yusuke asked incredulous.

"A demon," she repeated with a light smirk, "this is going to be easier if we get this out-of-the-way. I know what you are Urameshi and it isn't because Shizuru told me. I can see energies, not that it does me any good but I can tell the difference between you three and Kuwabara."

"Did you know about this?" Yusuke asked Kuwabara.

"Uh yeah." Kuwabara admitted with a shrug, "Not like she can do what we can."

"What purpose would it serve for a demon to use a human weapon?" he asked glancing at Kurama.

"For the very affect it would have," Kurama answered sitting back on the couch, "whoever it was wanted Shizuru to become involved. That was the surest, fastest way to meet that goal. When I brought her clothing she was already decided."

"Good for you. I'll get you gold stars later." Narumi said frowning slightly, "The problem is this isn't entirely a new thing. Truth is it's entirely you guys at fault for this..."

"What are you talking about?" Yusuke demanded angrily, "It's not like we asked her to do anything."

"You decided to let Kazuma tag along." Narumi snapped moving forward, "We've been keeping tabs on him since he was little. It was not a great day when he disappeared during that bug thing. Shizuru was extremely pissed about that. Honestly I was surprised you didn't get your ass handed to you by her."

"He jumped in the damn hole." Yusuke grumbled, "I didn't make him."

"Shizuru must have been equally upset when he came with us to the Dark Tournament." Kurama surmised.

Narumi's eyes seemed to darken, "Yeah well at least she got to go. Problem was she came back seeing Black Black Club members around every corner. That bastard Sakyo really messed her up. I thought she was being paranoid but she usually isn't wrong. All of you have had someone watching you since then...well except Hiei..."

He did not miss the quick, perplexing glance thrown at him by Kurama.

It was odd enough that he noted it for future questioning.

The name he knew, it was the human that had stood as a reserve fighter for Toguro's team but he had no idea what if anything that person had to do with Shizuru.

"Why is he so special?" Kuwabara demanded.

"Don't bother answering," he remarked with contempt, "I doubt he'll understand."

"Shut up munchkinville!" Kuwabara snapped automatically.

"You were saying you've had us under observation..." Kurama prompted, "Why go to such lengths?"

"They really have no idea do they?" Store asked moving to stand on the other side of Narumi's chair.

"You're all a commodity when it comes to the Dark Tournament." Narumi answered slowly, "When they showed up again there were rumors you four were going to be...recruited to help bring it back. Shizuru stepped in pretty quick and made it obvious that wasn't going to happen. I told you not to get involved in this for my own reasons. She has her's."

"What reasons?" he demanded quietly.

This was more information then he had thought was possible to exist.

"Atsuko, Shiori, Yukina, Keiko, Suichi the younger, Kazuya..." Candy named off.

"The usual list." Kurama commented darkly.

"Komado, Okubo, Miyamoto..." Store continued propping her chin on a hand.

"Huh? Why my old gang?" Kuwabara asked confused.

"Kiyoshi Matari. Tsukihito Amanuma. Yu Kaito. Mitsunari Yanagisawa. Asato Kido." Candy went on appearing as if she were playing a game.

"Gamemaster, Seaman...the others from the Sensui thing...I don't get it..." Yusuke admitted looking at Kurama for help.

"Yen, Ryo, Kai, Master Metamura, Kuroko Sanada, Sato Shoga their children Kaisei and Fubuki" Store finished her eyes centered on Kurama, "Do you see it Kurama?"

"It is a rather involved list. More so then I am use to dealing with directly. The plans were to threaten us into coöperation?" Kurama inquired.

"Demons must be amateurs." Candy commented to her sister.

"Exactly what is that supposed to mean?" Yusuke demanded.

The ex detective appeared offended by what Candy had said but he sincerely doubted Yusuke understood why the comment might have been taken in that way.

"It means you aren't dealing with singular people with personal agendas Urameshi." Narumi answered with an almost feral smile, "These people see a bigger picture. If they really want something they'll use every and any advantage they can. Not even a person's middle school best friend's dog is safe."

"Shizuru saw it as well." Kurama added pursing his lips, "Her interference gave these people a singular person to concentrate on instead of us. I must admit I am humbled that she felt so highly of us."

"Don't let it go to your head." Narumi warned wincing as she sat back, "The point is since the shooting everything went into high gear, including her. That's why you guys noticed them finally. There isn't an easy way to make them back off. The higher things like this go the harder it is. Shizuru's put herself in a place where I can't help her all that much but you guys can."

"I still don't get it." Yusuke admitted, "What the hell is she keeping us out of exactly?"

"He's slow." Candy murmured to her sister.

"But cute...I'm sure Keiko appreciates that about him." Store returned.

"Hey..." Yusuke began.

"They were calling them the dock fights," Narumi spoke over him impatiently, "think like that warehouse fight you guys saw me and Shizuru in only on a bigger scale. Humans with energies like you and demons fighting."

He could feel the air in the room grow tense with her words. Whether it was the human addition or that they all grasped Shizuru was involved he was unsure.

He did know he would have never agreed to another Dark Tournament. His interests had never been in that area.

His own involvement had been due to the fact that he had not wanted to deal with the nuisance of being hunted down if he declined the invitation.

He could care less if it was resurrected or not.

It certainly did not bother him that humans had been added to the mix. They could die just like the demons if that was their want. It had nothing to do with him.

"What is Shizuru's role?" Kurama prompted.

"Shizuru's role is special." Candy explained carefully, "They are going to use her as a stop gate for deaths in the early fights so that they can make more money off of them later on."

"It's hard to raise bets if your champions keep dieing in the next fight." Store went on, "so Shizuru is going to fill a role they are dubbing "the Executioner"."

"What does that mean?" He asked darkly.

"If someone dies during a fight then she decides if the death was accidental or not. If its accidental there is no repercussions." Candy replied, "If it is ruled purposeful the Executioner is given the task of killing the offender."

"Wait you said there's humans mixed in with these fights." Yusuke said scowling, "Doesn't that mean...Shizuru could end up killing a human?"

"No she wouldn't do that." Kuwabara stated flatly.

He could not say that with the same decisiveness as Kuwabara.

He viewed it as vaguely naïve of Kuwabara to assume Shizuru lived by the same code as he did.

He knew that was not the case.

Not after what had occurred with Satou.

It was not to much of a stretch in imagination to see her being capable of doing so with her own hands.

In fact if he knew anything it was that she would have much preferred to do it in that fashion.

But as far as he was concerned they had missed the more disturbing realities entirely.

"Shizuru is a human with no control over her energies. She could not live through any fight with a demon. Even one that was already injured." he said glaring at Narumi, "How is that useful?"

Narumi's expression tightened, "Things changed...I don't know much about demons. But I do know that the night I was shot she put that demon through a wall using some kind of energy."

* * *

He did not bother announcing his presence to Hiei as he stepped out on the porch.

Night had fallen while they had discussed things with Narumi. The gang leader's plan was interesting to say the least. He did not know if they were capable of filling the roles she wanted them to.

It was rare for them to stand in the shadows which was essentially what she was asking of them.

To provide Shizuru with a safety net Narumi wanted them to become Shizuru's quiet backing. Through the Candy Store the rumor that Team Urameshi was behind her would circulate. Narumi planned to bring them along to back up the claim when Shizuru informed her of the time and place for her début as the "Executioner".

She believed if they were introduced in this manner that the members of the Black Black Club would think twice in their dealings with her.

He did not believe that would be all that was involved in the matter. There was still enough left to question as to Shizuru's role to make him uneasy.

He could see the merit of her plan though he could also see Shizuru having a decidedly negative reaction once she found them involved in something she had taken such great pains to keep them excluded from.

There had been more said that he knew had disturbed Hiei.

Shizuru had not informed him of the access to energies.

Her absence was due to going off to train with some unknown person.

He could only imagine the types of things that were going through Hiei's mind at this point.

He did know however that it was normally unwise to leave Hiei alone when there was too much information given for him to fully process.

Hiei was intelligent enough to grasp even the slightest innuendo but when it came to switching gears mid thought he retreated to the simplest concepts.

"Who was he to her?"

He could have pretended he did not understand the question. He did for a heartbeat consider that option. It was a subject Shizuru had only spoken of with him once. He had not thought Hiei would care to know anything beyond the mentioning of that name.

"Someone who meant something. I cannot answer you since she was not all that clear herself on exactly what." he replied slowly, "What do you care?"

If he was not mistaken there had been a hint of jealousy to Hiei's voice.

_And just how will you deal with this?_

He should have been ashamed of the flash of amusement that went through him. It was never a good idea to intentionally rile the fire demon into a frenzy no matter what the subject. It took a deft hand to keep the situation from dissolving into pure chaos.

"He influenced her enough to begin this absurd game." Hiei returned scathingly.

Again he heard the note of jealousy in the rough voice.

_Interesting...what are you thinking Hiei? _

"He is dead you know." he offered lightly.

"You should know better than anyone that death is not the end." Hiei returned scowling at the darkness beyond them.

"You'll coöperate with Narumi's plans?" he asked attempting to change the subject.

"Until it no longer serves my purpose." Hiei agreed.

It was more than he had hoped for, Hiei was notoriously against coöperation. But that seemed to be a trait he shared with Shizuru.

"Will you stay?"

Hiei glanced over his shoulder into the house where Kuwabara and Yusuke talked with Narumi. They had been invited to stay in the house until Narumi heard from Shizuru.

Tomorrow they would go and deal directly with the other group that was watching their family members and friends in the city.

The others were much to far away to help directly, barring Yukina of course.

Narumi felt the gamble was worth the danger involved. It would send a clear message to those linked to the fights that they were on their guard at least.

Again he could only agree with that assessment. Shizuru should not have to shoulder this burden in addition to the others.

"No." Hiei answered beginning to step away.

"Stay close." He murmured a second before Hiei disappeared.

_I never imagined he would become jealous over Sakyo..._

* * *

_Reviews Please XD Sorry the updates are taking awhile. _


	13. Walls

She winced in empathy as Shizuru hit the ground then seemed to almost bounce back to her feet within seconds to face Chu again.

It was a reoccurring theme during these bouts.

Chu would attack.

Shizuru would defend.

At some crucial point Chu would strike her and Shizuru would hit the ground hard.

She had to wonder at Shizuru's mental stability.

What was it that drove anyone to put themselves through this type of physically damaging training to begin with?

She knew the boys had been through similar training but the fact was she had not been around them during that time. Yusuke had trained with Genkai and Kuwabara had trained with Hiei and Kurama respectively.

She had been busy with her normal duties as a grim reaper to make up for the time she had spent away. It was hard on the other reapers when her work load was split between them.

She was doing her best not to dwell on that particular thought for very long.

In the end Koenma had in his own way sent her to Shizuru.

She was carrying out the will of Spirit World even if it was in a fashion that was not exactly sanctioned as her other assignments had been.

She admired Shizuru's perseverance but she still viewed it as difficult to watch.

Shizuru hit the ground again.

She flinched again.

"Break time." Chu announced in his loud voice.

"No I have to..." Shizuru began scowling at the demon as she dusted herself off.

"What good's it do if you're all bunched up and tense like that?" Chu asked conversationally, "Be a good girl and give ole Chu a time to quench his thirst."

Shizuru rolled her eyes but did not seem inclined to argue since she immediately sought out the pile of her stuff to the side of their fighting area.

Chu approached her calmly.

She was slightly surprised to notice the demon seemed to be sweating some as he bent down to retrieve a gourd like container he had brought with him.

"Is she...getting any better?" she ventured worriedly.

She was no expert admittedly but it did not seem as if Shizuru was improving all that much.

Shizuru spent far too much time hitting the ground as far as she was concerned.

Chu took a long swallow of the contents of his gourd as he eyed her. She was positive the contents were alcoholic in nature but she was not going to say anything since Chu was technically doing them a favor.

Chu lowered the gourd with a gusty sigh then glanced at Shizuru who was smoking a cigarette.

"Lemme ask you a question," Chu offered quietly, "what is it you girls ain't tellin' me?"

She could only stare at him in confusion.

To her knowledge they had told him everything pertinent including the details about Shizuru's role as the Executioner.

"I don't understand quite what you're asking." she admitted slowly.

Chu took another swig from his gourd before putting it down on the ground again.

"See now I'll admit I wasn't too keen on beatin' on a human. I never fought one 'cept Urameshi mind you but I know humans ain't for beatin' on normally. I wasn't gonna be the one to go find Hiei and have to tell him "Sorry mate I broke your girl. Didn't mean to but you know humans are all fragile like. Bad on me."."

"I would love to see what he did to you." Shizuru joked as she joined them.

"Shizuru!" she exclaimed horrified by the dark humor in Shizuru's voice.

"Thing is I like my soft bits where they are." Chu went on unaffected, "When we started I was goin' easy on you. Couldn't look at you as if you were a sheila from my world now could I."

"That was holding back?!" she asked almost angry.

"He still is." Shizuru informed her taking a drag from her cigarette.

"Not cause of the human thing." Chu pointed out frowning, "Haven't had that worry since the first day. You take hits good...better then you should really..."

Shizuru shrugged, "I know how to take hits."

Chu shifted, drawing himself up more as he gazed at Shizuru, "Even I know you shouldn't be able to take a hit that woulda killed a lesser demon. You're squirrely, I'll give you that but you really should be dead from that last hit."

Shizuru met Chu's suspicion with her normal inscrutable look, blowing smoke into the air before commenting.

"Is that a complaint or a compliment?" Shizuru asked smirking.

"Want me to keep at this?" Chu returned just as casually.

"It probably has something to do with her energies." she offered nervously, "Technically when a human has access to spiritual energy it affects their entire being. You didn't really believe Yusuke represented a normal human did you? Even you admitted you were nervous you would hurt Shizuru in the beginning."

Shizuru's smirk deepened as she flicked her cigarette but she made no comment.

They were keeping a few things from Chu but they had nothing to do with the current situation.

It did not help that Shizuru seemed to be withdrawing.

The more time she spent training with Chu the more she pulled away from really speaking to either one of them.

It worried her more than she wanted to admit. Granted Shizuru was not exactly a social person but she did normally speak more often than Hiei.

"Right," Chu said drawing out the word, "true enough. There's nothin' wrong with your skills. You got some even Urameshi don't. Not the problem though.."

"What is?" Shizuru prompted.

"Near as I figure you are," Chu answered then frowned, "you're tryin' to muscle through a wall you made yourself."

Shizuru sighed, "Seriously it has to be a class...can't any demon just say things?"

Chu laughed throwing back his head momentarily, "S'right I guess. Listen what do you see when you look at me?"

"A giant idiot with a drinking problem and fashion issues." Shizuru remarked drily.

Chu grinned, "You remind me of my Natsume...that's why I like you. You see a demon plain and simple. You think "I can't fight a demon. I ain't Urameshi.". With me so far?"

Shizuru nodded slowly.

"That's all it is? A type of mental block?" she asked surprised at the simplicity.

"Your head tells you no and that's the way it is." Chu explained, "S'not always a bad thing but here it'll get you killed. Until you get over that you might last a round or two. You can probably kill a human ain't no doubt about that but a demon...well that's another story ain't it."

"Without the energies I couldn't anyway." Shizuru mused more to herself as she stared at the ground.

"You need to step in the fight." Chu insisted frowning, "Till you can do that no amount of beatin' on each other is gonna change anythin'. Might as well play tiddly winks instead, get the same result."

Shizuru took one last drag of her cigarette before tossing it to the ground and crushing it firmly underfoot.

"Breaks over old man." Shizuru said turning her back to them and heading back out to the open field.

"Chu..." she said quietly to stall the demon from following immediately.

"Don't worry your pretty little head." he assured her just as quietly, "If anythin' you should be worryin' about my hide. Just gave the monster teeth didn't I...she ain't a slacker."

"You really believe you are in danger?" she asked her eyebrows rising.

"Ain't worth doin' if it ain't a risk." Chu replied with a wink before walking out to join Shizuru.

They faced off again but this time she was aware of the things she had become use to seeing.

Shizuru did not move as slow as she had before though Chu was not moving at his fastest either.

Every time he swung at her Shizuru reacted by blocking instead of attacking. Those particular blows would have put a normal human in the hospital since Shizuru was not creating glancing blocks.

As they moved she could see now that Shizuru had improved tremendously.

Instead of calming her it drove her tension higher.

With the boys she had gotten use to an almost euphoric expression, even with Youko there had been a type of enjoyment on their faces.

There was something particularly disturbing about the calculation in Shizuru's, during her fight with Narumi there had been a smirk at least.

Because she was so centered on Shizuru she was able to see the moment she had been unconsciously dreading become a reality.

Chu came at Shizuru at a slant, obviously hoping to land a blow into her side.

Shizuru shifted to avoid the blow, her manner turning in an instant from defense to attack.

The second Shizuru's fist came into contact with Chu's unguarded chest there was a short, intense explosion of dark energy that for brief second blossomed from the point of contact then seemed to dive into Chu's body.

If she had blinked she would have missed it entirely.

Chu flew from Shizuru with a stifled yell that held too much agony from such a simple attack landing a good ten feet away from her.

For almost a minute none of them moved.

Chu remained on his back unmoving.

Shizuru remained in the position she had attacked in.

She stared at Shizuru with shock and dismay.

The wind shifted the trees nearby adding an eerie quality to the frozen tableau.

Shizuru lowered her still upraised fist slowly which also broke her own paralysis.

She hurried over to the side of the still prone demon. Chu stared up at the sky, his sizeable chest rising and falling in a stuttering motion.

"Chu?" she ventured kneeling next to him.

"Is he dead?" Shizuru asked tonelessly as she came up to them.

"Nah..." Chu breathed then slowly shifted himself to sit up, once upright his large hand went to his chest, "Damn near killed me you did..."

"Liar." Shizuru accused.

He laughed weakly though it turned into a cough.

She sat back, relief flooding her. For a wild, horrifying moment she had entertained the idea that Shizuru had indeed killed Chu.

She had already been feeling the guilt of having encouraged him to get involved in the situation in the first place.

"Don't know that energy..." Chu commented lifting his head to look up at Shizuru, "felt like you grabbed a hold of me core and clawed at it..."

"Maybe I did..." Shizuru murmured looking down at her own hand, "I..."

"You held back is what you did!" Chu accused in a disgusted tone.

"Cause I want "killing Chu" on my list of things to do before I die." Shizuru returned bringing her attention back to him, "That didn't happen before when I..."

Shizuru stopped herself, frowning.

They waited for her to continue but it was obvious Shizuru had no intention of finishing what she had said.

It may have been her imagination but for a second it seemed like Shizuru was bothered intensely by something she was thinking.

That impression was so strong she almost rose to go to her friend but the briefest touch of Chu's fingers stalled that action.

"Not all attacks end up with someone dead. Seems to me you have control over it more than you think." Chu offered into the silence that surrounded them.

She could not help but stare at the demon in wonder.

She had always assumed Chu was not actually that aware of the people around him unless he was in a fight.

Empathy was definitely last on the list of things she would have ever expected from him. For some reason it felt as if Chu had suddenly became more vivid in some intangible way.

A slow smirk tilted Shizuru's lips, "Ready to try again?"

"To right!" Chu agreed grinning with obvious excitement.

"Are you certain this is wise?" she could not help but asked worriedly, "You might be more injured then you realize."

Chu snorted as he shoved himself to his feet, "That little tap can't keep me to the corner. Thought we was sparrin'."

"Just making sure you don't fall back on your ass." Shizuru threw at him.

"No holdin' back this time!" Chu insisted as they walked off together.

"I told you I'm not interested in killing you." Shizuru replied.

"Here now! I ain't some knock kneed lower class demon you know!" Chu growled though the smile remained, "I can take more than that!"

"It's your funeral." Shizuru shrugged.

The only thing she could do was watch as they squared off again for another round.

She could not help but wonder if Chu had been down playing his reaction. With demons it was hard to tell if they did not want to broadcast that information and they rarely did.

_Please let him be aware of his limits..._

Somehow she had the feeling Chu had no concept of what that word actually meant.

* * *

She was smoking too much, she was well aware of that.

After returning to the hotel room she had rented for her and Botan to stay in during that week she had come out to the balcony for some time to gather her thoughts.

Botan normally stayed in the room as long as she was smoking and admittedly she was using the reaper's aversion to the smell of her cigarettes to be alone.

She could have relied on any one of Narumi's safe houses nearby but she had not wanted to be that easily tracked.

Standing there in the dark she could only think of one thing, one person.

She wanted to see Hiei.

It was a craving so intense she could not think of anything else at the moment.

It was humiliating, annoying, humbling and made absolutely no sense.

She wanted to hear his voice in her ear, to feel his warmth surrounding her, to touch him even if it was just a brief one.

_Geez girl you've got it bad for him..._

She sighed quietly as she took a drag.

She knew the way she felt about Hiei was much stronger than she was comfortable with.

Her main proof came in the form of an undeniable, crushing pain when she allowed the passing thought of him not returning to her from the Demon World to sift through her mind.

It was not something she wanted him to be aware of, most of the time she did not want to be.

She would never have asked him not to return there.

She understood it was something undeniable for him. Even if Mukuro did not exist he would still have gone back to it.

So she hid it as deeply as she could, pretended the shock of uncontrollable fear did not exist.

She flicked the butt in her fingers out over the edge of the railing she was leaning against and fished in her pockets for another.

Once her fingers met the warm metal in one of them she could not help but pull out the black and gold lighter she had accidentally brought with her.

She had not used it in months, had even tucked it away in the back of one of her drawers.

_I should have tossed it..._

Staring at it now she realized she had kept it as a token to remind herself of what happened when she allowed someone into her heart.

Losing Sakyo before anything had begun was nothing in comparison to the thought of losing Hiei now.

She was not going to get a chance to see if he had retreated back to the Demon World.

If her plans went as she wanted them to it would be awhile before she could even entertain the idea of seeing him at all.

Thinking of that brought to mind what had happened earlier that day.

She knew why thoughts of Hiei were so persistent tonight.

That energy that had come out of her, that had thrown Chu so far and attacked him internally.

It could have been the still recovering Hiei that had been subjected to those energies.

What she had not told either Botan or Chu was that she had known exactly how Chu would describe the experience of it.

That she had been extremely aware of every moment that energy spent tunneling into Chu's core.

That she had consciously caused it to twist in order for it to burrow deeper into him.

That for a heartbeat she had not cared in the least that Chu might die if she continued.

That it could have been Hiei was the part that alarmed and sickened her all at once.

One of her hands stole up to cover her mouth as that washed over and through her again.

Her emotions were becoming unpredictable at best.

One moment she was centered, driven to complete what she had started with a definite lack of concern or worry for anyone beyond that.

The next she was overwhelmed with feelings and thoughts that she felt only too clearly.

_One more day and I can just focus on fighting. _

She craved that singularity of purpose almost as much as she craved Hiei's comforting presence.

_He would laugh if he knew I was being so...human..._

* * *

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	14. Undefinable

It was more than galling, this unknown burning that continued in his chest.

It did not stay in his chest, it ate away at his mind during those darkest hours of the night he had chosen to spend away from Narumi's dwelling. It clawed and twisted like some invading, poisonous energy that he could not escape.

Since Kurama had been less than forthcoming about the subject he did not want to seek out his advice about this newest issue.

Why did they have to mention Sakyo in the manner they had?

He did not believe Kurama's flimsy explanation of Shizuru's association with the human.

For one simple reason, the black and gold lighter he had once associated just with Shizuru's presence in her home.

He knew there was more to it then Kurama had intimated.

Granted it had been some time since he had last seen the lighter.

At some point she had stopped using it and it had disappeared from sight. He had thought nothing of it at the time.

Now because he could recall everything with perfect clarity he could remember a similar lighter being used by Sakyo as he lit his own cigarettes during that match at the Dark Tournament.

It did not require a mind like Kurama's to grasp the connection.

The reality of it had to be that Shizuru's lighter and Sakyo's were one in the same.

Knowing she had kept and used it for so long only added to the driving, clenching emotion he could not exactly name because he had never experienced it before.

He wanted to cast off the uncomfortable sensation as he would have with anything else that he did not understand or felt was useless.

What possible use could this mindset have?

It did nothing to dwell over the possibility that she still harbored feelings for another.

Nor did it serve him in any way to resent a human man long after his death.

So why was it he could not force the thoughts from his head?

Why did they circle in his mind even when he settled down to sleep causing him to open his eyes and glare at nothing in particular?

He knew he should be much more centered on the fact that Shizuru had shown signs of her spiritual awareness, that was normally a passive aspect, becoming more focused even if it was under duress.

That he should be dwelling on the fact that she had said nothing to him though in hindsight he could be blamed equally for that. Upon seeing her he had become focused on her physical qualities despite the unusual situation of her absence from the start.

That instead of seeking out those she had at her disposal she had opted instead to seek training from someone he did not know.

It was not that he expected her to consult with him about her choices.

In an odd sort of way he was finding that he resented the lack of communication between them more and more.

Before it had been desirable yet when it came to that separation impacting their time normally spent together he could think of little else but her.

Of how what had once seemed such a small aspect between them had blindsided him in such a monumental fashion, causing doubts he was not used to entertaining when it came to her.

He did have those moments when he was in the Demon World where he became annoyed with the fact that he had no contact with her.

Where thoughts of her were more prevalent than thoughts of his own circumstances.

Times where if he had not been needed in that moment he would have left to be in her company instead of remaining in Mukuro's.

Times that he had left Demon World on an impulse because there was some unfamiliar need to be in her presence drawing him away from what he had once thought to be his only ambition.

At first those thoughts and actions had disturbed him, caused him to go to Kurama's home instead of to her as he truly wanted to.

He preferred to understand what drove him to do such abnormal things.

It grated on his nerves in ways that closely resembled the electrifying pain he had endured under the ministrations of Tsuneo's lackey, Hisao.

He had wanted to believe that it was a symptom of dealing so intimately with a human female but had been quickly disabused of that thought. Still he blamed Shizuru for the chaos he continually found plaguing his normally straight forward way of thinking.

Much as he preferred to keep his own counsel he trusted Kurama's insight though not always his motivations.

It was a double-edged sword going to Kurama for that particular reason. With the fox demon there was the additional annoyance of having to deal with the undertone of amusement in all that they spoke of.

He saw nothing that would cause the amusement except Kurama's admittedly twisted sense of humor.

Eventually Kurama had proven to be useful though that was a relative term.

This thing, this relationship was both the easiest and one of the more difficult circumstances he had ever found himself involved in.

That he had fallen into it willingly was not in question.

Shizuru had been strangely magnetic, an undeniable source that he could not have escaped even if he had truly wanted to.

In the end, when she had woken from that unbearable silence he had known he would never wish to.

Aside from his own doubts concerning her feelings towards him after that display of his demonic nature he knew that still had not changed.

He sighed internally as he shifted on the branch he had come to rest in.

The area surrounding Narumi's compound was just as heavy in vegetation as the old woman's property. He could disappear without much effort from most of those nearby.

He had not gone far though it had nothing to do with Kurama's wishes.

He did not want to deal with the ensuing rise of voices calling out his name as the buffoon and ex detective attempted to find him. Kurama rarely helped in those searches and he was certain it was again for the fox's dark amusement.

Yusuke had a tendency to be demonic in name only.

For all his time spent in the Demon World honing his skills once he had returned to the Human one he had reverted to dealing with things as if he were still human.

Kuwabara was inept at best in locating him.

The pair had decided to resort to screaming his name at the top of their lungs until he responded. That particular wake up call was among his most hated experiences in this world.

One he had come to favor he had not yet been able to experience this visit to the Human World and he found himself craving the actuality of it.

He had few moments of purity, of absolute peace of mind.

It was something so simple that he would never have admitted his affection for it to anyone, not even to the person who it came from.

No matter how they fell asleep at some point his and Shizuru's bodies would find their way to each other.

Since the first night they had spent together every morning he woke to find her head resting on his chest, one of her arms draped across his stomach.

He imagined even in sleep she sought out his warmth, some leftover from the ordeal with Tsuneo and the intense cold spells she had been subjected to.

Or it was a basic want of her's to be so near to him.

It was not a subject he was comfortable broaching with her since in essence he did not truly need or want it defined beyond what it evoked in him.

Whatever the reason that was how he found her, laying gently against him and his own arm holding her near.

The moment he anticipated would come later, a signal that she was close to waking.

A soft humming sound that his sensitive ears easily picked up as her body tensed against him, her face burrowing into his chest for a short time. Her arm would encircle him as if she had no intention of releasing him.

Without thought his arm would tighten around her as well drawing her closer.

There was no thought in that instant.

No tangle of chaos.

No demands from either of their worlds.

It was soothing in ways he did not bother to understand past the anticipation of knowing it would occur and allowing it to flow through him as if she had somehow embraced his core as well.

It was a deeply personal aspect that he viewed as unique to his association with her alone.

He did not like the concept of anyone else knowing that private moment with her.

That maddening, acidic sensation went through him once again clouding his mind with nonsense.

Apparently it could be applied to others as well and not one of them was available to deal with in a manner he would have seen as satisfactory.

He scowled at the night as if it were to blame for his restless thoughts, willing them away as best he could.

* * *

"HIEI!"

For a heartbeat he considered ignoring them completely just for the astounding annoyance those combined voices inspired.

If it had served a purpose he might have done just that.

Instead he moved from the tree he had occupied to behind the two morons standing just off of the back porch with a minimum of effort.

"Good morning Hiei." Kurama greeted him from the doorway.

"There was an irritating noise just now. Were you strangling a large group of cats?" he asked sarcastically as he passed by.

"Shizuru called." Narumi informed him without bothering with pleasantries, "Looks like it's going to be tonight."

He did not bother responding though it was welcome news.

"Has there been enough time for your plan to work?" Kurama asked.

"You guys took care of that." Narumi said nodding, "Once those stalkers went MIA there was a huge push on info."

She was referring to their dealings with those that had been keeping track of the people closest to them. It had taken a full day to locate every one of the individuals. To his surprise when he had taken care of the ones watching Yukina there had been one solely committed to the giant bird creäture of Yusuke's.

Narumi had arranged for them to be kept at a warehouse under guard until after they had attended the fighting event. Her reasoning being that it would keep the people who had assigned the watchers off-balance.

He had approved of the plan in essence. It was a sound tactic in dealing with an enemy. He would have preferred a much more permanent solution but as usual the others were against such things.

They were blinded by their moralities in much the same way Mukuro was blinded by what she perceived as a current threat.

It was something he despised, that short sightedness, but he had learned to tolerate it at least with the humans he dealt with.

"Which we managed of course." Candy put in smiling from her place on the couch, "Team Urameshi is solidly behind Shizuru. They're even expected to show at the next round of fights even though they've stayed out of it up till now."

"You guys just better remember our deal. I'm sticking my neck way out on this one." Narumi half growled though the impression of threat was marred as she shifted to ease her side.

"Shouldn't you be...I don't know, resting or something?" Kuwabara asked Narumi tentatively.

"Say that again and I'll gut you Kazuma." Narumi replied slowly sitting back in the chair, "I was shot. I didn't turn eighty suddenly. And that was two weeks ago idiot. Its called being in recovery not dead."

He almost smirked at the comment.

Narumi reminded him of Shizuru at times.

"She's going to find out we're there you know." Yusuke pointed out sitting on the couch.

"Your problem," Narumi shrugged, "she won't do anything to me...at least not till I recover. Personally I'm seeing a long recovery time in my future since she's totally lost her mind."

"You continue to make comments on that particular fact." Kurama noted, "Do you really believe that?"

Narumi rubbed at her side absently, "I guess not. I just don't follow the same program she does so it doesn't make sense. She's making enemies and I know she's aware of it. Before her game was full on neutral. There was no side to anything that she did. Got a feeling it's just going to get worse. One thing I do know is the only thing that's stayed the same is you guys staying out of it."

"We can be ninjas when we want to be." Yusuke assured Narumi.

He snorted in derision but remained silent.

"This is going to be weird." Kuwabara commented plopping down on the couch between Yusuke and Candy, "Never watched my sis fight like this. Could be cool."

"How the hell does she stand you?" Narumi growled shaking her head.

"Shizuru?" Yusuke asked then grinned, "She ignores him or hits him or just tells him he's a moron. But mostly she hits him."

"She doesn't ignore me." Kuwabara denied, "She just doesn't hear me all the time."

"He's going to expose you." Candy predicted tucking her feet underneath herself, "I'd keep an eye on him the entire time if I were you."

"That will happen regardless of Kuwabara and Yusuke's tendency to be loud and noticeable." Kurama pointed out, "The moment we set foot in this place the rumors will become a solid fact. There will be no controlling it finding its way to her ears. The question is what will she do with the knowledge."

Narumi made an unpleasant face, "Yeah that's about the bottom of it."

"She's gonna be pissed." Kuwabara supplied with the air of anticipated horror.

"That's why we got Hiei right?" Yusuke asked lazily.

Confused he turned to Yusuke, "And that means?"

"She finds out and we throw you at her as a sacrifice. That should keep most of the hurt off the rest of us." Yusuke explained as if it made perfect sense.

"Sometimes I do detect a bit of a genius in you Yusuke." Kurama commented with a dark chuckle.

"I detect a death wish." he snapped.

He had no plans of becoming their cannon fodder for Shizuru's rage when she discovered them. He shouldered enough in his continuous dealings with the three of them.

Besides he had planned already to allow Kuwabara that particular role.

He may be perfectly capable of dealing with Shizuru that did not mean he felt an exceptional responsibility to do so.

For a human Shizuru could be curiously threatening in her own right.

* * *

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	15. Descent

"Impressive..." Kurama murmured beside him.

He did not respond as they followed the others deeper into the complex Narumi had brought them to.

Kurama was correct in that there were aspects of building they were in that were rather impressive.

The most glaring example of that being that the entirety of the area was warded in such a way that no demon would have noticed it.

The other was that the huge building was almost entirely underground.

The top-level was just as would be expected, a large warehouse that for all intents and purposes appeared to be long abandoned.

Once inside they had entered a large industrial elevator that descended into the levels that were more obviously used and still had the look of being only recently constructed.

In many ways the corridors reminded him of the ones of the fighting arenas for the Dark Tournament. They were obviously built with the concept of larger sized beings moving through them.

Those corridors were filled with demons of varying power none of which he would have considered anything more than mildly a threat at best.

Narumi had informed them that the entrance they had used was the one that serviced the demons simply because it was not warded. Another entrance had been built in another location but was inaccessible to them, only humans moved through it.

As was to be expected from the moment they stepped out of the elevator their presence was noted.

He could hear their names being whispered as they passed.

It was interesting that even after so long the name Team Urameshi was being bandied about instead of the names of them individually. He would have thought since the Demon Tournament the demons that surrounded them would have been predisposed to mention them by name.

Instead of them following a route that may have led to where his mind said would be some type of arena they entered another smaller elevator that brought them to another set of corridors. These were smaller but not by much and led to a series of doors.

He was surprised when Narumi led them to one that opened to reveal a large room.

"Wow look at the view." Yusuke exclaimed moving to the large windows that clearly revealed the arena he had expected.

The room itself sported seats that lined the window. There were also a few screens set into one of the walls that he assumed allowed for a closer look once fighting began. Along the other wall was a good-sized desk that had a computer set up on it which the twins immediately went to.

"You should rest." he heard Kurama suggest to Narumi.

The woman's face had paled during their long walk to find this room, her breathing had become slightly labored as well. Even with those obvious signs of strain she still managed to glare at Kurama before taking one of the seats.

He allowed for a brief thought of mild respect for Narumi. The trek had not been designed for those that might be injured. She had kept a brisk pace and not once had she allowed the injury she was still nursing to affect her bearing.

He understood that it was because this was the last place to show weakness in. As she had explained in many ways they had entered enemy territory the moment they had stepped into the warehouse above.

He moved to stand beside Yusuke, eying the crowd of people milling about in the stands below them.

"There are humans and demons in the crowd." Kurama remarked appearing beside him, "How...very civil."

"They all just want to see blood." Kuwabara said on the other side of Yusuke, "Must be a pretty good show."

"I told you guys this was a big deal." Narumi stated from her seat, "Not all that sure about the demons but humans can't resist watching a good beating."

"Demons are no different." Kurama replied turning to the woman, "Violence has its own certain allure. Our world is only an exaggeration of this one really."

"You realize how weird that sounds coming from you right?" Narumi asked smirking.

Kurama laughed softly, "Yes I do...even more so when I refer to this one as my own as well."

"Why would that be weird?" Yusuke asked as he plopped into one of the seats, "You're human too...kinda."

"As are you Yusuke." Kurama pointed out leaning against the window.

"Oh yeah," Yusuke replied rubbing at the back of his head, "I guess it is kind of weird. So when does this thing start anyway?"

"There's been a delay." an unfamiliar voice said from the doorway.

He had heard the door open so had witnessed the newest additions. Three men had entered, two of them dressed in suits bracketed another in much more casual clothing.

It was the one in the center that drew his attention.

The human was a large, well muscled male with short-cropped black hair and equally black eyes. He appeared to be around the same age as Narumi and Shizuru but he was not a good judge of such things when it came to humans.

"Guys this is my boss Murakami Hiro." Narumi introduced though her voice only held a mild amount of respect, "Boss this is..."

"I know exactly who they are Narumi." Murakami replied his black eyes traveled over all of them before returning to Narumi, "You look better than I thought you would."

"Really? Gee thanks." Narumi said sarcastically, "What's the delay?"

"What else?" Murakami said with a slight shrug as he moved further into the room, "Someone neglected to go into detail with Shizuru about the exact nature of the executioner role. She is still in the process of threatening lives."

"They want heads cut off with axes?" Candy inquired with a small smile.

"Does she get to wear a hood?" Store asked with mild interest.

"Something of that nature yes," Murakami said with a slow smile, "apparently there were plans that involved restraints."

Narumi made a rude noise, "She wouldn't agree to that."

He silently assented with Narumi's words. He could not see Shizuru agreeing to anything that would hinder another.

"It makes little sense for them to make such plans considering who it is they are dealing with." Kurama said frowning.

"I agree," Murakami replied centering on Kurama, "it seems much to convenient for my taste. I haven't decide exactly why they're playing this game with her. Most of us tend to leave her to her own devices, it normally works in our favor."

"You're referring to the other yakuza families?" Kurama asked raising an eyebrow.

Murakami smiled though there was little humor in the expression, "I'm referring to anyone that's known her for as long as I have. I have a vested interest in her due to our past dealings..."

"Boss you probably should be a little careful with the info." Narumi warned uneasily.

"You should have thought of that before bringing them here Narumi." Murakami replied frowning, "This place is full of the things she's always worked to keep from certain ears. It might be the worst plan of yours yet."

"No the worst was when I noticed Shizuru in that restaurant and thought "Hey I'll just grab a quick bite and harass Shizuru."." Narumi returned with annoyance, "This one just has a lot that could go wrong. And since its wrong for her why should I care?"

"Hey!" Kuwabara growled, "That isn't right Narumi! I thought you were my sister's friend!"

Narumi shrugged, "You gotta learn some friendships aren't black and white Kazuma. I never agreed with her about keeping you all shiny and brand new. I think it's a waste of time and frankly what the hell is it doing for her at this point?"

"Narumi..." Murakami said in a warning tone, "that is her choice."

"Yea yea whatever..." Narumi scoffed her expression turning thoughtful, "Have a good enough look yet Boss?"

He had been exceedingly aware of the way Murakami watched all of them as the conversation had continued. It was not the look of a casual observer. This man had been visually weighing them. Those black eyes had most often rested on him.

"Can't say I'm overly impressed." Murakami stated, "I thought knowing they were demons would make them seem larger. All I see makes me want to ask her what she's thinking backing these four. Her brother I get but these other three..."

He was not all that certain the words were meant to be insults but he could feel himself tensing in reaction. There was censure in those eyes, almost a challenge that shined from them as he continued to peruse them.

"Who are you to question anything in regards to Shizuru's choices?" Kurama asked in that tone he regarded as the fox demon's most dangerous.

_Kurama doesn't like this human..._

That was the essence of what had developed in the room almost instantly altering what had been an almost friendly atmosphere into something not quite a threatening one but most definitely there was no welcome to it.

It was obvious Murakami was a human use to being obeyed. His tone, his bearing, just his presence screamed these facts.

It was not often he found a human's mannerisms to express these things so clearly or to be affected by them to such a degree.

Yusuke could only wish that he commanded the type of reactions Murakami evoked with a simple change in tone.

If anything it brought to mind Mukuro and his own reactions to her at the beginning of their interactions.

"Uh Kurama...maybe it isn't such a good idea to piss off the mob." Yusuke suggested though he did not seem as if he were cowed by the tension in the air, "We're all here for Shizuru right?"

"Some more than others," Murakami replied with a hard edge, "You want to know my business with Shizuru? It's simple. A long time ago she saved my sister when a group of kids were taken from a daycare center. She didn't do it because she had to. If it had been me I would have saved my sister and left the other kids especially considering the circumstances. Needless to say it's a debt I can't ever repay properly. When I look at you three all I see is a threat to her. If I were a less understanding man that threat would have been eliminated by now."

Perhaps it was because during the speech Murakami had remained centered on him in particular.

It could have been because he had such little sleep the previous night.

For some unknown reason he was distinctly aware that Murakami's interest in Shizuru did not stop at the concept of being grateful for his sister's rescue.

That strange, acidic sensation traveled through him once again causing him to shift his stance in a more offensive position towards the human. His hand drifted to the hilt of his katana underneath his cloak though he had no intention of using it.

It made little sense. Before the mention of Sakyo he would have simply dismissed the interest as a matter of course.

Why would it matter if this human was interested in Shizuru?

In his view there were no others who held such desirable qualities both physically and mentally.

That others would notice and had in the past was a given. It had occurred when he had been with her on multiple occasions. The most it had evoked was a sense of pride that he was the one that held her attention.

So what if this human had known her for longer? Or that when he spoke there was a certain degree of implied intimacy?

The unknown feeling twisted inside of him, distracting and irritatingly phantasmal in definition.

"So my sister saved a bunch of kids?" Kuwabara asked interested.

Murakami blinked then shook his head as he broke eye contact with him to look at Kuwabara with what almost seemed like pity.

"I forget the stuff you don't know." Murakami said to Kuwabara, "Don't get me wrong. Shizuru wouldn't appreciate the idea of being thought of as a hero since she never means to be."

"Huh?" Kuwabara said confusion on his face.

"There are a lot of us that have that kind of thing with Shizuru." Candy spoke up glancing at her sister, "It's a kind of accidental thing with her."

"She helps people," Store explained swinging her legs as she sat on the desk, "but its like an afterthought. She gets involved and somehow she just comes across you, like the universe made you into some rock she stumbled over. Then she... helps you without meaning to..."

"Usually she's really irritated when she does." Candy finished smiling, "To her it's no big thing. It doesn't affect her and if it did it would probably end up pissing her off somehow. If you haven't noticed Shizuru doesn't like a bunch of clutter in her life."

He noted that once Murakami was no longer engaged in a staring match with him the fog of emotion lifted, disappearing almost completely as the twins discussed Shizuru.

He also was aware that he did not seem to mind their obvious affection for her as he had resented the barely concealed ones of the human man. Nor did he care that they also seemed to know Shizuru intimately.

Still he had yet to remove his fingers from his sword as he eyed the male.

"You planning to stay and watch?" Narumi prompted of Murakami.

"No," Murakami answered, "I just thought I'd meet with Shizuru before she begins this. Be careful Narumi. You brought them here and that might be taken as a challenge. You get over your head in this place and there isn't much I can do."

"She doesn't need to worry about that." Yusuke assured him, "We'll take care of her."

Murakami's lips twisted, "And who will protect you Urameshi? Trust me when I say you've just stepped into a world with much different rules. Your best bet is to keep your heads down and listen to Narumi."

He snorted indelicately purposefully looking away from the man, "Humans overestimate themselves."

"Something we have in common with demons." Murakami returned.

He refused to react to the scorn in the man's voice.

He could care less how Murakami viewed his kind.

He wanted the human gone from the room and from the complex.

The poisonous clenching had returned at the mention of Shizuru.

What he truly wanted to do was something he had never entertained before this moment.

He wanted for there to be no doubt in the human's mind just who it was that Shizuru was involved with.

He wanted that point to be driven home with his fist and Murakami's blood.

Instead he remained with his back turned, his fingers tightly wrapped around the hilt of his katana.

Resisting that urge took more concentration then he would have ever admitted.

* * *

He eyed Hiei as Murakami turned to leave.

He was certain Hiei had no idea how obvious he was being. Of course it was most likely only obvious to him since he had been watching for signs of it since the previous night.

It was not often he felt a need to anticipate Hiei's reactions incase the fire demon began to give into what his impulses demanded of him.

_Then again it has been awhile since he has been impulsive though he has imagined wanting to see Shizuru was exactly that._

He had been able garner a few bits of information from the short conversation with Murakami.

He allowed for a moment of annoyance that the man had displayed such obvious want of Shizuru in front of Hiei. There had been no need for it yet there had been a few core dropping moments that he had been certain he might have to intervene physically to save the yakazu's life.

"Hey Hiro..." Narumi called out stopping the man at the doorway, "You give her what you promised?"

Murakami looked back over his shoulder at Narumi, "Why would I do that? You're useful Narumi but you aren't worth starting a war over."

Mercenary, that was this particular world that Shizuru and Narumi moved in.

That was something he knew full well only he had a firm grasp on within the structure of their group. Even Hiei was more bound by an honor code then he was which may end up causing more problems than he had anticipated.

"What the hell..." Kuwabara began then coughed as Yusuke elbowed him hard in the gut.

"Tell Shizuru that?" Narumi asked mildly, "Let me guess...you think she'll be too busy to worry about it. Can't wait for that one to bite you in the ass Hiro. You never were good at thinking stuff like this through."

"You should be more careful." Murakami suggested, "Just because we go way back doesn't mean I'm interested in keeping you around if you annoy me too much."

Narumi chuckled darkly, "Go ahead Hiro...I wonder what will happen if you did anything like that."

Murakami scowled at her then left without another word.

"What an ass." Narumi commented chuckling again.

"Okay so we want to piss off the mob?" Yusuke asked giving Narumi an incredulous look.

"Kid I'm a gang leader not yakuza. It just happened inside of that idiot's territory that's all. We put up with each other, doesn't mean we like each other. About the only thing we got in common is we knew Shizuru before any of these titles. He's just a brat, a well placed one but that's all he is." Narumi informed them smirking.

"What is it exactly that he promised Shizuru?" he asked curiously.

"My shooter," Narumi replied rolling her eyes, "didn't figure he would do it. He's been maneuvering against these fights since the get go. He must've thought getting Shizuru to throw in would work for him since she normally would just even things out."

"You don't think that's what's going to happen?" Kuwabara asked from his seat next to Yusuke.

The dark mirth fell away from Narumi's face, "To tell you the truth Kazuma I don't know. If I think anything it's that she's acting a lot like she use to back in the day. Back then...well she was a different person. I think you guys better prepare yourselves for this. It ain't going to be pretty. I think part of the reason she didn't want you involved was because she didn't want you watching her be this way."

He traded looks with Hiei and knew they both glanced at Yusuke and Kuwabara with the same thoughts going through their minds.

It was one thing for them to watch these events unfold. Demons viewed the world in a far different perspective then humans. It was reflected time and again when in the past they had been confronted with moralistic issues.

Though he had voiced a similar view on several occasions it was not for the reasons Yusuke and Kuwabara would have thought. To him if something did not serve a true purpose including the death of a human then it was a waste of effort. The last thing anyone could have ever accused him of was wasting his effort on something.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were in many ways considered innocent because of their constant struggle with those same issues.

If Narumi was correct and he saw no reason to doubt the woman's assessment, Shizuru had many reasons not to expose those two to what may occur inside of the arena.

_And perhaps even those things they might learn about her past through people like Murakami..._

He sighed internally.

As if having to deal with a jealous Hiei was not enough of a challenge.

He also now felt it necessary to attempt to shield certain members of their group from learning things they may not be able to properly deal with.

"So Narumi..." Kuwabara ventured uncertainly.

"What?" she prompted sounding bored.

"Where was I when those kids got saved?"

Narumi sat back in the chair she occupied, a far off look coming to her features, "You were real young Kazuma, too young to remember any of it..."

He caught the dip in her voice, the soft inflection that he had learned was Narumi's tell for when she were withholding information.

It did not take a great leap of understanding for him to know Kazuma had been among those taken which explained Shizuru's involvement.

He found himself glancing at Hiei then out to the arena that awaited the arrival of its newest addition.

_They have so very much in common..._

* * *

_Please Please Please Review XD Thanks XD!_


	16. Kindling

It was inevitable.

There was no way that on the night her appointment as the Executioner of the fights that someone would not go out of their way to get her into the ring.

It did not help that when Koto had introduced her she had used her last name.

_Who would've thought baby bro would make our last name so famous..._

It had been greeted with a fair amount of taunting from the demon contingency in the crowd but that had not bothered her. Though she did have to admit there was something a bit surreal about being the one having all those eyes centered on her.

She had been livid when she had taken her place outside of the ring.

She could not recall exactly what she had said to the Committee. She could admit to herself at least for a very short amount of time she had been out of control.

Luckily she had not really done anything more then deny the Committee their idea of making more of a spectacle out of her role.

She had not bothered to remember any of the Committee members names though she had taken note of their faces. She had spent a long time being on guard against these people and in the end had been disappointed by how very normal they appeared.

To make matters worse Murakami had decided to show up without warning for the first time since the inception of the dock fights.

That particular headache she had not anticipated.

She could not exactly say they got along well together. For the most part she tolerated him and his ill-concealed advances.

She was perfectly aware of his attraction to her but she had never felt the same way towards him. She had lost count of the several times she had flat-out refused him.

At first she had put up with his attention out of understanding his misguided gratitude was probably what was behind his sudden interest. Since their paths tended to only cross when she dealt with his father, the head of the family at the time she saw no reason to worry about it.

Over time he had become almost as constant a presence as Narumi. When he was not centered on her as a potential girlfriend he was not so annoying and turned out to be useful every once in a while.

Of course that always depended on whether or not Narumi was around. The two bickered as much as Yusuke and Kazuma without the impression of being friends underneath the barrage of commentary.

_But he always turns up again like a bad penny. What the hell was he thinking showing up tonight? He's supposed to be against this._

If anything that he was attending would insinuate that she had been wrong about his motives about the offer he had made to her.

Not that it surprised her, that was typical of the yakuza leader when it came to dealings with her.

He was not within the small group of people she considered trustworthy but she had every intention of receiving the information he had promised her despite what he might be imagining.

Beside her Botan made a small sound of empathy drawing her out of her musings.

The pair on the raised daïs were not exactly evenly matched. She could tell that from the moment they stepped into the main arena.

This was the sixth fight of the night featuring two demons of middling strength.

It was the larger of the two, Isamu who looked like a well muscled human except for the mane of thick orange hair that circled his neck, that she was more concerned with.

That one had yet to not kill his opponent in any fight he had been involved in. And from the look he had cast at her before the match had begun she had known this one would be no different.

Isamu wanted her in the ring not the demon he was facing off against.

Every time there was a break in the action Isamu's green eyes would find her's.

She was not certain what game Isamu was playing.

She did know it was not going to go the way Isamu wanted it to.

"He's gonna do a right stupid thing..." Chu murmured on the other side of her.

She had not expected Chu to want to attend the fights but she had decided not to question it when he had appeared with Botan before she had made her way into the complex. If nothing else having Chu with her meant he was not running off to the boys.

Isamu grabbed his opponent by the face, letting loose a burst of demonic energy. He then tossed the now limp body away from him to land in the dirt between the daïs and where she stood.

It was an open challenge, she had no doubt the demon on the ground was dead but waited as Koto knelt next to the body then stood.

"Well there you have it folks," Koto announced to the crowd, "our first kill of the night! Executioner..."

She took a drag from the cigarette she was smoking before moving to approach the daïs.

"Stay out of the ring Koto." she warned the cat-like demon as she passed her.

"Y...Yes," Koto stammered turning with a confused look on her face.

The addition of Koto to the fights had not surprised her as much as she would have thought. Her only thought on the matter was that it had made sense when it came to the situation.

She had not meant to warn Koto away, it had just been another of those things that slipped from her mouth. The only difference was that once she had levered herself up onto the stone daïs, still with cigarette in hand she had a fairly good idea why.

Isamu waited for her, a cocky grin on his human featured face.

It was not exactly cold that went through her, it was as if some low charge of electricity enveloped her skin for a second then swept through her mind causing all other thought to disappear.

She was glad she had opted not to bother with her normal long sleeves. The sleeve less undershirt was a better option to move freely under the circumstances.

She stopped a few feet away from the large demon, "You know how this is supposed to work?"

"I kill you." Isamu stated drawing up to his full height, "Should've kept your nose out of this human. Your brother doesn't impress me much."

"Oh..." she flicked her ashes and took another drag, "I don't find him all that impressive either but he has his merits."

Isamu shifted drawing back his fist and drove it at her face. She did not move as it came to a halt a few inches from actually making contact, the force of it causing her hair to move as if caught up in a gentle breeze.

Isamu's grin fell from his lips as she stared at him.

She should feel something.

There was nothing really.

This demon was going to die with this crowd cheering on his demise and there would be no thought at all of him past that moment.

It was probably one of the most pathetic things she had encountered.

"Now that you've got that out of your system how about we try the real thing." she suggested flicking the cigarette away.

* * *

"What the hell was that?!" Kuwabara exclaimed loudly.

He was almost grateful for the explosion of sound from the ape.

It brought him out of the moment of hypnotic daze.

From the instant Shizuru had stepped out onto the arena grounds he had been awash with emotions that he struggled to gain control over.

It had been a shock to see Chu walking beside her and that had instantly caused a surge of that dangerous burning to flow through him.

He wished it were anger that he felt, that at least he could have understood. Instead he could only think that Chu occupied a space that was his alone.

There were too many males fluttering around Shizuru for his liking.

The second shock and much less welcome was the addition of Botan on the other side of her.

The implications of that was not lost on the others. Even Yusuke seemed to become more serious the instant the grim reaper was noticed.

He would have rather discussed this addition with Kurama but something in the way the fox demon had met his eyes told him the subject was not yet to be broached.

For six fights he had divided his attention between Shizuru herself and the fights as they played out.

When the kill had finally come about as was to be expected it had felt as if his entire being had stopped. He could not look away from her form as she moved to stand in front of the demon.

There was no fear in her but there rarely was even when confronted by more powerful demons such as Mukuro.

She was no fool, he knew that if she did not believe she could stand against the demon she would have found a way around it.

Knowing that did nothing to stop his core from clenching in reaction to the bluff of the demon's swing.

Even with his misgivings for Shizuru as a human to fight a demon he had imagined it would be like watching any of the others fight.

That he could easily distance himself and regard the fight with at least some degree of disconnection.

He had been able to carry out that during her bout with Narumi in that warehouse.

He was quickly coming to the realization that there was a distinct, extremely disturbing difference between watching Yusuke or one of the others fight demons and watching Shizuru do so.

The anxiety of this difference caused one of his hands to clenched tightly around the hilt of his katana, the other balled into a fist at his side.

Those signs of his tension were well hidden, he allowed them only because of that fact.

As Shizuru tossed aside the cigarette that strain inside of him grew.

* * *

That Isamu was a close in fighter worked to her advantage since she was also one.

Demons as a whole tended to draw back to use their energies against their opponents, to use their speed, or to maneuver for better positions. There was more testing involved with demons then there would have been between humans who tended to close in on their opponents quickly.

She had spent enough hours watching the boys sparring, listening to Kazuma whine and complain when the others did exactly those things to understand that simple truth.

She also understood that while she seemed to have become stronger and faster she would still have to fight in a way that gave her an advantage.

In short she was going to have to go back to ways she had fought when she had only herself to worry about.

As expected of the arrogant, overconfident demon Isamu's first strike came at her in the form of a single fist backed by all the strength he could put into it.

She weaved to the side, easily avoiding it and slammed her own fist into the now exposed face of Isamu.

He staggered to the side, overbalanced by his overextension.

She followed that with a solid strike to his ribs with her foot causing him to stagger again.

She had no intention of allowing him to recover, following him as he attempted to regain his footing.

He swung his arm back at her but again it was easily evaded and unfortunately for him gave her an opening.

She grabbed his arm by the wrist, slammed her free fist directly into his nose causing him to lean further away then rolled herself over his back bending his arm at a distinctly awkward angle bearing down with all her weight.

She felt the pop as his shoulder became dislocated before she released the arm.

Isamu roared with pain and the crowd roared with approval.

She did not care that either happened, she was already closing in on him for another strike.

* * *

"I didn't know you could do that to a demon." Kuwabara said with wonder.

"Those of us that resemble humans do have many of the same weaknesses." Kurama responded with what he saw as an insane amount of patience for the stupidity of the statement, "You are much to use to the way you see us fight. This method is something we avoid for the most part. Grappling with an opponent is not considered an intelligent gambit."

Narumi chuckled, "You haven't seen the best she can do. She's just softening him up. Been a long time since I've seen her go all out on someone."

"She didn't with you?" Yusuke asked though his eyes did not leave the action in the arena.

"You're kidding right?" Narumi censured with annoyance, "We beat on each other, no fancy stuff. We aren't trying to kill each other."

"You use that knife." Kuwabara pointed out.

"That's different," Narumi shrugged, "I wouldn't really stab her with it. Just looking to scar her up a little. It's annoying how many fights she's been in and the worst she's got is that scar across her back. And I didn't give that to her some other ass did."

He recalled clearly the scar Narumi was referring to, the one that traced its way from one of her shoulders and ending near the middle of her back. He recalled its burning reality as he had shared her memory of the circumstances surrounding its creation.

Their voices were grating on his nerves.

He wanted their silence not to be subjected to their constant sound.

He would have happily knocked them unconscious except that would have required taking his eyes off of her.

She was faster than before, obviously stronger somehow. Staggering a demon with one blow to the face was testament to that fact.

It was not exactly relief that had coursed through him when he realized these things. It was intermingled with a fair amount of other darker emotions and suspicions.

His eyes narrowed as he considered removing his headband to use the Jagan.

"This is gonna be a long fight," Yusuke commented worriedly, "there's no way she can kill that guy this way."

"What do you mean?" Kuwabara demanded, "She's moping the floor with him."

"Yes she is hurting him," Kurama agreed slowly his voice softened with concern, "but when was the last time you saw a demon die without the use of energies Kuwabara?"

Kuwabara scowled deeply, "Well...never I guess but she could knock him out..."

"Does that world you occupy include winged horses?" he growled with annoyance

"Those aren't really real you know Hiei." Kuwabara replied without missing a beat, "I know you're from another world and all...oh but since Puu came out of that egg thingy I bet you could try to get Koenma..."

"She's supposed to kill the guy." Yusuke interrupted smacking Kuwabara on the back of his head.

He had ceased listening.

In the ring the demon finally caught Shizuru with a glancing blow that knocked her to the daïs.

Her body slammed into it and a small, sickening ball formed in his core.

Abruptly it became silent in the room.

* * *

She rose from the ground a second before Isamu's fist slammed into the place her head had just been occupying.

Her head was spinning a little from contact with the stone daïs but she had no time for that.

She shifted to avoid another strike, backpedaling to regain her balance.

"Get your head in the fight!" she heard Chu yell from the sidelines, "Stop lettin' him smack you around you like that! He ain't no human, stop fightin' 'im like one!"

She could taste blood, it was not a taste she enjoyed since it meant she had made a mistake.

Isamu came at her again with his good arm, his fingers alight with energies that he had not used yet.

She dodged under his outstretched hand and slammed her fist into his chest.

Apparently all it took to reach the energies inside of her was a simple change in perspective. It sat dormant inside her giving no sense of its presence until she had it in her mind to actually use it. Then she was almost overwhelmed by it as it raced out of her.

With Chu she had been required to control its first outpouring, that moment that it snapped into his body. Somehow she had realized that without iron control while it may not kill him it would do an enormous amount of damage.

She did not have that same reason with Isamu.

The energy exploded from her fist, momentarily billowing outward before driving itself into the demon's chest.

For a heartbeat she was caught up in it as it buried itself in the demon, ripping and devouring what it came across. She had no idea if it was energy or if like Chu had said it was directly coming in contact with the demon's core.

The sensation released her as Isamu was catapulted out of the ring.

She was breathing heavily.

Her head throbbed where it had struck the floor.

Isamu was nowhere near as strong as Chu and he remained in a heap outside of the ring unmoving.

She walked across the daïs, jumping down from it then approached the body as Koto checked Isamu.

Koto's eyes met her's as the cat demon rose from beside Isamu.

"I bet no one expected that display of yummy, bone crunching violence from a human! Of course true to her title consider this demon executed!" Koto announced to the crowd, "Can we get the bodies cleared for the next fight already?!"

She exchanged nods with Koto who took a step back as she went to return to where Chu and Botan stood, refusing to rub at the goose egg sized bump on the back of her head.

"Bout time you went all in." Chu grumbled at her, "What were you tryin' to prove by lettin' him get the drop on you?"

"I didn't," she replied jerking hard away as Botan came closer, reaching for her head.

"Here now," Chu said in a gentler tone, "let the little woman check you ova'. Not much sense in lettin' a smack in the noggin take you down."

"Sorry..." she apologized sitting on the bench that had been provided for her.

"Don't worry about it." Botan assured her, "You had me scared there for a moment but you won."

"Yeah..." she agreed without thought.

It was not something she felt proud of for having done. It would have been more appropriate for Botan to say she had done her job. There was no sense of winning in what she was doing.

She killed, that was her only purpose.

* * *

Kuwabara had collapsed back into the chair he had occupied before, "That was not cool..."

It was strange, there should have been an air of celebration to the room at large.

Shizuru had not only survived the fight but had proven that she could produce the energies Narumi had insisted she possessed.

Instead it seemed all of them had interpreted the events in similar ways and none of those ways were pleasant in nature.

It was impossible.

That was the only clear thought he could muster as he watched Botan tend to Shizuru.

There was no conceivable way that she could produce such an intense burst of energy that could kill a demon with one strike with only a week of training under her belt.

Granted the demon had been weakened by the earlier fight and by the attacks from Shizuru but that did not explain the power that had to be involved with such a deadly blow.

He could sense the energy that her attack had used but there had been no clear definition to it. For a moment it had felt very similar to human spiritual energies but at the same time it had been entirely different.

What he did know was that it had not been anything that resembled other human energies he had been exposed to through Sensui or Yusuke for that matter.

He also knew that he was no longer going to wait.

"I think I get it now." Yusuke said finally turning away from the window.

"Get what exactly?" Kurama inquired without moving.

"That's not fighting is it." Yusuke answered scowling at the floor, "We were supposed to be doing that right? If she hadn't got in the way or Narumi's gang wasn't watching everyone we care about...that would be us down there just...killing..."

"For all intents and purposes yes," Kurama agreed, "it is after all in the name Yusuke. She is the executioner. That does not bring to mind an actual battle..."

"She turned it into one though." Narumi said, "Stupid if you ask me. Dead is dead, like she wouldn't defend herself."

"Kuwabara?" Kurama ventured, "Are you alright?"

It was an odd enough question to cause him to look at the young man.

"Yea..." Kuwabara assured the fox demon with a smile that fell away as soon as it touched his mouth, "I just...I feel like I just got told something about her that I didn't know and I got sucker punched at the same time..."

There was a fair amount of uncertainty to Kuwabara's expression that he did not quite understand.

He supposed for the human it was a bit too much to process.

It was not everyday one found out their sibling was capable of killing another being though why it disturbed Kuwabara he was not all that certain.

It had just been a demon after all.

Kuwabara had never seemed to have an aversion to that act.

Killing demons was not something he had an aversion to either. In fact in some ways he could be accused of finding enjoyment in the act of doing so.

Not that he cared what bothered Kuwabara.

He easily pushed away the odd thoughts along with the disturbing echo it seemed to produce in him.

There was a small chance that he did in fact understand something but it was not in empathy of Kuwabara's current emotions.

The echo seemed much more directed towards Shizuru for some reason.

He would bide his time for the duration of these fights to finish.

Then he would seek Shizuru out despite what had occurred the last time he had spent time in her presence.

If nothing else he was not going to endure another moment of being trapped in this booth while she fought.

* * *

Please leave a review it is VERY appreciated!


	17. The View from There

"Shizuru could you please slow down a little?"

She knew she was striding much too quickly through the halls on the outside of the arena. She knew that Chu had no problems keeping up with her pace. It was Botan who had shorter legs than her that was struggling to do so.

She did not particularly care that Botan was having a difficult time.

She just wanted out of the underground structure.

She wanted to be gone from the proximity of the Committee and their useless grumblings of how unspectacular her display had been.

What had they expected anyway?

Something more along the lines of Yusuke who managed a laser light show all on his own?

A demonic jungle full of man-eating plants to spring from the ground like Kurama?

Something ridiculously over the top like Hiei's flamethrower spectacular?

Isamu was dead and everyone in the arena knew it was because she had caused it.

If there was any doubt all the Committee had to do was follower her as she walked along the corridor. It was expressed in the wariness of the eyes that instantly locked on her. By the parting of the crowd as she moved through it, demons and humans alike making room.

Her head was pounding still, her shoulder hurt from taking the brunt of the wild strike from Isamu.

She had yet to say anything about the deep throbbing ache but since she could still move it she saw no reason to worry at the moment.

It was just another annoyance in a long line of annoyances that she could not seem to escape.

If anything she needed a breather from the constant downpour.

That bastard Takahashi had timed what he had informed her of perfectly.

_She was walking out of the largest booth of the arena while the Committee members still spoke. She was sure she would have to deal with this particular nonsense every fight which did not help her mood any._

"_It was a brilliant move to have them show up tonight." Takahashi commented as she opened the door to leave, "I never expected you to go so far."_

_She paused confused, "What are you talking about?"_

"_Team Urameshi of course." Takahashi answered smoothly, "I didn't expect that all of our men would disappear like they did but I suppose in hindsight it only makes sense. To wait until our attention was firmly on you to have them deal with the matter. It was a very interesting display of power on your part."_

_She felt herself still entirely._

"_Of course inviting them to your début was another bold move." Takahashi continued conversationally, "One I absolutely did not see you making. Tell me...what was the purpose of all that time you put into keeping us away from them if you were planning on involving them anyway?"_

_She was almost sick with the tension that wrapped itself around her insides._

_Takahashi stared at her, studying her reaction to his words with a light smile of victory on his lips._

_She forced herself to shrug, to respond though her mind was thick with shock and anger._

"_They aren't here for you are they?" she returned with a smirk of her own as she opened the door._

"_Not...at the moment..." Takahashi replied smoothly._

The flush of chaotic emotions swept through her again as she traveled towards the demon entrance. It was the closest. She did not want to deal with the heavy warding that existed at the smaller human entrance.

There was something there that made her slightly nauseous so she wanted to avoid it.

"Are we trying to find Yusuke and the others?" Botan asked between breaths.

She had informed Botan and Chu of what Takahashi had told her. Botan had looked instantly nervous. Chu on the other hand seemed to have already known about the boys being there.

As much as she wanted to be angry with him for not telling her she was almost grateful he had not. It might have gone differently in the ring if she had been aware of their presence. She may have held back in some way that could have ended in disaster.

_And with those guys the meaning of disaster takes on a whole different set of horrible beyond me getting killed._

Takahashi had been trying to rattle her, that much was obvious.

She had hoped his interest would have disappeared but that was not the case. Instead he seemed to have developed some new plan that she had no details about.

He had made a slight mistake though.

It took more than the predictability of the general rules that applied to her life to throw her off her game.

It was so common a thing that she rarely was truly shocked.

Aggravated yes but deep down it tended to illicit no more than momentary resignation.

Sometimes she craved the way her life use to be before she had listened at the doorway as Kazuma, Yusuke, and Botan talked about going off to rescue Yukina.

Back when her life had been her own and the things in it only really applied to her self.

Then again that had been so long ago that she barely remembered it existing at all.

"No Botan I'm just looking to get out of here." she replied tensely.

* * *

"Took you guys long enough. Stop to buy souvenirs?"

He felt himself tense from the pitch of her voice. There was a shadow to it, the breath of something darkly restricted by will alone.

He had wanted to search the arena for her immediately but Kurama had put forth the concept that Shizuru would leave it as soon as she was able to.

He could not fault the logic.

It had been clear that she did not want to linger. The second the last bout was finished she had gathered the other two and left without a backward glance.

She had not been required to act as executioner again. Her quick, decisive kill with the large demon seemed to have made an impression.

As much as he craved to see her the instant she was so close, a few feet away from the exit of the warehouse with Botan at her side he could think of nothing to say to her.

It should have been a simple thing, to greet her as he had become accustom to.

Standing there in the shadow of the warehouse, cigarette in hand, she seemed distant as if she existed on a plane he could not reach.

Botan stood to the side of her, more precisely the reaper was almost behind Shizuru as if using her as a shield.

There was no sign of Chu, not that he had anticipated seeing the demon.

If he had there might have been a passing thought of impressing upon him the value of knowing his place.

"Gotta say I'm pretty sure I was clear about this." Shizuru went on after taking a drag of her cigarette, "But on the other hand...wow not a shocker you guys couldn't stand not being a part of the action..."

"Shizuru..." Narumi began.

"Not here." Shizuru interrupted as a group of demons exited the warehouse, "Let's get out of here first. Then I'll let you say all you want. Not that it'll change or do anything but I figure I'll let you guys talk it out. No reason not to."

Shizuru did not wait for any of them to reply before turning and walking away.

The group as a whole followed her, subdued by the uncomfortable air that surrounded the pair walking in front of them.

"So what exactly are you doing here Botan?" Yusuke ventured into the silence.

"Oh...ummm I'm..." Botan fumbled as she cast a nervous glance over her shoulder at them.

He could see no immediate reason for the reaper to be so nervous though in hindsight she did tend to become addled when questioned directly. He rarely bothered to listen to her since he saw it as listening to someone shockingly slower than Kuwabara or at the very best a mouthpiece for Koenma.

"Leave her alone." Shizuru said flicking the ashes from her cigarette, "She's on vacation."

"Grim reapers get vacations?" Kuwabara asked curiously.

"Well yes...every thousand years or so." Botan replied in her normal tone.

* * *

It was amusing in its own way.

He doubted that if he shared his amusement with Hiei that the fire demon would have agreed.

Whatever it was that had driven Hiei from Shizuru's side in the first place kept them in separate areas of the room.

The silence had continued through the enormous field the warehouse rested on, into the waiting cars, and even into Narumi's safe house.

Once they had assembled inside the main room the silence only grew to less tolerable levels, thick with the obvious want of knowledge as well as the obvious uncertainty of how to go about attaining it.

One of the twins had fetched Shizuru and Narumi beers then both had left sighting business they had to tend to.

He was certain their sudden desire to work was galvanized by the short whispered conversation Shizuru had with the two after they had arrived.

Botan remained near Shizuru though she seemed to have relaxed somewhat. It was easy to see that the reaper was not entirely comfortable near them which he filed away for later information gathering.

"So since they aren't talking how about you give me a time line." Narumi suggested calmly.

He had observed the silent interchange between Narumi and Shizuru from the beginning.

There were very few times he had been allowed to witness the type of friendship that the two women claimed. It was a far cry from Yusuke and Kuwabara's. That connection was very easily defined but between Shizuru and Narumi it was not so clear.

That aspect was highlighted as Shizuru raised an eyebrow then took a drink of her beer before answering the vague question.

"Two months," Shizuru finally said, "then you get to go back to the hospital. Don't make any plans of getting out before three weeks."

"Wait a minute..." Kuwabara began frowning as he looked back and forth between them from his seat on the couch, "Are you talking about fighting?"

"Two months huh..." Narumi commented ignoring Kuwabara, "that's..."

"More than I should give you." Shizuru spoke over her turning in the doorway that she had stood in to fully face Narumi, "You knew I couldn't let it slide. When did you go all suicidal on me?"

"She is hardly the only one to blame." he said interrupting smoothly, "We agreed to do what was needed Shizuru."

The way in which the two women had moved, shifting to face each other that spoke of a situation that could easily spiral out of context. There was a taste of violence to the way they exchanged words.

He had expected Shizuru to be furious but not in this strangely cold, definitive fashion. Narumi responded in much the same way.

It was unnervingly similar to being in the presence of Mukuro and Yomi, that controlled yet powerful feeling that hummed in the air when the two were near to each other.

It was a comparison he had never thought he could apply to anyone in the Human World yet it was exactly what his mind used to describe the situation.

"Neon arrows and breadcrumbs Red." Shizuru replied only glancing at him before going back to looking at Narumi, "You wouldn't have known a damn thing without her saying something. The twins tend to keep out of things to do with me unless she guilt's them into it."

"Hey I noticed the people around my stand." Yusuke insisted from the couch.

He did not trust the slow lifting of the corners of Shizuru's mouth, nor did he fail to notice that Narumi looked away from Shizuru.

"Narumi arranged for us to become aware Yusuke." he explained sighing internally.

It would have probably shocked Yusuke to his very core if he knew there were times that even he was surprised by the manipulation of others. Narumi had moved them into place for supporting Shizuru without their having realized it with a fairly deft hand.

"Does it matter? I mean we were there. Shouldn't we be talking about what happened?" Kuwabara asked seriously.

"Knock yourself out." Shizuru encouraged him taking another drink, "Should be good for a laugh."

"Shizuru," Botan censured finally speaking up, "tonight was probably a shock to all of them."

"You could say that," Yusuke agreed with a small grin, "you were pretty good out there."

Hiei cast Yusuke a scathing glance but remained quiet.

That in itself was surprising.

He knew that Hiei had not handled the situation as well as he had wanted to. It was typical of the fire demon to suppress the worst of his emotions but the strain was beginning to show.

He supposed it was not everyday that you were subjected to a rival for one's object of affection only to be forced to watch that same person fight.

He could admit privately that he had not taken the process any better than the others.

He could also admit there was a certain amount of chagrin involved. It did not make sense but he simply had despised having to watch Shizuru fight. He had no issues with doing so with the others of the team, nor had he felt any such emotion when watching other females fight.

It was that it was her, the closest person he had to a sister in either world and he had been hard pressed to stand there and not find his way down to the arena.

It had been a sobering experience that he knew they had dedicated themselves to watching again.

It had only been her first, he had no idea how long she would need to occupy the position.

What he did know was that she had every intention of continuing.

"Since when can you fight demons?" Kuwabara asked the question he was most interested in knowing the answer to, "And why?! You..."

"Probably not a good idea to push it bro." Shizuru cut him off then shrugged, "Just happened. Or would it be better if that guy had killed me?"

"That's not what I'm saying!" Kuwabara shouted springing to his feet, "You don't have to! You got us!"

Strangely enough instead of insulting Kuwabara she only smirked, "Kuza you really need to pay attention instead of letting that hero complex of yours get in the way. So you had to watch me fight a demon. It wasn't all that bad when you forced me to do it."

"I didn't force you. Botan brought you to the island. You didn't have to come." Kuwabara grumbled on the verge of pouting.

"No one is forcing you to do it either." Shizuru reminded her brother, "Look I get it. You can sit there repeating yourselves for the next hour or so. Ask questions you know I'm not going to answer. Basically end up with as much information as you had before we met up. Or...and this might just blow your mind bro...you can accept it for what it is."

"It sounds as if you have no intention of stopping us from attending again." he noted slowly.

"They think I brought you in," she replied, "as far as I see it you guys can watch to your little hearts content. If you start a fight there...well that's another story."

"There might be a problem with that." Yusuke said rubbing at the back of his head, "I saw some of the looks we were getting. They weren't exactly friendly."

"There is always the concept that we are the team to beat Shizuru." he put in as her eyes narrowed slightly, "our reputation alone might encourage one of the fighters to test their strengths."

"None there were strong enough to matter." Hiei stated firmly.

"That never stopped anyone from trying." Kuwabara pointed out sitting back down.

"Then I guess you guys have to learn a little something called restraint." Shizuru said setting aside the beer she had just finished, "The rules are nobody fights outside of the arena. You let someone pick a fight with you that's where you'll end up."

Yusuke shrugged, "Not like they would beat any of us."

"You have to be a saint." Narumi muttered darkly, "How do you put up with this crap?"

"Years of practice." Shizuru replied then turned her attention back to Yusuke, "So tell me Yusuke when was the last time you fought a demon and didn't kill it?"

"Does Yomi count?" Yusuke threw back oblivious to the nature of the question, "I mean there was a few in the Demon Tournament that I didn't."

"You're concerned that if we were to fight any of these low-level demons there is a high possibility that we would kill." He translated for Yusuke's sake, "I assume that because of our reputations we would be held to a higher standard. The same rules that apply to the others do not necessarily apply to us."

"You were expecting fair rules from criminals?" Narumi asked chuckling.

He declined to respond to Narumi's comment though he supposed he had hoped that was the case. He had not expected that Shizuru's role would extend so far. It only added to the weight that Shizuru had willingly taken on so that they did not have to.

"My role doesn't just cover the regular fighters," Shizuru explained quietly, "it covers any fighters. Any non sanctioned fight that ends in a death immediately becomes my problem."

"Wouldn't that mean if one of us killed one of those demons you would have to fight us?" Kuwabara asked incredulous.

"Finally the oaf returns from his delusions." Hiei commented scathingly.

"Not just fight Kuza." Shizuru said in a husky tone, "If that happens one of us is going to get killed..."

"You wouldn't do that." Kuwabara insisted glaring at his sister.

Shizuru pushed away from the door frame, one hand digging in her pocket, "You should be real careful of that pedestal you have me up on baby bro. I really never liked how high it was to begin with."

Then she turned her back to them and walked out on the porch disappearing from sight.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kuwabara asked scowling.

"I'm sure it is nothing to worry over." He assured the young man.

Hiei had disappeared from his place along the far wall.

He could not help the relief that traveled through him along with the growing concern.

He had the feeling that soon Hiei was finally going to have to decide if he truly wanted to be of two worlds.

In his own way he had become somewhat invested in what was between Hiei and Shizuru.

Early on he had noticed the two were in a way practicing self sabotage.

One did not have to be a long-lived demon to understand that two lives only shared for weeks at a time with limits would not fulfill the full concept of a lasting relationship.

What reservations he had he did not bother to mention.

If anything he had thought Hiei's awareness of Shizuru's human life would cause some of them to ease.

It was not a farfetched concept that Hiei might become embroiled within some action in the Demon World and perhaps months would disappear without his return.

Hiei was after all well-known to think only in the time sense of now or the immediate.

There had been moments he had the distinct impression that Shizuru might entertain similar thoughts about the fire demon. As there were times he was convinced she understood Hiei a little too well and it was that knowledge that worked against Shizuru's own wants.

Since the two had come together he had not imagined there would be times as recent as three weeks ago when he would get the sense that Shizuru was alone.

And because he knew them he could not help but feel a slight amount of resentment towards the indecisiveness of their lives.

Hiei needed to find his own method to claiming the connections he so obviously craved.

He had done his best to offer support, Hiei had little to no experience with truly wanting anything that resembled the permanence of what he was attempting to build with Shizuru.

_If only he knew that he's the one that makes little sense..._

* * *

_Sorry about the delay in posting I got some harsh writer's block. Expect another update within the very near future XD Please REVIEW XD_


	18. Open Hands

There was a railing that ran the length of the porch and as was habit for him he settled on it at a point that allowed him to brace his back against one of the descending posts.

Though he had made no sound during the maneuver as was normal for her she turned as if aware of his nearness.

He could admit to a certain amount of anxiety that she would not react in the normal fashion.

That she would not approach him with the easy grace that made it seem so natural that they gravitated towards each other without thought.

That he might sense fear in her instead of that calming balm her presence alone induced.

It was the concept of that fear that he had avoided.

Of all the reactions he had thought she would have fear was the one that caused him the strongest sense of absolute denial.

He was of the mind that he could withstand seeing disgust from her but in some way to see that she feared him would mean he had somehow damaged her.

She did not immediately approach him which only wound that clenched ball in his chest tighter. Instead she turned to look out into the night taking a drag from the cigarette between her fingers.

"You didn't take off." she said quietly.

He frowned slightly, "Why would I?"

She was confusing as usual. Reading her was extremely difficult for him no matter how much time they spent together. The others were easier, even Kurama could be taken as obvious with his state of mind to a certain degree.

Shizuru herself remained a mystery in most aspects. The only time she was open to him was the time they shared in bed. Perhaps that was why he so fully concentrated his attention into those areas.

Emotions were not his forte and it showed most often in her company which he could not deny himself.

His own emotions were a chaotic, tangled mess when she was involved. There was little clarity except that those things were enhanced to degrees that threatened at times to steal the breath from him.

He both despised and craved those sensations.

He was almost certain, despite Kurama's assurances to the contrary, that these were signs that his sanity was being threatened on a continual basis.

"You know if you had been human you probably would've hit me back."

"I see no reason to be insulting." he growled annoyed with the comparison.

She chuckled, "You're the one that ran."

"It was for your good. I do not want to be responsible for your death!" he ground out between teeth clenched in anger.

What was it about this subject that she did not grasp?

Had she not seen his reaction?

Did she not understand how close he had come to striking her?

"That's a cop out, besides who said it would've killed me?"

It was said in such a nonchalant way he almost choked on the surge of incredulous anger.

"You have no true sense of self-preservation." he grated out, "I am not some low-level demon!"

"Oh so you stayed that pissed off?" she returned lazily, dark amusement in her voice.

"I was not...pissed off." he insisted scathingly annoyed with her human terms, "If I had struck you we would not be having this conversation!"

"You didn't bother coming back," she pointed out calmly, "Must've really hurt."

"You did no lasting damage." he returned narrowing his eyes, "You do not posses the strength it would take."

She was insane.

There was no other explanation for the line of thought that she was following.

Granted earlier he had witnessed her killing a demon with little more than one strike but that had nothing to do with the current conversation.

Did she not know the difference between him and the lowly creatures at the arena?

"So what kept you away if you weren't pissed and you weren't hurt?"

She was much too calm for his taste.

He would be damned if he admitted to what had kept him from returning, not in the face of her outright denial.

"You found other ways to occupy your time." he pointed out hoping to distract her from the topic at hand.

"Yeah well I had to do that." she replied shrugging, "Not like you were talking to begin with."

He snorted rudely, "As if there were anything to discuss. It was obvious I was injured. I would not have returned in that state if I had thought you would react in so human a fashion."

It was not a total lie. He had not thought she would necessarily notice the scarring despite the knowledge that she was particularly into caressing. He was unsure if that was a human trait or if it was something uniquely her, though he had never entertained the thought of telling her not to do it.

"There you go again with the human thing." she sighed heavily, "If you weren't such a demon that might make sense."

He blinked in confusion, "What, if anything, does my being a demon have to do with this?"

"You really annoy me sometimes." she said, the anger dropping away to be replaced by fondness as she began to approach him, "You don't get anything do you?"

"You make no sense." he half growled, uncertainty growing.

She flicked the remains of her cigarette off into the yard as she neared him. Even in the dim glow of the moonlight he could make out her features clearly. There was no anger on her face though he could have sworn it had been there only a moment before.

He remained silent and still as she came to stand beside him, her eyes shadowed pools of mystery as she gazed at him.

"I'm not with a human Hiei." she said tilting her head, "I'm with you...a demon. I don't expect you to act like a human. So why are you acting like there's a problem with you acting like a demon?"

The silence seeped into his core, for a few second creating a haze he could not think past.

There was no conceivable way that she could accept something so base as his reaction.

It could not be such a simple concept to her that as a demon it was a natural response.

"You have no idea what you are talking about." he found himself responding.

Then came the coiling of emotions, the real reaction to her words.

That uncomfortable sensation that she saw into him to places even he shied from knowing fully.

That stubborn refusal that was born from the insistence that no human could ever understand the truth of being a demon.

That cold regard that filled him when he could not fully comprehend what that reality would mean to him.

She had done it yet again. She had cut into the core of what he viewed as the issue and not what she might see it as.

His response was predictable, even he could admit that. It put him on the defensive instantly, all to familiar annoyance covering the other emotions in favor of a well-known one.

She lifted her hand and gently caressed his cheek. He was hard pressed not to respond to the cool trails her touch left behind along his skin. To not lean into the sensations caused by it and become mesmerized as was his normal reaction.

He did not shy from the affection, in truth he had needed the actuality of it. The confirmation that she was not simply attempting to appease him by a show of lack of fear.

He was also aware of her normal tactics when it came to something she did not want to discuss.

"Distraction will not work." He informed her forcing himself to reach up and capture the hand with his own to draw it away, "Must you always do that?"

She chuckled, "I don't see it as a must...but yeah I do."

He frowned, "What purpose is it serving you this time?"

She sighed lightly turning so that she could lean against the railing, "I didn't mean it that way Hiei. Sometimes I just want to touch you. Is that a crime?"

"With you it is suspect." he responded, "Lately your activities in that area have increased."

He did not want to allow the flush of pleasure her words invoked.

He wanted to be annoyed with her.

He was watching her intently so he witnessed the minute adjustment she made to ease her shoulder.

Suspicious he reached out with his free hand to press the area. She jerked slightly under the pressure, turning to look at him with narrowed eyes.

"Foolish." he growled his annoyance with her increasing, "You still have not learned the value behind ducking."

"Do I look like a demon?" she returned flinching as he pulled her closer, "I'm not as fast you know."

"No...you are not." he agreed scowling.

It was yet another unpleasant thought to join the rest of the ones that had consumed him since that first night when he had found Yusuke and Kurama in her home instead of her.

He was not necessarily thinking of what he was busying himself with. Just as it had the night she had faced off with Narumi tending to her injury had come automatically the instant he knew one existed.

He began probing the shoulder with his fingers. It was not an ideal setting to do so but he did not see a reason to insist on moving elsewhere.

"I didn't really mean for all of this to happen you know." she said almost under her breath.

"You have an obsession with stating the obvious." he half snapped at her.

He paused as her breath caught, a sign he had touched a particularly sensitive spot. He waited for her breathing to return to normal before continuing.

"You know nothings broken." she commented glancing at him.

He removed his hand.

It was not as if he had been suspicious that there was that type of damage but with her that was not necessarily the truth of the matter. She was much too practiced at hiding weaknesses.

The silence lengthened, grew heavy between them. It had been a long time since anything between them had caused this type of awkwardness.

"How long do you intend to continue with this?" he demanded.

His patience was too thinly worn at this juncture to endure the uncomfortable silence for long.

"I don't know," she replied shifting to look at him, "it's complicated."

He snorted rudely, "That is nothing surprising when you are involved."

"Because things are real easy when you are?" she asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

He made a small sound, moving forward, "You are transparent when you talk in this manner."

She sighed, "Nothing really changed for me. The only thing different is that you're more aware of it now. Stuff like this is normal for me..."

"Fighting demons is normal for you." he interrupted roughly, "That is a useless statement..."

"...being in danger is normal for me." she corrected him leaning closer herself, "Every day I walk out of my house that's the way it is Hiei. Yeah I don't have demons breathing down my neck. Instead I have yakuza with guns and punks who want to make names for themselves or just people from my past who want revenge for whatever reason. It's always been this way. Having you around didn't change it. Every day I deal with it. Just like you deal with what being you in your world means."

It was more information then he had been prepared to come from her. It was sobering to think he had been this unaware of her daily life.

What he had thought before, that her spiritual awareness was what caused her the most threat was not entirely correct.

He found himself staring at her as if he had never seen her before.

The contours of her face not quite so soft, the tilt of her lips more knowing, that hardness in her eyes more a symptom of a life lived in situations not simply criminal. That calming that he had never truly considered was caused just as much by her knowledge of things dark as it was by her ability.

These were things he had not been given a real glimpse of when he had shared her memories. These were things that Shizuru herself had initiated, had chosen for her life long before he had entered it.

Things that had only been hinted at from time to time but since they did not discuss these aspects he had been unaware it existed at all.

He was abruptly conscious of the fact that there was much more to Shizuru Kuwabara then he had previously thought.

In its own way it was an offering conveyed in a manner that spoke of her own desire to keep those things from his knowledge.

"I am not human." he said carefully.

"Really?" she asked sardonically.

"I do not think in the same terms as you do. I do not see you as your fool of a brother does." he continued ignoring her interruption.

It was a gamble.

This interaction, this choice to take what she was offering.

To see it as something other than the thinly cloaked inference that he did not want to know her.

He could feel it, the change in the space between them. It coiled almost painfully around them as if whispering in cautionary entreaties.

He did not appreciate this new sensation any more than he had the last.

"What I said in there, about having to deal with one of you guys in the arena, I meant it." she went on, "The thing is for a while now I...don't know how I'm going to react to things. I don't know if you guys put me in that position if I won't kill you or at least try to. It doesn't seem to matter much what I want lately."

She was watching him, waiting for him to speak but there was something wrong in the way she did so. A strange expectation on her face that caused him to tense.

"Hiei you don't have to do this you know." she said quietly.

He scowled at her.

Of course he did not have to do anything.

With her it was always a question of circumstances as to what activity he was entangled in.

He simply found himself doing, most of the time without much thought involved.

It was aggravating but he did not dislike it as a whole.

"Humans..." he muttered darkly, "I do as I please. What I will not do again is stand idly by while you deal with those...creatures of the Black Black Club."

She could have become angry at that point, he almost expected her to do so. Instead his words seemed to cause her to relax.

"Just the Black Black Club?" she asked with amusement.

He tilted his head, "They are the only ones I will bother informing you about."

"I guess I can take that." she replied slowly.

It did not matter to him if she agreed or not. There was nothing that would dissuade him from having a more active role then he had so far.

She reached out and took ahold of one of his hands, the contact electrifying yet somehow oddly tempered by the way she had spoken so openly a few moments before. What ever it was that tempered it caused the moment to slow, for her touch to seem a little more intense. There was some aspect of it that eluded him completely though he was not all that certain defining it mattered in the least.

"Mukuro is to inform you if I am severely injured." he found himself saying though his eyes had drifted to their hands.

It was what he thought to offer her in exchange for her words.

Something he had arranged a few months earlier but had never bothered informing her about.

At the time it had struck him as not necessarily needed so much as a courtesy after he had encountered a group of demons that had proven to be more difficult than the normal ones he took care of.

Mukuro had only nodded though she had cast a look at him that had caused a momentary want to throttle the ex-king.

Of course his concept of severely injured was most likely different from Shizuru's.

Humans tended to become overly concerned when it came to any type of injury.

He was unprepared for the sudden, cool press of her lips against his but he did not hesitate in returning the kiss.

Shizuru tasted of her scent, that warm almond that he drew in deeply as their kiss intensified.

This time he felt no restraint in giving into the vibrant hum of her.

* * *

_**Thanks for the reviews XD Please tell me what you think of this one too XD**_


	19. Among the Shadows

Murakami Hiro was an immensely patient man.

He was well aware that others viewed him as the spoiled child of a major crime family. They believed that he had earned very little in his life. That what he had was due to birthright and had nothing to do with his own efforts.

In part those people were correct but they had no clue about the complexities involved in being the son of the great Murakami Takeo.

It had been a given for the majority of his life that he would inherit his father's position. He had grown up being given the respect due to the next boss and he had never bothered to question whether or not it would be given to him.

That was until Shizuru Kuwabara took it into her own hands to deal with the gang leader that had kidnapped the children of major yakuza families.

Until the moment he witnessed his father, the man most feared in the city, bowing to her while she watched with eyes that barely registered the honor she had just been given.

At first he had resented her, disgusted with her lack of respect towards his father.

He had seen no reason why his father continued to treat her as if she were anything more than some street punk with no concept of her betters.

He had even entertained the idea that because she treated Takeo so differently than any other that knew who he was that his father might view her as a possible tryst of some sort.

He quickly dismissed that idea. His father was so enamored of his mother that she was in his company almost as much as anyone that dealt in the politics of the yakuza.

In fact it was his mother that had brought reality crashing down as to why his father was in constant contact with the girl who was no more than his age.

"_You have no appreciation for the harder parts of life Hiro." his mother chastised in her brisk manner._

_He glared at her, "I don't see..."_

"_You wouldn't," his mother interrupted staring out into their backyard, "your father has a lot of respect for anyone who lives by their own codes. Takeo is not that far removed from where Shizuru Kuwabara is in life."_

"_But why her?" he demanded scowling, "She isn't anything. She isn't even yakuza to begin with!"_

"_She saved your sister Hiro." his mother reminded him quietly, "not only that she saved your father from having to start a war over it. You've never been involved in that type of thing so you wouldn't understand the waste involved. She may not be yakuza but she did something no one else could without serious repercussions. I doubt even she knows the depth of the debt your father owes to her."_

_He did not view what had happened as something that would incur the type of debt his mother was speaking of. _

"_You've never bothered finding out about her have you?" his mother ventured quietly._

"_Why would I?" he snapped._

"_You've grown to dislike someone you don't even know. I thought I taught you better."_

_He sighed heavily allowing some of his irritation to leave, "So tell me."_

_His mother glanced up at him, "Shizuru is not only linked to our family. For some reason she seems to become involved in quite a few situations that have put her on good terms with numerous other families. If she wanted to she could very easily become yakuza...in fact if she truly was ambitious there are roles she undoubtedly could contend for that are normally given from birth."_

_A cold, sickening feeling rushed through him, "You don't mean father would..."_

"_If I were you I would find some way to get along with her. A common ground that you can live with. Your father would be...upset if he found out you view one of his favorites as nothing special." his mother cautioned rising from the porch, "You might even find something to appreciate in her if you actually bothered to know her."_

He took his mother's words and warnings to heart.

His father was not a forgiving man, that he favored Shizuru meant others were to look on her in much the same way. Even if he was the next in line his father would be extremely angry if he showed any type of disrespect towards her.

The next time she visited the compound he went out of his way to speak with her.

Again he found her disrespectful, crass, and offensive. There was no fear in her though she was surrounded by armed men that at any moment could kill her. There were even moments he had the distinct impression she was a word away from attacking him.

The one thing he never expected was to find himself attracted to her.

And because he was not exactly wise in the ways of romance she immediately picked up on it.

After that initial meeting he had gone out of his way to find her away from his father.

Another passing thought was that she only acted in that manner around his father, that it was an act just to get into the old man's good graces.

He was proven wrong on that account as well.

Shizuru was if anything more remote outside of his family's compound.

She was vicious in ways he had only seen in the more hardened of the enforcers his father employed.

Though he despised sharing time with Narumi it was a necessary evil. Shizuru tended to be in the company of the female street punk more often than anyone else.

The more time he spent in her company the more he understood exactly why the other families practically salivated over the idea of drawing her into their employ.

It was clearly defined by one incident, at the expense of his own flesh.

_The air rushed out of his lungs as he slammed into the ground._

_He could taste blood in his mouth, a heavy metallic taste that instantly made him nauseous._

_He half moaned as he attempted to roll himself over._

_His chest was on fire from the slices the thug had carved into his chest._

_Disoriented from the contact with the ground he could not fight as someone yanked him over onto his back._

_Reflexively he threw his arms upward trying to protect his face from the attack he knew was coming._

"_That's enough."_

_His spinning mind supplied the fact that Shizuru was the one who had spoken though he could not tell if she was doing so because she was bored or if for some reason she thought she should intercede._

_Blood rushed to his face in embarrassment as he realized he was no longer being held down, that no attack was coming because she had said something._

_Not because he was who he was, that alone should have prevented the fight in the first place. Apparently the thugs that called this section of downtown home could have cared less what his family name happened to be._

_He rolled himself up on his elbow, his eyes automatically searching out and finding her._

_Shizuru stood almost toe to toe with the thug who had attacked him, her expression lightly amused as if she were daring the young man to try to attack her._

_Standing there in the harsh street light he was struck by how coldly beautiful she was, and by how much he despised her for having intervened._

_He was not a weak fighter by any means. He knew how to defend himself. The thug had simply proven to be more than he could handle. He was not use to the way these people fought. It was dirty and underhanded, they used tactics he wouldn't have thought of. It was humiliating to know he had been bested so easily._

"_You brought him here." the thug growled at Shizuru, "I should carve you up."_

_Narumi choked on a laugh as she stood a few feet away, a hand moving to cover up the grin that had grown on her mouth._

"_You could try." Shizuru said unconcerned, "You made your point. Go play with someone else who doesn't know how to put you to the ground."_

_It was not exactly in her words, the force that seemed to build in the dark back alley. The threat grew outward from her swirling, and coiling thickly in the air. He had no doubt that if the thug did not back down Shizuru was going to do something beyond violence to him._

_Apparently the thug agreed with his thoughts. It took only a few seconds before the guy began to step back from her, slowly as if attempting to hold onto some tidbit of honor._

"_Don't bring that little bastard here again." the thug warned._

"_Why did we anyway?" Narumi asked as the young man and his two associates walked away, "He can't even keep his mouth shut..."_

"_He wanted to come along." Shizuru answered walking over to him._

_He knew he was glowering at her, that there was a definite chance she could read the depths of hate that rolled inside of him twisting tightly with his desire for her._

_Every time they interacted it became worse, he became more centered on her in ways that he found difficult to suppress. He knew that if she ever did fully grasp what he felt for her it would be their last interaction. She was not the type of person who dealt at all with those things._

_So he turned his glare on Narumi who smirked at him as they both squatted beside him._

"_That was stupid you know." Shizuru pointed out._

"_He shouldn't have..."He began angrily putting a hand to the deep cut across his chest._

_She shocked him by grabbing the front of his shirt in a fist and pulling him closer so their faces were inches away from each other._

"_Listen brat," she said darkly, "I'll only tell you this one time. If you come with me anywhere you learn to control that mouth. I won't bother stopping the next punk that goes after you. You say anything about this to your father and I won't give a damn about who you are. I'll take you out so you don't put me at risk."_

_That chill coil of threat wrapped around him again._

_She was absolutely serious about what she had said._

_She truly was not afraid of his father or anyone else for that matter. Her only concern was herself in this situation. He doubted even Narumi mattered in her scheme of things._

_A sudden burst of insight caught a hold of him._

_This was the person his father was trying to recruit. This cold, vicious creature that stared at him with eyes that lacked any emotion other than the reality of how very little his life meant to her._

_She would make the perfect yakuza boss if she continued along the route she was on._

_Already her name was whispered on the streets. Girls from other gangs had begun to flock to her when she occupied certain areas, those that did were absolutely loyal to her and by association Narumi as well._

_She did not seem to notice or did not care about the influence she had over those young women who had grouped so commonly that his father had made insinuations of attempting to gain Shizuru as a member through the formation of a gang within his territory._

_He balked at the idea only because he wanted to be the one to gain Shizuru's loyalty not his father._

_It would prove that he was superior and once he had her in that position he would gain even more of a chance to bring her closer to him._

_He also was aware that if he had her loyalty he would also have the yakuza families that were loyal to her. The debts owed her would work in his favor._

_He pressed the cloth of his ripped shirt harder against the wound on his chest as his emotions churned._

_He would have what he wanted no matter how long it took him or what he had to do to gain it. If that included breaking her to mold her into what he wanted her to be then that was how he would go about it._

_His birthright, respect, power, and most importantly Shizuru Kuwabara at his side._

_His father would regret ever thinking that anyone could possibly replace him and so would she._

"_Then I guess you better help me get cleaned up." he suggested with fake lightness._

"_I say we let him bleed out." Narumi offered._

_Shizuru let go of his shirt and stood up, "Shut up Narumi. Let's get out of here."_

* * *

His hand crept up to lightly touch the scar that still traveled across his chest.

In the end only one of those things he had promised himself that late afternoon in the alley had eluded him.

He had the position, the respect and power.

The only thing he did not have was Shizuru Kuwabara.

In some ways he had not completely minded. She did not belong to anyone, the few relationships that he had been aware of had been passing at best.

She consistently resisted any attempts from the families to join them.

Then the rumors had started a year ago about her consorting with a demon and his entire being had almost ripped itself apart in jealous rage.

Of all the men she could have chosen, him included she had to choose a demon.

It nauseated him to think of that black-haired midget touching her, of anyone but him being that close to her.

When he had finally been face to face with Hiei it had taken all the strength in his soul not to take his gun out and end the bastard's miserable life.

Only the fact that he knew what her reaction would have been had kept him from doing just that.

And that he had already become involved in a plan that would eventually end with Shizuru finally becoming his.

"You still sure this is going to work?" he asked the man standing just behind him.

"Of course," Takahashi replied in a confident tone.

He turned to look at the man suspiciously.

He had only agreed to this meeting because Takahashi insisted he know every step that was being taken. He did not necessarily care about the details as long as he got what he wanted in the end.

The empty parking lot they were meeting in was lit with street lamps, the night already heading closer to morning.

There was very little chance anyone would find out that they had met at all which was the point.

It would work against both of them if anyone knew the family that was the most against the dock fights and one of the major supporters were meeting under these conditions in many ways.

"So what next?" he prompted impatiently, "So far you aren't doing anything."

Takahashi smiled slowly, "Next we begin to weaken her defenses."

He snorted, "Yeah? How are you going to do that huh? Did you see her in the ring? She killed that demon no problems."

Takahashi glanced towards his car. Involuntarily he followed the glance with his own eyes. He had no idea why but Takahashi always traveled around with a white-haired punk who basically scowled at the ground during their meetings.

"Don't worry too much about that part." Takahashi assured him, "Going at her from a fighter's point of view won't get us anywhere with her. There are lots of ways to bring her down Hiro. This is only a start."

He glanced at the boy again uncertainly, "If you say so..."

* * *

"That guy has a seriously creep vibe to him." Chancer said as Murakami's vehicle left the parking lot, "Bet he dreams of rolling in body parts or something crazy like that."

Takahashi chuckled, "What Murakami lacks in imagination he makes up for in obsession and restraint. There aren't many that could hold back for as long as he has."

"Yeah well I don't get how that works out for us." Chancer admitted with a shrug pushing away from the car he had been leaning against, "He's going to get in the way."

"I fully expect him to get himself killed at some point." Takahashi revealed conversationally as he dug in his pocket, "People like him can only last so long before they show their true colors. The only thing I require from him is that he distract Shizuru long enough."

"That mean its my turn to get in on this?" Chancer asked curiously.

Takahashi put the cigarette he had pulled out of his pocket to his lips, lighting it and drawing deeply on it before responding.

"Since you seem so eager." he agreed blowing the smoke into the air, "I'll even allow you to choose your target. You do have one in mind don't you?"

Chancer smiled slowly, "Yeah, she won't see it coming either."

Takahashi chuckled darkly, "I do appreciate your style Chancer."

* * *

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	20. Blinders

It was yet another amusing scene though it held undertones of easily swayed into dangerous.

Botan had disappeared that morning only to reappear with Chu in tow.

He could only assume that Shizuru had requested the reaper find the large demon with obvious intentions of continuing to spar with him.

He apparently was not the only one that had come to that particular conclusion since Kuwabara of all people had taken one look at Chu, requested to talk with him then proceeded to launch into a lecture.

The subject of that lecture was easily overheard due to the idiot's overly loud voice. He doubted Kuwabara had a tone that was not above an annoying level, even when he whispered his voice almost echoed.

He was once again perched on the railing of the back porch. Yusuke and Kurama lounged against it not far from him obviously enjoying the scene being played out.

In reality he was only waiting for Shizuru to come out and realize what her brother was discussing with Chu.

He personally thought the subject matter was especially without substance.

"He's never going to let that go." Yusuke commented grinning.

"Never let what go?" Shizuru asked stepping out to join them.

He noticed Narumi followed her out only to lean between Yusuke and Kurama as Shizuru moved to stand beside him.

"Oh nothing...he just has a thing about guys hitting girls." Yusuke answered with a shrug, "Gave me the same crap he's giving Chu when we went to get Yukina."

Shizuru sighed lightly, "Moron..."

"Are you planning to stop him?" Botan asked worriedly, "I mean it isn't really Chu's fault..."

"Chu's a very big boy." Shizuru answered, her eyes on the pair not twenty feet from where they were, "If he can't handle little bro's idiot mode then I can't help him anyway."

"I think Kuwabara conveniently forgets at times that you are capable of defending yourself." Kurama said slowly.

Shizuru quirked an eyebrow, "He's not the only one around here that does that. No skin off my back if he doesn't get it."

"So when do I get to spar with you?" Yusuke asked.

His attention immediately centered on Yusuke in a manner that caused him to be uncomfortable. He should not have a reaction to the request.

It was inevitable that Yusuke see Shizuru sparring with Chu as an opportunity to test himself against her as well.

It was something Yusuke had developed, that want to test himself against any power he came across regardless of the source.

It could be traced back to Toguro when at first Yusuke had seen being forced into the Dark Tournament as something he had no choice in. By the time he had finished training with Genkai it had morphed, become something that Yusuke might have volunteered for if offered the chance.

It was not that Yusuke was bloodthirsty by any means. If anything Yusuke suffered from a lack of any real challenge.

Though he was of the mind that Yusuke was the one who had chosen the life that all but guaranteed such a thing.

"You don't." Shizuru answered without inflection.

"Huh? Why not?" Yusuke demanded with confusion.

He was confused by her answer as well but not for the same reasons. It still made little sense to him for her to spar with Chu.

Yusuke was on a different level entirely. A stronger, much more dangerous level.

She had shown a propensity to not acknowledge that sort of difference.

Shizuru glanced over at Yusuke, "Because you're just a street punk Urameshi."

Narumi chuckled but remained silent.

He watched as the eyes of the women locked then broke away as Shizuru moved to go around the railing.

He was as unprepared as Yusuke with what happened next.

"Hey wait a minute..." Yusuke said reaching for Shizuru's elbow to stop her.

Shizuru spun, knocking his hand out-of-the-way and rushed into Yusuke's personal space. It was not in a manner to strike him. She invaded without raising her hands, crowding within inches of his body.

What should have happened was that Yusuke held his ground.

Instead Yusuke attempted to move back, tripping on Narumi who had suddenly appeared behind him. Abruptly Yusuke stiffened as Narumi's knife went to the side of his throat.

"Do you intend to end his life to make a point?" Kurama asked smoothly.

"He would deserve it." Narumi replied smirking at the fox demon over her shoulder.

Narumi relaxed her grip on Yusuke, allowing him to straighten. Her blade was the last thing to be removed.

"What's going on?" Kuwabara asked as he and Chu joined them.

"Answering a question...doubt he understood though." Narumi answered bending down to replace the knife in her boot, "None of you really get it you know."

Yusuke remained silent, his warm brown eyes locked on Shizuru.

The silence that drifted among them grew in intensity, vibrant yet devoid of real threat regardless of what had just occurred.

There was something about it that again brought to mind his encounters Mukuro as well as when he had been in the presence of Yomi, perhaps it was more readily applied to Kurama's ex comrade. There had always been something about that demon that had given the impression that the rules that governed his actions were deeply ingrained in ways that were best expressed in darkened alley ways.

"Your trust radar is going to get you killed one of these days." Shizuru finally said tucking both her hands into her pockets, "You think cause you got that demon thing going for you its all that matters."

"Hey I ain't got a demon thing." Kuwabara denied.

He shifted forward suddenly interested in the conversation. It had taken a turn he had not expected.

"You're the same," Narumi shrugged, "two street punks with no clue how the world really works. You think your fights will walk up to you and introduce themselves? You have no idea how screwed your situation really is."

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about." Yusuke admitted glancing at Kurama, "Help a guy out Kurama."

"Dead guys don't need to get things." Narumi joked leaning back against the railing.

"I believe they are attempting to point out we are still very much in the dark when in comes to their ideas of what constitutes the rules." Kurama offered, "To them we are...walking targets."

"That's one way to put it." Shizuru agreed her gaze wandering towards the large backyard, "When we say stuff we mean different things Yusuke. Saying stuff like "I'll do anything"...you really mean as long as it doesn't go against what you think is right."

"And that's a bad thing?" Yusuke asked confused.

"No its part of your charm. What makes you guys the good guys. I just don't mean the same thing when I say it. I don't mean half ass and only if I think its right because my right changes all the time." Shizuru replied, "That's why I won't spar with you. And unless you happen to really piss me off why I won't ever fight you."

"What does that make you Shizuru?" Kurama ventured into the quiet that followed her statement.

"It makes me not a good guy." Shizuru answered after a lengthy pause.

"You don't mean that." Kuwabara insisted scowling at his sister.

"You have some pretty tight blinders on there Kazuma." Narumi said shaking her head, "All of you guys suffer from it a little but you and Urameshi are the worst. What gave you guys the impression you should trust me?"

"Shizuru trusts you." Kuwabara answered readily enough.

Shizuru chuckled, "Not in the way you mean it Kuza. What I trust about her is that sooner or later she's probably going to double cross me. I won't hold it against her because I know the reason behind it is for her to make it through all this. I don't blame people for being selfish about their lives."

"And I know she would do the same." Narumi added calmly with a small shrug, "but that's a different type of trust. If I was going to get killed I'd want her to do it."

"You guys have a real messed up friendship." Kuwabara pronounced scratching at his head as he looked back and forth between the two, "If you don't trust her why are we staying here and not going home?"

"Really? You think the neighbors would like Chu and me fighting in the backyard?" Shizuru asked smirking.

"That..." Kuwabara began angrily.

"I was meanin' to ask if he was a few teeth short of a full smile or not." Chu finally spoke up seeming perfectly ease, "Who lets anyone pound on them for no good reason?"

"If it's a girl you aren't supposed to hit them!" Kuwabara yelled turning to face Chu.

"Listen mate," Chu said folding his arms, "I know you got heart but that don't mean you got a brain one. That sister of yours hits harder then some demons, still got a few bruises from the last time we went at it. I'm not about to let her give and not get. You understandin' my meanin'?"

He could not help the snort of contempt that escaped.

Shizuru glanced at him, "No he probably doesn't. You can keep trying but I kinda let things go after the first time he gives me that lights going off look he has right now."

"Right then," Chu said clapping his hands together, "so are we gonna do this or should I come back some other not so chatty time?"

"Kuza go get me some cigs." Shizuru ordered calmly.

"Hey wait a minute..." Kuwabara began.

"That's weird," Shizuru interrupted him with a look, "I was pretty sure I didn't make that sound like a choice...or were you feeling left out and wanted me to drag your ass to the door?"

Kuwabara swallowed hard, "ummm no I think I'll go the less ouchy way."

"I'll accompany you." Kurama volunteered pushing away from the railing, "I'm feeling restless today. Botan?"

"Yes?" the reaper practically squeaked turning wide eyes on Kurama.

Again that confusing over reaction from her. It was more disturbing the more often it happened.

"Would you like to come with?" Kurama offered smiling, "You seem a little restless as well."

Botan glanced at Shizuru who shrugged noncommittally.

"Sure..." Botan answered though it was obvious she was uncertain.

"Have one of my guys drive you." Narumi ordered as the trio moved towards the door, "Don't be idiots out there."

"Unlike Kuwabara I do have the ability to not underestimate the danger we are still in." Kurama assured her pleasantly, "I would be the first to admit demons do have a tendency to think themselves perfectly safe when around humans. I grasp that you only meant to impress upon Yusuke how useless energies can be when caught in a trap made by those you trust."

"I get it." Yusuke half growled, frowning, "You don't have to rub it in."

"Yes you are well-known for understanding basic information the first time it is spoken." He commented amused.

"Yeah cause that trick wouldn't have worked on you right Hiei?" Yusuke threw back, drawing his name out in a taunting manner.

"Our skill levels are different." he replied unfazed.

"He's a bunch shorter than you too. Narumi would've had to pick him up." Kuwabara decided to add then grinned, "Just like a doll."

Yusuke chuckled, "Now that I would've paid to see."

"Weren't you moments away from becoming a victim of your sister's lack of patience?" He asked Kuwabara pointedly.

"Come along Kuwabara." Kurama insisted cutting short any further comment from the idiot.

He had already surmised that Kurama would attempt to gain information from Botan as to exactly why she was acting in such a strange manner. That was the way the fox demon operated, that smooth insistence that he was anything but the calculating person that he truly was underneath it all.

"Can I at least watch?" Yusuke asked Shizuru innocently.

"Sure, knock yourself out kid." Shizuru answered with a small shrug as she removed the outer shirt she had donned this morning, "Just don't get any ideas."

"Fine but don't blame me if you get bored with the drunken monkey." Yusuke sighed dramatically.

"I ain't drunk...yet." Chu insisted with a sniff of wounded pride, "I ran out of the stuff I like. You don't suppose ole Kurama would..."

"Nope." Shizuru said laying her shirt across the railing, "I wasn't planning on this being target practice."

"What exactly are your intentions?" he asked warily.

He did understand that the more often she sparred the more she would learn about the energies she possessed which were still in question. It simply seemed that she was far too focused for this to be simple sparring.

He was beginning to understand what Narumi had meant about her personality change. The shift in her reactions to Yusuke spoke loudly of a different frame of mind, one that perceived even him and Kurama as naïve in some ways.

It was not lost on him that not all that long ago he would have taken such implications as a personal insult.

If it had come from any other source then her there was a good chance he still would have seen it as one.

He also did not fail to note she did not bother answering his question.

Instead she gave a small smile and momentarily rested her hand on his upper arm. The gesture had a vague, comforting feel to it as if she had needed that touch for some unknown reason.

As Shizuru began to move away from the building, Yusuke alongside her another thought came to mind.

"If your teachings fail her I see no reason for you to continue breathing." He said aloud.

Chu paused in the act of following Shizuru out into the more open spaces of the yard beyond the house.

"Seems to me you ain't yet got a clear right to be sayin' that mate." Chu said casually turning slightly to look at him, "If it weren't for my Natsume I might take that in a real wrong type of way."

He tensed as the tendrils of confusing, dark emotions shifted through him.

The corner of Chu's mouth lifted as if he had not yet decided if he were serious about the conversation.

It was amazing how very near Chu was to being attacked.

So close that his hand had already shifted to the hilt of his katana.

So close his muscles screamed at him for release as he held iron control over them.

So close he could almost smell the other demon's blood as if it had already been spilt.

"Good on you for wantin' it clear though. Kinda hard to take you serious like when you ain't so sure yourself. Easy to say to a bloke "she's mine.". Not so easy to say "I'm her's" is it?"

He blinked unable to think of a response to those words.

Now Chu turned more fully towards him, "No worries Hiei. Never planned on movin' in on your territory. Can't say the same for others. That one human I meet at that new arena had his eyes on her fair to burn a hole right through. Him I would worry about. Somethin' off with that human..."

"Murakami is no threat." he growled still attempting to process what Chu had said.

Was that truly what lay behind the myriad of gaps between him and Shizuru?

He felt closer to her yet he knew there was still a part of him holding back.

A part that still lacked definition.

A part that writhed, twisting upon itself with the unpleasant emotions he had only just begun feeling.

Chu frowned obviously thinking hard, "Nah not that one...the bigger boss. The one that's playin' at controllin' her. Think his name was...Takahashi...sounds right...anyways he's the one playin' the real set and match with her."

"Hey I didn't have Botan get you so you could spend quality time with Hiei!" Shizuru shouted interrupting their conversation.

"We clean?" Chu asked meeting his eyes.

He nodded sharply in answer.

They understood each others positions no matter what Chu may have implied.

Chu turned and sauntered off towards the waiting duo in the yard. He did not require a closer place to watch the sparring as Yusuke had requested.

"Huh...never would've guessed you were the jealous type." Narumi commented pushing away from the railing, "Somehow that makes me feel better about her being with you."

It was a barbed comment, one he refused to respond to.

He felt his face draw into a scowl as she chuckled before leaving the porch for the inside of the house.

He was not a human.

He did not waste his time with something as simple as jealousy.

* * *

**I'm real sorry about how long each one of these is taking but thank you SOOOO much for being patient. I appreciate every review and hope you all will stick it out with me till the end...even if I am gettiing horrendous block ever chap :S. PLEASE REVIEW!**


	21. Walking Targets

She was trapped and she was perfectly aware that she had only herself to blame for it.

_I should've said no in the first place. Why? Why did I agree to go anywhere with Kurama?_

She knew why she had agreed.

She had simply not wanted to watch Shizuru sparring with Chu again.

It was one thing to watch the boys during an actual fight. Or even to watch Shizuru during the fights at the arena.

It was another thing to witness what Shizuru put herself through to get to that point.

To witness the bruising contact with the ground.

To see the woman take hit after hit without backing down.

It was a process she understood logically but emotionally she was not so well equipped to watch it progress.

It was a shortcoming she had not known existed until this point.

Kurama had offered her a way to not deal with it.

Now she was trapped, waiting for him to begin what she knew would be a difficult barrage of questions for her to either answer or put off until later.

At the moment they were sitting in a restaurant waiting for Kuwabara to return from the store nearby with the cigarettes Shizuru had sent them after.

Kurama had suggested they eat before returning, another way to delay having to watch the sparring which she had agreed to as well.

"Your vacation is not all that relaxing is it?" Kurama ventured quietly.

She played with the straw in her drink, "I suppose not. I really had no idea what to do with myself when Koenma told me I had to take one."

"And you came across Shizuru first?" Kurama prompted still in that casual tone.

She tensed a little, "Not exactly...but you could say that's how it happened."

Kurama shifted in his seat to look at her, a delicate eyebrow raised questioningly.

Her hand on her lap closed into a fist. She knew that look from the many times he had caught her in a half truth but said nothing out loud about it. He was much too smart for his own good and too curious to boot.

"Botan..." he began.

"Please don't." she requested letting her eyes meet his, "because I don't want to lie Kurama. I'm terrible at it and you know that. Can't we just...see what happens?"

Kurama's eyes narrowed slightly, "No I don't believe we can Botan. If this involved any one of us then perhaps but not with Shizuru and not with how it appears to be affecting you."

"Me?" she almost squeaked.

"There are few humans I refer to as friends..and only one reaper." Kurama said his face relaxing into a slight smile, "I do not enjoy you being so afraid near me regardless of my reputation. I'll offer you a middle ground to ease your mind. Whatever it is plaguing you is yours to keep to yourself. I only ask that you tell me enough so that you can feel comfortable."

She felt her eyes widen at his proposal.

If she was afraid of any of them it was Hiei not Kurama.

She had not thought she was acting as if she was that fearful of being near the boys.

Though in essence she was worried she would say too much to them. That she would betray Shizuru's trust even though she knew there was nothing the boys could do.

If she told Kurama anything there was a very good chance he would deduce at least some of it all on his own.

Against her better judgment she found herself seriously considering his offer.

Nothing she had experienced before had prepared her for the conflicting emotions she was dealing with. More than half the time she felt as if she were betraying the boys by saying nothing. That her silence would do more harm than good.

"_It's really just an afterward isn't it?"_

She could not describe the aching hollowness those words evoked in her.

There was always the chance that it was because of the purpose she served.

That because she was so intimately involved in the aspects of a soul that she could not find it in herself to view it in the same way as Shizuru.

It was not an afterward.

To her it was just as important as what was occurring now.

It deserved just as much attention. It deserved just as much concern, some effort to stave off.

_Would it mean as much to them if I did tell them? Or would they see it like she does?_

Her eyes were burning with the beginnings of tears. She tore her eyes away from Kurama's deeply concerned ones to stare at the table they were sitting at.

She did understand to a certain point why Shizuru would want it kept secret yet she could not help that urge to inform the boys. That slim, shining hope that somehow they could find a way as they always did.

She could not tell Kurama directly what was going to happen. That would be a direct betrayal of Shizuru who was doing everything she could to fulfill some purpose her spiritual energies had set for her.

Her insides twisted with traitorous thoughts but what was worse?

Betraying Shizuru who was only looking to shield the boys or betraying herself by remaining silent as she watched events play out?

There was also a very good chance Kurama would go directly to Koenma and that was the last thing that could happen.

Koenma had been very specific about his lack of involvement.

She did not even have the option of simply handing the book and all its contents over to the fox demon. Shizuru had kept the book for further perusal or because she had not totally trusted her to keep it.

In hindsight she had to agree she was not all that trustworthy in this particular area.

She was torn as to what she should do so instead she decided to ask something she knew Kurama might be able to reason out better than she could.

"Why do you think Shizuru has to do this?" she asked.

"You mean why does it seem she is being made to single-handedly reestablish the Dark Tournament itself?" Kurama clarified.

"Doesn't it seem odd to you?" she turned to look at him again, "For the most neutral person any of us know to do something like this."

* * *

He frowned slightly, taking in the earnest expression on Botan's face.

He had not expected the question but it had occurred to him to wonder about it himself.

He had several theories concerning the current situation but none of them had included the involvement of Spirit World. The addition of Botan had only lent to several more being added, none of which appeared to answer any of his questions in the matter.

"Shizuru has always served a...higher purpose whether she means to or not." he replied uncomfortable with the ambiguity of the subject matter, "You truly mean why not us instead."

Botan looked away again, "That isn't exactly..."

"Perfectly understandable considering how often it has been us." He interrupted gently, "As much as Hiei or I might want to not be associated with the concept we do seem to be the "good guys" as Shizuru said."

He was well aware of the fact that Botan was one of the more sensitive of their ragtag group. While she did not affect his life as often as the others he had developed a certain amount of affection for the reaper.

It did bother him for her to act as she had been towards them. He preferred to be feared for reasons he had put in place. And not by those he felt protective over.

"I believe that there are many factors involved in this Botan." he offered her slowly, "But at the moment I am only concerned about your part."

She shifted uncomfortably, "I don't exactly have a part Kurama. This isn't like it was with Yusuke. Shizuru isn't a Spirit Detective. In fact she never could be one."

He considered her again carefully.

He had thought the reaper was involved with Shizuru because of the current situation.

It only made sense that Botan would gravitate towards or in some way be assigned to someone with strong emerging spiritual energy especially considering how close they were to Shizuru.

He had not taken into consideration that there might be something else that had brought Botan to Shizuru's side.

_But what else is there that would concern a reaper..._

A chill swept through him causing him to lean forward, resting his elbows on the table.

"I know it may not seem that way but there are rules Kurama," Botan went on in a low voice before he could say anything, "Rules that govern all three worlds that can't be broken. One of them is that there are certain souls that even Koenma can't become overly involved with..."

"I assume you mean individuals like Shizuru." He reasoned keeping his voice as soft and encouraging as he could.

"There are demons like her as well." Botan continued folding her hands in her lap, "but that isn't the point really. For the most part these souls, these people, they exist in the outlying layers. You wouldn't notice them or think they did much of anything at all. Normally they live out their lives without even knowing the extent of influence they have on those around them. But that's the way its supposed to be."

"You talk of them as if they are very important." he said.

"Well of course they are," Botan censured with sharp annoyance, "if they weren't it wouldn't matter if they were interfered with now would it?!"

He blinked in surprise, it was not often Botan snapped at him. Whatever it was on her mind was much more complex then he had originally thought if the conversation was any clue.

"And if they are...interfered with?" he pressed hoping she would continue.

"True neutral forces are rare in any of the three worlds." Botan replied uneasily, "If there is too much influence in any one direction the purpose they serve can backfire. Instead of being the source that radiates influence they can be turned into a sort of vortex that influences are drawn into..."

His brow furrowed, "Shizuru has become one of these vortexes?"

Botan's eyes glistened wetly with her emotions, "Kurama she's..."

"I thought it was going to be a lot harder to find you guys." a young male voice announced interrupting what Botan had been about to say.

He should not have allowed himself to become so engrossed in the conversation.

The teenager that stood next to Botan's chair put one hand to the back of it and leaned forward in a way that gave the impression he knew her.

White blonde hair. Both ears pierced with silver. Hard eyes that spoke of experience far beyond the youth of the face.

"Can we help you?" he asked guardedly.

"You're kidding," the youth said with a snort of derision, "you already did by being dumb enough to leave Narumi's. I'm not complaining considering I was sure I would have to do something huge to get a crack at you."

"You have me at a disadvantage." he offered slowly leaning back in his chair, "You obviously know us..."

"I know you," the young man interrupted then smiled down at Botan, "You though...what are you exactly? Everyone else is like a box but you're just energy. How does that work?"

Botan's eyes snapped to his.

He was not the type of person who did not see those around him as potential threats. His own confidence stemmed from the fact that his first reaction to surprise was to become calm. Nothing good could be had when one's mind was full of chaos.

The boy's demeanor screamed of his self-assurance. If he did truly know him there had to be a reason for that confidence. Reputation alone assured that others became wary in his presence. While the others of the group were considered predictable he was not.

"You don't want to do anything you will regret." he informed the boy readying himself.

"Yeah my mom says that a lot. I wouldn't try your little whip trick if I were you." the boy said turning those hard eyes on him as he placed his hand on Botan's shoulder, "If I shut down her energies do you think she would just go poof?"

Fear on a grim reaper's face was not an amusing sight. It was jolting, horrifying in its own right.

As far as he knew there was no known way to actually end the existence of a reaper. That expression on Botan's face gave doubt to that concept. If she was afraid then there was some conceivable way for it to come about.

For a moment he debated his speed beating out the threat the young man might represent.

It was the growing terror on Botan's face that caused him to discard the thought.

"How do I know you even possess the ability to do as you say?" he inquired shifting in his seat.

"Call up Shizuru. Tell her Chancer has a message for her." the youth offered with a cocky grin.

He felt his brow furrow, "You know Shizuru?"

"You could say I had a hand in making her what she is." Chancer replied the grin growing wider, "Trust me this is going to really piss her off. Can't wait to see what she does next."

"What are your intentions then?" he asked warily, "As you say Botan is more energy then anything else. Her death would go beyond any message you might want to impart. I assure you if anything happens to her your death will follow."

"Tell you what...I'll give you a choice." Chancer offered holding out a hand to him, "You want to play at being the hero, so you be the message demon."

The words actually cause a small smile to creep onto his lips, "I rarely play at being anything at all Chancer."

"Kurama..." Botan breathed, her voice full of concern and fear.

"It's alright Botan." he assured her reaching out to take the proffered hand.

He would have much rather not offered but the alternative was Botan which was no longer a viable option.

Most assuredly not when her eyes spoke so eloquently of a mortal fear no reaper should have to entertain.

"Well that isn't exactly true..." Chancer said grabbing his hand in a strong grip, "This could hurt like a bitch."

A sudden flush of energies swept through him stealing his breath.

Abruptly his sight tunneled, the rush of blood pounded in his ears as everything inside of him seemed to swell and then condense with searing violence.

He was unsure he made any sound though he could feel his lungs attempting to force some type of vocal reaction from him.

Some booming, boisterous noise washed over him and just as abruptly as the energies had invaded him he was released to fall against the table struggling for breath.

He was disoriented, the world around him refusing to settle enough for him to think past it.

Someone pushed him upright easing his breathing.

"Kurama?"

Botan, concerned and something else he could not readily identify.

Was that horror he heard in her voice?

"What the hell happened? I was only gone for a second..."

Kuwabara, much louder but angry as well as concerned.

"Like I said before I don't get why she bothers with you people."

That voice caused him to straighten, to force himself to focus.

Murakami stood next to Kuwabara who was staring down at him with wide eyes.

"Kurama?" Kuwabara said uncertainly.

"Yes Kuwabara?" he prompted still recovering.

"What did you do with your demony parts?"

He laughed breathlessly closing his eyes against a wave of weakness.

It was gone.

That vibrant resonance of his demonic energies that he was so use to being a part of his being.

He had staked his life on a wild gamble made in the heat of the moment as was normal for him.

Even facing dire threat he could not contain that aspect of him self that insisted on the roll of the dice.

Without true detail as to what Chancer's insinuated ability could do he had no real clue what would occur once he touched the young man.

There had been the chance that he would have died instantly.

That the lack of his demonic energies would unravel his claim on the human body of Suichi Minamino.

"I'm so sorry Kurama." Botan whispered next to him.

He opened his eyes to stare at Botan in confusion, "I see little to be sorry for..."

"I was...I shouldn't have let it happen." Botan insisted with a shake of her head.

"And here I was under the assumption that Yusuke held the title for the most unnecessary apology." He managed a soft smile, "I told you before I do not like you so afraid in my presence."

In the end it turned out they were inside of Murakami's territory so it was not all that surprising that he had spotted Kuwabara entering the shop on his way to buy cigarettes.

The two had arrived just as Chancer had finished with him.

The driver that had brought them into town had disappeared. Murakami had offered to return them to Narumi''s. Though he was loath to ask anything of the yakuza boss he was inclined to accept considering he was in no shape for arguing.

He had accurately predicted the huge reaction to his present state from Narumi, Yusuke, and even the slight widening of Hiei's eyes.

It was the steady, unyielding gaze of Shizuru that seemed to affect him the most.

"_Instead of being the source that radiates influence they can be turned into a sort of vortex that influences are drawn into..."_

What exactly had Botan meant by those words?

His mind was still clouded though he wanted to think all that he had learned through.

"You look younger kid."

He lifted his eyes to meet Shizuru's, "I am by no means defenseless."

Her topaz eyes darkened considerably. For the briefest moment he had the distinct impression a shadow passed over them but the affect was gone before he could discern if it was only a trick of his exhaustion.

"Go get some rest." Shizuru suggested, "Try not to do anything else moronic."

"Is that all?" He asked with a small smile, "Surely you can garner a more colorful response to my actions."

A corner of her mouth lifted, "Don't push it Red. You just happened to mess up when I'm worn out."

"I'll consider it a reprieve then." he replied.

She walked away from him to talk directly with Murakami who had elected to come into the house when they arrived.

He did not trust the yakuza boss, the human made his skin crawl in ways few could.

"Do you plan to collapse where you stand?" Hiei commented drily.

"Why Hiei, I didn't know you cared." he teased.

"I have less use for you as a rug then I do as a human." Hiei fired back without pause.

He shook his head as he left the main room in search of the one Narumi had assigned him.

Hiei had so many varied ways of showing his concern, insults being the most prevalent.

* * *

Time for a small rant lol.

Yes I know...Botan can reason?! O.O

I don't normally say something about how I view any of the characters. How I write them speaks for itself really. I just feel Botan is given less credit then is due. She happens to be the only other character besides Enma that does not have a more or less assigned age. She kicked butt during that whole demonic bug arc on her own (which even Yusuke can't claim) and only went wonky once Keiko was involved (which says more about keiko). Anyways she's easily at least as old as Kurama so I'm going with the idea that she **_KNOWS_** things, most especially in regards to her job. Doesn't mean she can't be ditzy or overwhelmed so NO I don't think I wrote her OOC in this chap.

LOL ain't I bold XD PLEASE REVIEW!


	22. Coming into Focus

She watched the flurry of activity going on around her with little outward reaction.

There had been a serious move made against Narumi's territory following a rumor that the gang leader had perished from her injuries weeks earlier. Even the twins had not been able to quell it entirely.

Narumi had stayed locked away for much too long for those rumors to be controlled completely.

The response was a given, Narumi was leaving to deal directly with the rumors and the upstarts that had the nerve to believe they could do anything like they were.

Under normal circumstances she would have more or less ignored the people rushing around and arming themselves.

She would have allowed herself the moments of dark humor that allowed her to find Yusuke, Kazuma, Botan, and even Kurama's reactions to everything as distinctly hilarious given they had to be aware they were in a safe house that belonged to the gang.

Otherwise this was Narumi's business.

It had very little if anything to do with her.

She knew that yet she also knew that morning she had awoken with the vague, unsettling knowledge that something dark was on the horizon.

She was almost certain her dreams had been full of things shadowy and ominous but as usual once she opened her eyes the details drifted away without her want.

Her first impulse had been to not leave the comforting warmth of Hiei's body.

To remain in that haze of safety physical contact with him never failed to invoke.

That had proven to elicit one of the strangest reactions she had ever had while in his company.

As she lay there that urge began to swell, building inside of her until she was all but clinging to him. Her body even began to tremble under the pressure of the surges that traveled through her.

Over top of the emotional chaos she felt the arm around her shoulders tighten.

Of course he had noticed the strange occurrence, very little escaped his notice.

"Shizuru?"

It flowed over her, that molten edged tone as if seeking to shield her all on its own. Almost mesmerizing when it dropped into the lower ranges which happened most often when he was concerned.

If only he knew the comfort she garnered from hearing his voice call her name. Another thing she would never admit to out loud.

But how could she answer any questions about her current state when she did not understand it?

How could she get Hiei of all people to grasp what choked and clawed at her in that moment?

To her horror her eyes began to sting as if she were near tears.

If she did not untangle herself, remove that blanketing sense of security Hiei represented there was no question in her mind she would spiral further into the gulf that threatened.

That thought galvanized her into movement.

She shoved herself up and away from him abruptly with every intention of leaving the bed.

His hand encircled her wrist staying her motion as she turned away from him.

His grip was firm yet just shy of the way one would hold onto something fragile.

That touch conveyed the exact way Hiei treated her in all things though to others it did not quite translate the same way.

Hiei never used his full strength when touching her.

It was a purposeful act, a thing of conscious choice he made. One she was certain was more habit now though there were times she could see it in his eyes that he was reminding himself to do so.

Hiei held himself in check with everything between them.

It was not only in the physical sense.

She knew he held back in other ways. Either because he felt she would not understand or because it might somehow affect the way she viewed him.

She supposed it was a valid concern.

He was a demon after all, that their views would not always coincide was only to be expected.

But because she knew that about him she found herself responding in much the same way.

The common ground they had found during and especially after the Tsuneo incident had held only a few solid basis to it.

Knowing some of another person's past even as intimately as they did could not be called complete understanding.

Neither of them were practiced in the concept of allowing another to share their life.

If anything Tsuneo had made her distinctly aware of how unusual someone with strong, passive spiritual awareness was to demons.

There was a lot about her that represented things Hiei had shown a strong aversion to.

Most definitely Hiei did not appreciate ambiguity any more than she did yet her energies caused her to be exactly that.

There were times she had witnessed his purposeful rejection of those things he could not reason out.

Times that Kazuma had mentioned his own abilities in that area and Hiei had been dismissive.

If she were being honest it was that reaction of his that she dreaded the most.

She could not help but question how he viewed her abilities.

How long would it take for that absolute rejection to be turned directly to her person instead of any given situation?

Just how long could Hiei stand the constant barrage of nonsense she exposed him to on an almost daily basis?

It was unfair of her to think these things of him, to not discuss it since it did bother her. Yet every time the urge to discuss it with him came she could not quite bring herself to do it.

Hiei accepted many things at face value.

So far he did not comment when she was moved to do the things she did for no reason at all.

In truth she was afraid to broach the subject, to find out in some way she was correct in that he was not accepting of this aspect of her.

It was a first for her and she blamed it entirely on him.

It had never mattered before Hiei.

Before that moment at Genkai's when he had said she was necessary to him.

Before she had experienced what it was like to feel as if they were the only two people who existed and had actually wanted nothing more than that.

It had never mattered if anyone accepted her.

In fact there had been times in the past she had been fully rejected by humans because she could not explain the things she did enough for others to be satisfied. Not that she had bothered all that much but from time to time for her own amusement she would toss out what little she did know just to see the reaction of others.

Hiei though was a different subject entirely.

For him not to accept that aspect was like her not accepting that he was a demon.

She wanted that acceptance so desperately that at times she could almost taste the quality of it.

But again it was something she could not bring herself to voice.

That she loved him was never in question, not since she had acknowledged it herself.

She knew she would do anything for him.

Anything to keep him near.

Anything to remain in that almost sacred place where nothing else mattered except his touch, the sound of his voice, and the sight of his crimson eyes focused on her.

She was being foolish, she knew that she was allowing her insecurities to keep them separate but she could not seem to stop the knee jerk reaction of protecting them both.

Her from rejection and him from having to face something he may not be ready for.

"What is it?"

It was an interesting ability, that softening of the edges of anger from his tone. It also conveyed a small amount of impatience.

"Bad dreams," she said finally forcing herself to look at him over her shoulder, "think it's a little early to try for beer though even for me."

His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he considered her.

Suspicious because though he trusted her he did not necessarily trust her motives especially in any given situation that involved any one of them.

She could not blame him because it was the truth.

She had always leaned in the direction of overprotective when it came to any of them. If it involved Kazuma or Hiei she could be viewed as borderline suicidal considering the past.

So she decided to use a tactic she rarely employed.

The absolute truth.

"I thought it would be Kazuma." she admitted to him then went on when his expression changed to confusion, "Who they would use to get to me. I...didn't think it would be Kurama."

His head tilted slightly, "You miscalculated then."

"You think so?" she returned shifting so that she could look at him more comfortably.

"You would not put any of us in a place of danger." he replied still gazing at her in that searching fashion.

"You think that I cared?"

"You believe I could be fooled into thinking you have suddenly become someone else?"

_Really...do you have to know me that well?_

"Sometimes I don't give a damn at all Hiei." she admitted letting her eyes fall down to where he still held onto her wrist, "When I'm fighting I don't."

"You feel no guilt over it." he pointed out.

This was one of the many reasons she found it impossible to resist him.

His ability to treat her both delicately and with no tact at all.

She enjoyed the fact that he refused to see her in any other way then an equal in most regards.

He did not see her as human.

To Hiei "Shizuru" was a being somewhere between human and demon and not to be confused with either.

It was funny that for him he was almost a chatterbox when they were alone.

Not all that long ago getting more than one sentence out of him within five minutes felt like a victory of sorts.

He shifted in that way that was too quick to truly see.

At first it had unnerved her, the motion seeming almost boneless since he appeared to slide from one position to the next without actually moving.

If anything the motion spoke of his attention being more centered on her.

Even his movements were slowed for her benefit unless he was distracted.

It brought him closer to her, another thing he did not do with just anyone.

Personal space was sacred space to him, either you were trusted in it or you died there.

She had always felt privileged when he was so close, time did not seem to affect that feeling.

Then again this close he was all too obvious that he wanted something from her.

"How long do you intend to keep secrets?" he asked.

She blinked in surprise, pulling back a little.

Again his hand stopped her, only this time she had to stop herself from ripping away from his touch. Abruptly the atmosphere had thickened, the gaze that held her was not as soft as it had been a moment before.

For a brief instant she felt her energies swell in response.

Hiei smirked, "That is not spiritual energy Shizuru. What did you do this time?"

She could have hit him for forcing her to respond. The way his eyes had relaxed as soon as her energies had reacted spoke eloquently of his satisfaction in tricking her.

"Have I ever told you that you talk too much?" she asked annoyed.

"You will not distract me from the subject." he informed her.

She sighed heavily, "I...don't really know what it is. It's just there so I use it."

His eye twitched momentarily as if he were holding back which she knew he was, it brought a smirk to her own lips.

Shocking Hiei had its own rewards.

She opened her mouth to say something else but knocking at the door interrupted her.

She shifted to rise from the bed.

"Leave them." Hiei snapped, his voice full of its normal annoyance.

"I would but if I got a choice between a pissed off you and a surprise at the door...I'm going for the door." she replied with a chuckle.

He snorted but released her hand without further comment which she was grateful for.

The last thing she wanted was a lecture from Hiei.

Granted it would have been a short lecture considering the source but that did not mean she wanted to listen to one.

She had been as honest with him as she felt she could be.

It was not like she absolutely knew what the energies were that she used. What she knew of them had more to do with the state of mind they evoked and what using them more or less entailed for someone else.

She had not thought to mention that the previous night when she had confronted Kurama something odd had happened.

That for a few short moments her vision had blurred.

That in that blurred scene before her vivid, strange colors had super imposed themselves over Kurama's features.

That even now that fact did not disturb her.

Maybe it should but she was not going to discuss it with him.

Yes, she would do anything for him.

She knew it was one of the many things that kept them circling each other as they did.

It was not that they did not trust each other.

It was trusting themselves with each other that was the hardest aspect of being together.

And just like him she existed in the whirlpool of not willing to accept less than they had but unwilling to lose everything if something were to change.

* * *

**Please leave a review XD! This author totally appreciates it XD!**


	23. Inner Circles

She was, for the moment, blissfully alone.

She had tried to wait for Narumi's return inside the house with the others but that had only ended up heightening her sense that something was not quite right.

The others had settled into the main room barely talking with each other as the time went by. There had been a heavy, pervasive quality to the air that had become suffocating.

Without a word she had left for the openness of the backyard only sparing a small shake of her head towards Hiei whose eyes had centered on her the moment she had moved.

He was concerned, in his way of course.

That quiet brooding that he had mastered at some point in his life that gave off a sense of silent disapproval though it was not all that easy to know exactly whom that was directed towards.

There were times she was convinced he disapproved more of his own reaction then of anything he might be thinking of.

She closed her eyes momentarily, allowing the relative silence of the space around her to fill her thoughts.

Or attempted to, she had never been very good with the concept of emptying her thoughts.

It did not help that she was perfectly aware someone was approaching her from behind.

Whoever it was made noise in a way that said they were purposefully making it.

That kind of courtesy meant only one person.

"What are you up to Red?" she asked without turning around.

"Being horribly inconsiderate of your obvious want to be alone." he returned as he came to stand beside her.

She had been wondering just how long they would leave her to her own devices.

Apparently the time limit on that was somewhere near the half hour mark.

She occupied herself with lighting a cigarette.

She was not exactly in the mood to talk but Kurama had a way about him that tended to ease her into doing so.

It might have been the lack of expectation from him.

Or just that he tended to bring an air of absolute secrecy with him when he was nearby.

Even without that hum of demonic energy to his person those things remained.

"I can't go after Chancer you know." she said after taking a deep drag, "not right now anyway."

A small sound of amusement escaped him, "I did not come out here to plead my case in that area Shizuru. Your reaction was much too low-key for there to be an immediate response. It is easy to assume you know my energies are not gone...only locked away somehow."

"You're supposed to be the smart one," she commented dryly, "What the hell happened?"

"And if I said I took a calculated risk?"

She made a rude noise, "I wouldn't believe you."

"Admittedly there was very little thought involved." Kurama offered slowly, "It was a choice that I made. One I believe was planned for from the beginning. It makes no difference why."

"And it doesn't bother you?" she asked curiously despite herself, "You seem totally okay with it."

"I am no less a demon because my energies cannot be touched then you are less a human because yours can." he replied.

She smirked, "Wow this conversation went weird. So what do you really want to talk about?"

She absolutely did not want to discuss what her energies defined her as with anyone.

It was difficult enough to concentrate on the things she had to maintain balance with to add yet another to the giant mix.

"What is your true purpose behind these battles Shizuru?" he asked after only a moments pause, "At first I was willing to accept the explanation of keeping us away from them..."

"You think there's something else to it all." she stated not needing to look at him for confirmation, "That's the way it started out. Just keeping you guys in your own little worlds. Letting you be...whatever it was you wanted to be..."

She trailed off, taking another drag off her cigarette to buy some time.

She was not Kurama in that it took her some real time to think things through.

In her own defense she realized it was difficult to match a demon who was in actuality over 500 years old.

She doubted even Candy and Store could really match him in the end.

He was simply too experienced in tactics and observation overall to really compare.

"What changed?" he prompted quietly.

"A lot," she admitted uncomfortably.

The fact was for a long time she had ruminated over the reasons behind her involvement.

For a long time she simply had not had enough facts to put everything together in a way that was understandable.

Now of course thanks to certain events the boys had begun speaking about the Demon World, giving her that missing information without realizing that was what they were doing.

"You ever wonder what happened before the barrier?" she asked him allowing herself to simply talk without a real direction to follow, "I mean if you think about it humans really should of been killed off."

"You assume that there was no stop gate for the influx of demons before the barrier." Kurama said still keeping to that non invasive tone.

"Was there?" she asked turning to look at him.

She watched his face as he formulated his answer. There were no signs that he intended to lie though she found it really difficult to know when those times were. If anything he gave the impression of someone deciding between what should be said and what should be forgotten.

"There were several though some would not have called them such." he admitted finally, "The first being that demons of a certain class find themselves...uninterested in creatures of unremarkable power."

"Sooo you mean really strong demons like Mukuro just don't care about the Human World?" she tried to clarify.

"In a sense," he confirmed uneasily, "it is more a natural inclination to ignore things that do not seem like a threat. Humans do the same...you would not find a squirrel very threatening so you tend to ignore the fact that they exist. I've known many demons who have gone their entire lifetimes without a desire to come here."

"Huh...so we're squirrels...great news." she murmured with a small chuckle.

"That is not to say ones with reasons to be here would find their interest lessened as they grew stronger."

She felt her brow furrow for a moment before realizing he had simply answered a question that would have eventually come to plague her.

"You worry too much." she chastised ignoring the fact that she was almost grateful he had thought of saying it.

Not that she needed yet another thing to worry her when it came to Hiei.

"You were saying...about the barrier?" he prompted.

"It went down," she replied with a shrug, "not so much a big deal but after losing the Dark Tournament because of..."

She stopped again unable to control that tattered swell of emotion that she could not even identify any more.

She ran a careless hand through her hair.

"I assume you have decided there is a definitive danger of the Human World becoming overrun by demons because of these events." Kurama surmised.

"I'm just going with what I know." she asserted frowning, "I know Botan said something back then about Koenma letting that tournament happen because it controlled the population. I know that barrier kept the stronger ones from coming through. And because you guys like to talk I know there's a hell of a lot more of you then there is of us."

"There is the edict of the King for demons to leave this world to itself." Kurama pointed out.

She could not help the smirk that lifted her lips, "Yeah...weird how that arena was full of demons then huh."

"I have to admit there is some...logic to your assumption. The reinstatement of the Dark Tournament would redirect a great majority of those that seem to be ignoring the new laws. Though I do not see the reasoning behind you alone heading this endeavor." he responded concern in his tone.

"Don't know why," she admitted with a shrug, "just know you guys can't get involved, not in the fighting anyway. I'm not being overprotective Kurama. It's just something I know."

Lovely, useless ambiguity.

It made her sick sometimes to be so ridiculously unable to answer a question.

To have to say to someone "I just know." and have to accept that they may or may not believe her.

She _**knew**_ they absolutely could not fight in the arena.

She _**knew**_ the Dark Tournament was the end goal to what she was doing.

She _**knew**_ that the darkness she perceived stalking just beyond her understanding pertained in part to those actions and to something else that might have something to do with her personally.

She knew these things yet she had no way of convincing others of it except by saying so.

Kurama was silent for another long moment causing her to tense internally.

She hated this part, waiting for someone else to either accept or reject what she said.

"And what did Chancer do to make you Shizuru?" he asked finally.

"Huh?" she responded surprised by the question.

His brow furrowed, "His words...that he had a hand in making you what you are. What did that entail?"

Really she should have ignored the question or told him to mind his own business.

Instead she answered him truthfully.

"When all this started I couldn't wait for things to be natural. Narumi kept saying I used spiritual energy to get that demon off of us when she got shot. Chancer can make them work just like he can make them not work." she explained dropping what was left of her cigarette to the ground and grinding her shoe over it, "Why does it matter?"

"That you have no idea the limit of your energies? It matters Shizuru. Since yours do not exactly fit into either true spiritual nor demonic definitions it could matter quite a bit." he answered, "You are normally not so dismissive nor purposefully ignorant of these things."

"Why does everyone think I give a damn?" she asked annoyed, "I can use them and I really don't care."

"Have you used them against a human?" Kurama questioned moving closer.

"Nope." she admitted, "And?"

"How do you know they will work in the same fashion..."

"I'm not talking about this with you." she interrupted angrily turning away from him with every intention returning to the house.

It did not matter that at the time she had felt nothing.

That she felt no guilt over her past actions.

What mattered in the end was their perception of her.

She could not stand the thought of any of them, Kurama included, seeing her as anything but the Shizuru they already knew.

She craved full acceptance but knew there were limits to such a thought.

It made her angry that he would question her about killing anyone.

Furious that he would push into areas she was trying so desperately from being completely exposed.

She felt his hand wrap around her upper arm even as angry as she was she could not help but freeze.

Like this, with his skin touching her's, she could feel the lack of vitality in him.

She was at fault for not anticipating this result and without being told she knew it had been more than just a calculated risk.

It was not the same as if it had been Kazuma who could without question thrive without his access to his spiritual energies.

Kurama could have died the instant Chancer engaged his ability.

If that had happened his death would have been on her hands.

He may be dismissive of what had occurred but she was not.

"It won't matter if it works or not. If I end up having to kill someone like this then that's what happens." she said turning slightly to look at him, "You making a huge deal out of it doesn't make a damn bit of difference you know."

"There is a difference in ending the life of a demon and ending one of a human." he countered.

Wasn't it sadly beautiful?

That worry set in such an almost delicate frame.

"You're wrong," she stated firmly, "maybe to you there's a difference Kurama but there never has been to me. Demon. Human. Killing someone is killing someone. Or didn't you notice I'm dating a demon? You think I don't consider him, you, Yusuke or even Yukina as just as important?"

It had never made sense to her really.

How could they be so blasé about killing demons and have such horrified reactions to the thought of killing humans?

It had to be another of those stop gates Kurama had mentioned.

For some reason both races viewed it the same way.

Ending the life of a demon did not seem to matter in the larger scheme of things.

Ending the life of a human however brought on different reactions.

Even Hiei seemed to have the same mindset though he viewed humans in a decidedly insignificant light.

Kurama's green eyes darkened as he gazed down at her, "Shizuru..."

She relaxed in his grip which caused him to release her arm.

"Sooner or later you're going to accept this for what it really is you know." she said quietly, "there isn't a Toguro around or a Sensui. The only person standing in the way of anything good going on here is me. I'm the bad guy in this and believe me way before this started that's what I was."

Something strange passed in the emerald orbs she was staring into.

A cold smile drew Kurama's lips up, "And before this body so was I Shizuru. Needless to say we all have our moments. That does not negate our worth."

She sighed heavily, "This isn't going to end well..."

"I prefer you do not finish that statement." Kurama interrupted losing the smile, "The last time you said something like that I was forced to ensure things I do not want to repeat. I will not keep Hiei in the dark a second time for you."

She actually found it in herself to chuckle darkly, "You can tell him anything you want. He doesn't ask me this stuff so I don't tell him."

"Yes it is very convenient for the both of you isn't it?" Kurama inquired in a tone that spoke of censure, "Neither of you ask so neither of you tell. And when you die Mukuro will have him...I suppose that is an acceptable thing."

For a single bright, shining moment she saw everything with perfect clarity.

The way he had arranged his body in relationship to her's.

The way his eyes bore into her, the intensity of purpose behind the shadows that lay there.

Under normal circumstances even angry she would have walked away.

He had to have known the circumstances were not the same.

He had known what her reaction to that statement was going to be.

He was the only person she had ever revealed that particular truth to.

That she secretly resented Mukuro, that there were times she was even jealous of the demon female.

How could she not be?

She had seen that moment of Mukuro's past with Hiei.

Known intimately just what it had meant to Mukuro.

It did not matter to her that Mukuro had little interest in him beyond as her heir.

What mattered was that when he was not with her he was with Mukuro.

That when she was no longer around there would still be Mukuro.

It made no sense, jealousy over something she could not change was extremely stupid as far as she was concerned.

That did nothing to change the fact that it was absolutely true.

It was not that her energies surged inside of her, or that anger took her over.

For a heartbeat it almost felt as if something else forced its way inside of her and tossed aside all other thought.

The vibrant colors of the night before came into focus abruptly.

The cold rage that cleared her mind was invigorating.

It did not matter that it was Kurama standing in front of her, that she cared for him in much the same way she cared for Kazuma.

She was going to make him bleed.

"You really shouldn't have said that." she informed him in a low voice.

* * *

He was the first to react to the surge of energies, picking his head up from regarding the wood of the floor without truly seeing it.

"What the hell..." Yusuke exclaimed a moment later gaining his feet at the same time.

"We should check that out." Kuwabara insisted at the same time, scowling in the direction it had come from, "Kurama's not...Hey Hiei wait up!"

He ignored the idiot in favor of leaving the dwelling.

The swell had come from the direction he knew Kurama had taken as well as Shizuru.

As soon as he reached the scene playing out in the open field he could not help becoming frozen in shock.

Shizuru was attacking Kurama.

There was no mistaking the manner in which the two were moving as anything but that.

Shizuru was crowding Kurama, forcing him to back away as he defended his body with well placed blocks.

He could not reason out why it was that Kurama remained within her strike zone.

Why the fox demon did not fall back into his normal mode of fighting.

Kurama never engaged someone up close nor did he remain within their reach if it could be helped unless it was for a killing blow.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" Kuwabara roared as he appeared next to him, "KNOCK IT OFF!"

To say the volume of Kuwabara's voice was painfully shrill would have been an understatement.

He almost covered his ears in an automatic gesture to protect his hearing as the noise ripped into his head.

As it was he barely held himself back from slamming his fist into Kuwabara in retaliation for the piercing agony.

His eyes narrowed as he noted the warp in the space that surrounded Shizuru, an undulation that brought to mind something akin to a mirage seen on the horizon.

"oh no..." Botan gasped in horror from beside Kuwabara, "You have to stop them!"

"Why?" Yusuke asked watching the pair, "I mean we don't usually get into each others fights Botan. It's not like Kurama will really hurt her..."

"I'm not worried about _**Kurama**_ hurting _**her**_ Yusuke!" Botan exclaimed.

If not for the unusual events of that morning he might have agreed with Yusuke completely.

Even with how oddly Kurama appeared to be fighting under normal circumstances they tended to simply watch such things instead of interfering regardless of those involved.

He could appreciate the flow of battle without the excess of emotional attachment.

He did not have an overprotective reaction upon seeing the two fighting.

There was no true threat to Shizuru's life when it was Kurama who was involved.

Standing there as the two continued to trade blows he did not bother to suppress the swell of pride he felt watching her.

Her style was very close to Yusuke and Kuwabara's with some very important differences.

She did not depend on single strikes, any time one fist came into contact it was followed with barrages meant to wear her opponent down.

She moved constantly instead of standing her ground.

Her attacks were not repetitive, instead she changed tactics and directions with little pause.

In essence she was an effective fighter, knowledgeable as to her own strengths and aware of her opponent's.

Until Botan's strange reaction to the scene he had almost simply let the two finish what they were engaged in.

But the reaper's words reminded him of that unexplained reaction in the bedroom.

He could still feel her body tremble against him, the tightening of her arms.

At the time he had been surprised by the action, instantly bothered by its intensity.

Then she had mentioned the bad dreams and he could not help the automatic surge of protectiveness that had swarmed through him.

With Shizuru there was no such thing as just a bad dream.

Her dreams held portents of the future even if she could not recall the details of them.

He knew this from events of the past not that they had ever discussed in private that particular aspect of her spiritual awareness.

It only made sense that her reaction upon waking had to do with something dire that was in the air.

Before he could move to intercede between the two another body ran past him.

He recognized Narumi's slim figure as it crashed into Shizuru and both women went to the ground.

It was enough to shake off the last of the shock still coursing through him and prompted him to move.

Kurama had simply stopped, breathing heavily as all three of them neared him.

"Get the hell off!" Shizuru snapped shoving Narumi from her before gaining her feet.

"I was only gone for a few hours!" Narumi returned standing as well, "What happened?!"

He did not miss the look of confusion that passed over Shizuru's face as she took in Kurama's condition.

"I..." she began frowning.

Kurama held up a hand stilling her words, "It was my mistake. I should never have pushed you so far."

Shizuru only stood there staring at Kurama for a long moment before making a small sound of disgust and walking away quickly.

Narumi followed her shaking her head.

Botan went as well without a word to any of them.

"So what really happened?" Yusuke asked as soon as the girls were out of ear shot, "That wasn't exactly a normal fight."

"Would you rather I had allowed her to fight a human in the arena without knowing if those energies worked against one?" Kurama returned mildly, his breathing having returned to normal.

"You ain't human Kurama." Kuwabara said confused.

Kurama chuckled, "This body is very human Kuwabara even with the addition of a demonic soul and energies."

"I take it they work." Yusuke said with a slight smile.

"Remarkably so," Kurama agreed, a hand drifting to touch his chest lightly, "In a way very close to having one's soul removed...piece by piece."

"Well glad that's over." Yusuke stated rubbing at the back of his head, "Do me a favor and next time warn us before pissing Shizuru off."

"I have no intention of repeating that particular action Yusuke." Kurama replied.

"Lets grab something to eat Kuwabara." Yusuke suggested then walked away.

"Uh yeah..." Kuwabara agreed casting one last worried look at Kurama before following.

This time it was the two of them who waited until the others were out of earshot.

"What did you keep to yourself?" he demanded looking at Kurama.

Kurama frowned, "It may have been an affect of the situation..."

He made a rude noise, "That I doubt."

"Being near her as we fought I noticed two things I did not before. Near her under those conditions it is almost as if death is stalking you. Your sense of mortality is greatly increased. I am not ashamed to admit I was distracted by the effect." Kurama answered though it was obvious his mind was still turning the facts over.

"And the second thing?" he prompted impatiently.

"She had no clue who I was Hiei." Kurama replied his frown deepening, "In the beginning she did but as she fought I know she did not recognize me as anyone other than an opponent. Before Narumi interfered I was beginning to wonder how I was going to disengage from her."

"She would not have allowed it." he stated darkly.

He had seen far too many fights not to recognize one that was going to be fought to the end.

The only question was if she would have stopped with Kurama unconcious or if her requirements were death.

"What did you do to antagonize her?" he inquired.

It was a simple question yet Kurama's expression changed to one of deep thought.

"Let's just say you and Shizuru have a lot more in common then you realize Hiei. Perhaps one day you two might even tell each other." Kurama answered ambiguously.

He felt his eyes narrow in annoyance.

He despised those types of answers from the fox demon.

* * *

_**Muahahahah...bet ya didn't expect that! Please leave a review XD!**_


	24. Razor's Edge

It was one of her worst nightmares realized.

She did not get a chance to recover from what had occurred between her and Kurama out in the field.

The moment she entered the house bent on finding a place to gather herself she was confronted with not just Hiro but four other representatives of the major crime families.

Narumi had attempted to warn her but she had been too wrapped up in shock and residual anger to listen to the other woman.

She stopped dead at the entrance of the back door taking in the new arrivals.

"Ah there you are Shizuru." Hiro greeted her gesturing for her to come all the way in, "We've been waiting on you."

Behind her came the sound of Yusuke and Kazuma and still she did not move from blocking the doorway.

How many years had she kept these two worlds from colliding completely?

How much effort and sweat had gone into all of it?

How many bones had been broken, teeth shattered, blood spilled to prevent this very thing from ever happening?

She probably should have seen it coming at some point. There were just too many things involved, too many people affected by what was happening.

"Go ahead," Narumi whispered in her ear, "I'll warn them about what's gonna get them shot."

She looked at her friend knowing her expression had gone blank. It was almost too much for her to take in but she obviously had no choice but to deal with this situation.

"I've got your back this round." Narumi assured her glancing at Yusuke and Kazuma, "I'll hit them or something if telling them don't work."

She nodded though she did not move yet.

There were certain things she normally had in these situations that she did not have in this particular one.

One of those things was additional back up which oddly enough appeared a moment later in the forms of Candy and Store who took in the company waiting in the room and immediately flowed to her side.

Not that anyone else would have viewed the twins in that way but she had on occasion used them as more than simple information specialists. In their own way they were considered independent.

"We've taken care of that thing you wanted." Store informed her, "It was hard to find Arata but we did."

"He's been under pressure from the Black Black Club to deal exclusively with them." Candy added reaching into the vest she wore, "Not very nice company though."

"No they aren't." she agreed unsurprised when Candy placed a gun in her hand, "But things are evening out."

She did not normally handle guns.

She did not like them in the least but she did know how to use them.

Her main exception was any place two or more of the families were represented even if they were supposedly friendly with her. There was way too much ego involved in these types of meetings and for the most part those that were unarmed in these situations were idiots.

She heard some sort of sound from behind her as she tucked the gun into the back of her pants.

She was going to have to play her part as she always did without being concerned that the boys or Botan were there.

"You two up for backing?" she asked quietly.

"Would I give you one of my toys if I didn't already want to join the party?" Candy returned smiling, "You should know there's a rumor going around that Kurama is dead."

Her brow furrowed, "Why..."

"Neutralize what can't be controlled." Store supplied with a lift of her chin.

She followed the motion to find Kurama and Hiei had joined the group behind her.

Kurama met her eyes questioningly as Narumi whispered at him and Hiei. She could only shake her head and return her attention to the room.

So many guns.

So many ways for them to end up dead.

"Shizuru?" Hiro prompted a bit impatiently, "We need to discuss something with you."

"I'm sure you do." she tossed out finally stepping forward as she forced everything else from her mind, "It better be good Hiro."

* * *

"Okay I'm going to give this to you guys fast and hard because there isn't time. So just shut up and listen." Narumi insisted in a fierce whisper as Shizuru entered the house.

"But..." Kuwabara began uneasily.

"Be silent!" Hiei snapped glaring at Kuwabara.

She was actually grateful for the automatic censure.

She had no time to deal with what was their apparent internal mechanics, the small bouts of arguing the young men would engage in when anything occurred.

"Go on Narumi." Kurama encouraged his eyes more on the open doorway, "We grasp there is some new gravity to this particular situation."

New gravity.

She almost laughed at the description because it seemed to be both perfect and woefully inadequate at the same time.

It was bad enough having to tackle Shizuru to end the fight though it was not the first time in their past she had done something like that.

That sort of thing always put Shizuru on edge and that was the last attitude that was needed at the moment.

"Here's the way this is going to go." she informed them tightly, "You guys are going to go in there. You're going to sit as far away from the main group as you can. You are going to keep your mouths shut the entire time. These guys aren't just thugs. The men in there represent real power in the yakuza. By that I mean any one of them could kill any one of us and they wouldn't have to worry about it."

"You really expect us not to do anything if..." Yusuke began scowling.

"I mean when you step in there anything and everything you do or say is on Shizuru." she hissed smacking Yusuke on the side of the head, "I mean you can get her dead by glaring at one of them wrong. Yes I expect all of you to do nothing no matter what happens. I don't care if they attack her you do nothing, get it?"

She found herself staring down Hiei.

It was not something she had anticipated, the way her heart sped up with anxiety though she did not let it show on her face.

There was no way he would let anything happen to Shizuru, nothing physical at least.

It was in his crimson eyes, almost something tangible in the air as he regarded her.

"You gotta trust she knows what she's doing." she insisted despite the chill that had crept through her, "You might hear some stuff about her past and you might not like the way she deals with them. But you guys have to trust her. She's actually pretty good at dealing with them."

"So we shut up and look pretty?" Yusuke asked grinning a little.

"Hey that's easy." Kuwabara commented running a hand over his pompadour, "I got that pretty part down."

_I'm going to get shot...again...there's no way these idiots can take this seriously..._

"It may seem they are being foolish but they are capable of taking things seriously." Kurama assured her, "We will do nothing to endanger anyone here."

"You better hope so," she countered irritated, "cause I can't stress that dead part enough."

* * *

"Are you listening at all?"

She eyed Hiro and took a swig from the bottle of beer Candy had fetched her earlier.

They had started strong.

The attack against Narumi's gang had actually been an attack against Hiro's territory.

At the same time similar attacks had occurred within the territories of four other families. The source of the attacks had been traced back to the Black Black Club.

It was funny in a way.

The club had been so exclusive and secret before and now it was so common place that she was certain even the police knew about their existence.

"I'm still waiting for the part I'm supposed to start caring." she replied setting the bottle down, "You want me to be worried about some random attacks? What does that have to do with me?"

"We have it on good authority the reason for all this is those four men." Narita said gesturing towards the boys who were occupying a space at the back wall.

It was amusing, how very stereo typical this group looked together. The slicked back hair, the suits, even the body types were what others would have envisioned when thinking of a group of yakuza gathering.

She was not worried about Narita who was a second in his crime family. He owed her personally and was much to bound up in the idea to do much against her.

She refused to look in the direction indicated, "So?"

"So? That's all you have to say about it?" Hiro asked frowning, "They may be family to you Shizuru but that won't keep..."

"You probably don't want to finish saying that." she suggested mildly leaning forward, "It sure isn't you keeping them anything Hiro. You guys are being paranoid and trust me this way of being paranoid is going to get all of you killed."

"You dare threaten us?" Kimura growled sitting forward, a scowl on his shovel like face.

Kimura was much more of a threat to her as was Ito and Arai.

Those three she had very few direct dealings with and only the fact that the heads of their families preferred her living kept them from openly being against her.

Of the three it was the silent Arai who had yet to speak that she considered the largest threat.

There was something in the way his eyes never left her that said he was only waiting to pounce.

"Shizuru is only pointing out that you are most vulnerable when you are only seeing their side of things." Store put in her tone respectful, "Team Urameshi has nothing really to do with these attacks."

"Or is it only us who noticed the families involved are the ones openly against the dock fights?" Candy added with much less respect than her sister, "Coming to Shizuru won't settle that fact. She doesn't control those sorts of things and all of you know that."

She tensed slightly as the group of men shifted.

Candy was pushing things with her attitude but she also knew the men would put up with a lot from her. The Candy Store itself was coveted by all the families. That in itself allowed the girls a certain amount of leeway even though they were not truly yakuza only working for them.

"That may be true but that doesn't change the fact that after the attacks all of our families were contacted with terms." Hiro informed them all.

"Let me guess," she said slowly, "hand them over or else?"

"Something like that." Hiro confirmed with a nod, "I don't like this any more than you do Shizuru but I have a responsiblity here. I'm not up for giving into them over anything. But this doesn't just involve my family."

Typical Hiro, not ready to invest in anything all the way.

It was one of his traits she could not really stand.

She took another drink buying time as she thought her way through the issues.

"So why are you guys meeting with me?" she asked, "Seems to me you already made up your minds."

"All of our families owe you in some way. There is the fact that one of this group is your brother..." Narita answered.

"And another is your lover." Arai added a small cold smile on his face, "I believe this team consists of demons for the most part. Exactly where do your loyalties lie Shizuru?"

_Not with you that's for sure you arrogant prick..._

She smirked, "Where they always have...with me exclusively. What is it you want Arai? I'm not getting a vibe of "taking" here. You guys don't want them so what is it?"

"You exclusively?" Karumi repeated with a small amount of derision, "Our respective employers require more than just your word Shizuru. Word on the street puts you in Takahashi's back pocket. Do you want to bother denying that?"

"Still going with I don't give a damn what you or your bosses think." she replied covering the flush of tension that went through her, "Why should I?"

"Loyalty is a funny thing." Arai replied, "It isn't necessarily that our mutual concern is that you entertain yourself with killing demons. What else are your ambitions?"

"You want to know if I'm siding with Takahashi to take over territory?" she reasoned then laughed darkly, "Trust me your little empires don't interest me at all. I could care less if you all fall off the face of the planet."

"They want to know if you're siding with demons Shizuru." Hiro provided in the most serious tone she had ever heard him use.

She stared at him for a long moment then purposefully reached for her pack that lay on the table between them. Taking her time with the motions.

It was not just that these people represented the more powerful of the yakuza families.

These particular families were those that unflinchingly were against the concept of bringing demons into their ranks.

That bias had flowed over to the dock fights.

Their reaction to the creation of the fights was to hire humans with strong spiritual energies to identify demons more readily.

There were a few that actively hunted down the demons in their territories and either chased them out or killed them.

She had never bothered to sit down and actually track the amount of people she had come into contact with through her actions, either voluntary or "driven".

When it came down to it all of those interactions had caused a ripple effect with her so called influences. People she really had no business dealing with in some way, shape, or form owed her enough to send people to talk with her instead of simply executing her as was their normal reaction.

At that moment she almost would have preferred the execution.

Calling her loyalties into question was idiotic since she was notoriously loyal only to herself.

If they honestly believed she was exclusively working for Takahashi then that put her reputation in jeopardy.

This was not just about her reputation but about something she had never bothered with defining for anyone in any fashion.

When Hiro said siding with demons he had actually meant the families were concerned she was going to begin using her influences to promote inclusion of them.

She had to admit it might seem like a real concern. There were a few of the heads that would listen to her if she tried something like that but the fact remained she could have cared less what they did.

It was strange that in this instance her connections were working against her.

The worst of it was she was going to have to react in a way they understood and had come to expect from her.

That was fine except for the five extra people in the room that she was glaringly aware of, those that had no idea what she could be like in these things.

She took a deep drag of her cigarette, blew the smoke out slowly.

The plan formulating in her mind held a high risk, higher then she was normally willing to put herself in. It held so many possible backfires her mind reeled with the possibilities.

It was also the easiest, fastest way to silence these idiots in front of her and get them to back off.

She reached for the gun at her back and laid it in the center of the table.

She felt the eyes of the room center on her, that attention almost made her shoulders round with the ominous expectation that abruptly filled every corner.

"You're a betting man right Aria?" she found herself asking.

His eyes narrowed as he considered her, "To a certain degree of course."

"Are you willing to bet my loyalties against you getting a bullet put through you?" she questioned raising an eyebrow.

Internally she was shaking, horrified in a way that she was actually going through with the madness she had come up with.

"What are the terms?" he inquired curiously, "I wouldn't bet that kind of pain for just anything."

"Pretty simple really. I wouldn't want this to be too complicated," she answered taking another drag as she held his eyes with her's, "Guess which one of them is the one I'm seeing and I'll let you shoot him. Guess wrong and I shoot you."

There was the sound of at least two voices, Kazuma's and Yusuke's if she was guessing correctly, but those were interrupted by the sound of pained grunts.

"What do I gain out of that?" Aria asked, "It proves..."

"That my loyalties are the same they've always been. Me. You'll also get me owing you which doesn't happen at all. Think of the kind of power you would have then. Your boss might even let you take over instead of that idiot son of his." she explained flicking her ash into the ashtray on the table.

"And you gain?" Aria pressed.

"Getting to shoot you is pretty good but I get all of you owing me." she replied taking another drag.

"Some of us already do." Narita reminded her looking between her and Aria, "I can't let this happen."

"Neither can I." Hiro stated glowering.

"Nobody asked either of you." she stated then smiled, "Oh as a bonus one of them is my brother. You guess him and I'll shoot you twice Aria."

"Those are hardly terms for me to risk getting killed." Aria said slowly.

She chuckled taking another drag, "Then we'll sweeten the deal. You win I'll give you first shot at a new betting pool I set up for the arena. Trust me the payout will blow your mind."

_What...the...hell...am I doing?! Stop!_

She waited for Aria to decide.

"What do you say Ito? Karumi? Should I take her up on her offer?" Aria asked turning to the other two.

"No." Hiro said as Ito glanced at him, "There's no way in..."

"You say one more word Hiro and I swear to you the first bullet will go through you." she interrupted irritated that he was involving himself, "I'm not one of your yakuza so back the hell off."

"I say do it. You have what? A one in four chance of being correct. Those are not bad odds." Kimura encouraged slipping from his seat on the couch, "But if you don't mind I'll be over there...out of range."

"Ito?" Aria prompted.

Ito was silent for a long moment, "Do what you want. I'm convinced the rumors aren't true. Why else would she offer her demon boyfriend up that easily? He can't mean that much to her if she can bet his life away like that."

_No that isn't true!_

"You always ask their permission?" she taunted smirking at Aria.

She was of two minds. One screaming in denial for what she was encouraging to happen. The other darkly calm, waiting for the final outcome.

"Do I get any clues?" Aria questioned leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

"You think you know me enough to try and question me." she stated tilting her head, "Let's find out."

"Shizuru..." Candy hissed at her side worriedly.

She held up a hand, never breaking eye contact with Aria.

_Please don't do this!_

The more she strained she became the more aware she was of Botan in the corner of her eye.

It was hard not to take it as an omen, death standing at the ready for whoever it was that ended up being in their grasp.

It was impossible but it felt as if she were hyperventilating without actually doing so. Her mind was growing fuzzy, tingling with the lack of connection. She was also excited in ways that sickened her.

Even in the midst of those sensations she knew Aria had come here fully intending to undermine her in some way.

That it was important that he agree to the terms.

Betting Hiei's life on the idea that Aria had no clue, would never have bothered actually identifying the people most important to her.

No. Hiei would never simply stand there and allow someone to shoot him.

If Aria guessed correctly and Hiei avoided the bullet which she knew he could then the repercussions of that small action would drift outward affecting more than this particular situation.

The outward ripples of that would be just as devastating as the ones would have been if she had been actually planning on backing Takahashi as they suspected she was doing.

This was more than a nightmare.

This was hell.

"Agreed." Aria said nodding and letting his attention move to the four she knew stood behind her.

She took the last drag of her cigarette then put it out waiting.

Outwardly she was perfectly calm.

Inside she felt as if something was tearing her apart, that fine cracks were appearing creating razor-sharp edges that sliced into her soul.

She found she could at least turn her head so that Botan was more directly in her sight.

Botan only met her eyes with obvious confusion that warred with the reaper's own brand of horror.

Would she know?

Would Botan sense another reaper nearby if there was going to be a death?

Even on vacation there had to be some type of warning to something like that right?

"I doubt your taste runs into the pretty boys so that eliminates the red-head." Aria said conversationally.

She shrugged noncommittal, "You never know. My taste varies."

She was praying silently that the boys were doing nothing to give hints to Aria.

Kurama she knew she could count on but the others were entirely capable of giving everything away.

Hiei could become angry with the process.

Yusuke could make comments.

Kazuma could blow the entire thing by just about any reaction he normally had.

It had been awhile but she felt the surge of pure, black hate wash through her for what was chosen for her by whatever it was that had put her in this situation to begin with.

It did nothing to know she had very little to do with that particular part, she was still in the end responsible for what happened. For what she was allowing to happen at that moment.

"There's something about the big one that makes me doubt you would be involved with him either." Aria ruminated then grinned, "Just how young do you like them Shizuru? I find the ones in their twenties to be the most interesting."

_Actually I think he's in his 80s or close to that but whose counting really you bastard._

It was insane but she was hoping he thought she would be interested in Yusuke. At least it made her feel insane to be thinking in that way.

She wanted another cigarette but she could not move to smoke one.

She wanted another beer but she had no control over her voice at the moment to ask for one.

She was being forced to watch it all play out without one single moment that she could in some way affect the process. She had set this in motion and she had no other choice but to let it.

"Give up?" she asked tauntingly, "You owe me if you do that too you know. Of course you'll never live it down, not with these guys knowing."

"I never bow out of a bet." Aria snapped angrily.

"So pick already Aria so I can see her shoot you and we can be done with this!" Narita insisted impatiently.

"Fine the one on the left." Aria decided.

_The one on the left?! Who the hell is on the left?!_

The strange paralysis broke allowing her to finally turn to look at the boys.

Not Kazuma nor Kurama but the choice of the two in the center and Hiei was not the one on the left.

Kazuma's face had paled, "Hey sis don't..."

He shouldn't have bothered.

Either way she would have had to follow through.

The most important thing when dealing with yakuza was doing exactly as you said you would do.

Just for the concept of being willing to shoot any of the four she would have done it.

She was already in motion before Kazuma had begun to talk.

Scooping up the gun, rushing forward to place it against Aria's shoulder and pulling the trigger were moments of pure release.

She barely registered the sound of the shot or noted that Aria's body guards moved to grab their own from inside their coats. They were stopped by the other yakuza as she knew they would be. They did have an honor code, it just was their own and difficult to master if you had no one to guide you.

"Are you planning to shoot him again?" Hiro asked quietly.

"You ruined my couch damn it!" Narumi snapped appearing beside her scowling down at the blood stain that was quickly appearing under the injured yakuza, "You're paying for that."

She slowly lowered the gun, "You listening Aria?"

"Bitch!" Aria growled up at her.

Her empty hand shot out and secured his jaw so that he was forced to look at her.

A few moments ago she had felt so completely out of control, panicked behind that veil of calm.

Now that calm was a part of her along with that cold hate that still thrummed, most of it directed at this man who might have just cost her the only person she had ever allowed to be near her.

"Let's be totally clear about this. I'm not going to put up with repeating myself." she hissed at him, "Right here you almost died and that wasn't because you were a demon or human. It was because you were stupid enough to think I would let you or anyone make my decisions for me."

She released him taking a step back.

The air in the room felt chaotic at best.

She craved to look at Hiei, half afraid he had left already.

She would have understood if he had. What she had just done was not something he could have expected.

It might even be in the realms of unforgivable which she also would have understood.

"What is it you want from us?" Narita asked her then smiled as she looked at him, "That was too neat of an arrangement for you not to collect Shizuru. I know your ways."

The comment caused her to glance down at the gun again.

He was right.

There was a time when this was exactly her way.

Cornering someone into an outrageous situation.

Playing a game where the odds were undecided but more in her favor then the other person's.

Collecting immediately after because there was never a guarantee she would recall later on what was owed her.

Or simply attacking first without preamble.

All of it done for her reputation, her life, her wants and needs at the time without a second thought to the repercussions that might affect someone else.

Those were her ways before Kazuma became more important.

The thought of Kazuma caused another tendril of reality to rip through her.

He had just watched her shoot another person, not kill them but to him that wouldn't matter.

She had to put that out of her mind for now.

There was something these men needed to do.

"Talk to your bosses about backing off the dock fights." she said in a low voice then raised her head to look at Hiro, "You aren't going to stop them you know. So just stop interfering in them."

Hiro scowled, "If we do that we might as well hand everything over to them. We'll look weak for giving in so easy."

"No you're going to use money as an excuse." she explained gesturing to Candy and Store who moved closer, "I wasn't kidding about the new system. They'll explain it better."

Hiro moved a step closer, leaning in, "You don't look so well Zuru. I'll handle these guys. Go get some air."

She looked at him as he stepped away slightly confused.

He had never bothered with that type of consideration before and it bothered her that he would use the nickname after so long of not having used it.

She handed the gun back to Candy who took it without a word and slipped it back into her vest as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

_Here it is..._

If anything her mind was too full of things.

One of those things was that she needed to be somewhere, anywhere else.

She headed out of the room towards the front door, towards the cars she knew waited outside and the ability to try and organize the chaos eating away at her internally.

"Shizuru wait damn it!"

She stopped mid-stride, spinning to face Kazuma who had been the one to call out.

A part of her registered that Hiei was in the hallway with them as was the other three. Following her as if there was some reasonable explanation for what had just occurred.

There was not one but they were probably hoping she would come up with one.

Somehow "I basically just tossed Hiei to the lions cause that's my thing." did not sound like something reasonable.

That particular thought brought on a wave of nausea.

She was going to be sick.

Or she was going to faint.

Or she was about to destroy everything she ever considered her's.

"What Kuza?" she found herself asking, knowing there was zero emotion to her tone.

"How could you do that?!" He demanded outraged, "How could you just shoot that guy?!"

She almost laughed.

She had put Hiei's head on a chopping block as well as her own and possibly his along with Yusuke and Kurama.

Her white knight of a brother was bothered by the blood.

"It's pretty easy," she replied deadpan, "you pick the gun up, point it, and pull the trigger. Anything else moronic you need me to explain?"

"That's not what I mean and you know it." Kazuma growled at her, "You don't even care do you?"

"Nope." she returned tilting her head, "Why? Did that destroy your illusions Kuza? I 'm so damn tired of this. I can't keep pretending with you. You're just as bad as they are, thinking you know me when the truth is you really don't want to know anything about me...none of you do. It's not my job to coddle any of you. I'm leaving and honestly as long as you leave me to what I have to do I could care less what you do."

She stared at him until he lowered his eyes, unfortunately it only took a few moments for that to happen.

For that moment of him acknowledging what she had just said, accepting the censure that had laced every word.

Nobody called out to stop her when she turned away from them.

No one emerged from the house as she drove away in the nearest car she knew Narumi owned that had a set of keys in it.

Then again she had not expected any of them to.

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	25. Fissures

He grit his teeth as the claws of the Demon World cat sliced through the skin of his upper arm.

Annoyed he slammed his fist into its large nose then twisted, gutting the enormous beast in one motion.

It's body slammed into the ground but he was already turning to scan for others of the pack that had attacked him.

He had not exactly intended to slaughter the pack of ten but they had been the first to attack him when he had entered this particular territory.

He had been looking for a distraction.

A way to escape the myriad of thoughts that had plagued him during the situation with Shizuru and those men inside of Narumi's dwelling.

Normally for him this group of animals would have led to him testing himself in some manner to make it more challenging.

Though they were quick they were no match for his brand of speed.

The almost boneless flow of the predators continuous attacks would have provided him a perfect reason to fight without use of his fast pace, forcing him to think only of what was occurring in front of him.

Instead as his eyes scanned the nearby foliage he realized the entire time his thoughts had remained centered on the Human World and its newest forms of insanity instead of being on the creatures he was somewhat defending his life from.

He paced over to his last kill to wipe his blade clean of the blood that marred its surface.

The cat itself was easily three times his size, lacking any real hair on the smooth surface of its grayish green body.

The only reason he thought of it as a cat was because at one point Yusuke had called them such while they had traveled together.

The only resemblance he perceived to the Human World version was within the eye and ear shape, the rest more resembled the dogs he had seen there but Yusuke was strange when it came to descriptions.

He was not overly picky about the creatures he tested himself against. Demon or animal there were pros and cons for challenging either.

Both provided different mindsets, different methods of attack in order to deal with effectively.

He was not one to think that because he could best a demon he could do so with a creature that was even more naturally inclined towards survival then most tended to grasp.

The others may have seen doing so as beneath them but there were a plethora of ways the manner that they viewed things differed from his own.

He returned his weapon to its sheath.

All ten animals were accounted for in the mass of blood and death that surrounded him.

Still it had done nothing to disperse those unsettling thoughts, those flashes of memory and tugs of what could only be described as absolute madness.

Agitated he followed the sound of water to a nearby brook.

While he could be considered one of the more bloodthirsty of their group he did not particularly enjoy the feeling of dried blood on his skin.

The coolness of the water on his face as he scooped it over himself only seemed to intensify the churning chaos inside of him.

He paused staring sightless down at the water as it flowed by him uncaring of his internal turmoil.

"_You gotta trust she knows what she's doing..."_

It was an ignorant statement at best, foolishly uttered but considering the concern on the woman's face he could not exactly fault her for stressing the fact to the others.

He did not have blind faith in Shizuru but it could have been misconstrued as such by those that had no clue just how intimate those shared memories had been between them.

What others would have seen as a whim, as the others had obviously seen Shizuru's bet as being, to him was not something to be so concerned with.

Her brand of instincts were just as finely honed as his own.

They simply followed different venues.

There was no question in his mind it would play out as she intended it to.

It was not as if he would have allowed a human to harm him in the way he could tell that human had wanted to.

None of that had mattered to him, it was human politics and that held even less interest to him then demon politics which put it as dead last on his lists of things to ponder to any degree.

The thing he had become centered on during those moments had admittedly shocked him to such a nauseating degree that he had simply stood there as the human "decided" his fate.

It had never occurred to him that at any point during his lifetime he would bear witness to what he considered one of his own worst case scenarios.

He had not been thinking of those men.

Nor had the heavy amount of firearms on most of those in the dwelling entered his thoughts.

As horrid as it was to him he had actually been occupied with the concept that Shizuru was about to expose Kuwabara to something she had never intended for him to learn about her.

That there was no possible way that this event would end without bloodshed and it would end with Shizuru being the one to initiate it.

That Kuwabara would have to face the reality that his sister was not being swayed by her energies but was an actual criminal.

It had flooded him, brought his mind to a standstill.

The memory of Yukina hanging onto his arm attempting to stop him from ending the life of the human bastard that had kept her captive for so long.

The way she had looked at him then, her tone of voice had cut into him so deeply that he found he could not do as he had intended to.

He could not kill if it brought Yukina pain for him to do so.

It had also been the main reason he had decided not to inform her about being her brother.

Kurama had described Demon World as only he could, perfectly and without apology.

Demon World was an exaggeration of the Human one in almost every way including the laws that dictated the morals of those that called it home.

While Koenma counted his crimes as being a thief and a cutthroat the last was dictated by obscure Spirit World laws.

He was not considered a murderer by Demon World standards even though he had lost count of the exact tally of deaths caused by him.

Almost all of his kills could be viewed in the light of self-defense and a great majority of those he killed were actual criminals themselves and therefore fair game in his world.

Even if he may have provoked a majority of them for his own desires of strength and experience.

Revenge killings were expected unless those killed had no family or friends willing to avenge them.

He was considered a criminal because he was a thief, because he was known to kill first and ask questions later, and because he had no regard for the few laws that did govern their world.

As well as being unconcerned for the laws of Spirit World, once branded a criminal by Enma or Koenma there was no escaping the title.

He did not want Yukina to suffer under the constraints having him as a known relative would place on her in the Demon World.

Nor did he want her exposed to those who might consider her death as a means to exact revenge on him.

True she was safer considering her choice to remain in the Human World but that was not a reason to break his silence.

Most assuredly he did not want her knowledge to come about in the manner it did for Kuwabara though it was considerably the most mild way it could be exposed.

He did not want to see the expression that slowly grew on Kuwabara's face as he watched to ever cross her features.

The disbelief.

The disgust.

The utter want for denial that was useless even as it strained to be expressed.

No.

He never wanted to witness those emotions scurrying across Yukina's innocent face as she looked at him.

And there he was seeing those things flutter across Kuwabara's knowing there was something wrong with the entire situation.

It was wrong that he saw it so clearly while the others were so focused on Shizuru and the group of dangerous humans.

Wrong that it seemed to cut some small piece from him to know she had done so much to avoid exactly this and there would be no escape from the truth any longer.

Wrong that for a moment, a split second, a nauseating eternity he had almost moved to knock Kuwabara out so he could not bear witness to those dark things Shizuru had struggled so hard to keep from him.

Wrong that it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with what he knew Shizuru would have preferred.

Wrong that he had briefly wanted to erase that ribbon of internal agony from Kuwabara's face.

He sat back on his heels by the brook, more frustrated than before.

The thoughts would not stop.

They circled like carrion eaters above a corpse.

What should he care that Kuwabara was forced to realize the truth of Shizuru's life?

He did not.

It had been a momentary lapse and that was all.

It had been easily comparable to his own situation and somehow his mind had drawn a link that caused the second of insanity.

He stood and walked away from the brook with every intention of finding something else to kill.

He had no other recourse for dealing with these things floating in his mind.

There was no reasoning away what he considered to be an unreasonable series of thoughts.

He had only ever had his ambition to guide him.

Finding Yukina had been a part of that, but in its own way it had also fueled that ambition.

He had never entertained the concept that something else might war with his innate drive to secure power.

Though admittedly it did not exactly war in a manner that made sense to him.

Shizuru was a necessity to him.

There were many other things he would do without before he would do without her presence in his life.

As strained as their interactions were lately he could not see a moment that would cause that to change.

There were things he did not understand as completely as he would have preferred but that was only a momentary thing at best.

"_You're just as bad as they are thinking you know me when the truth is you really don't want to know anything about me...none of you do."_

As disgusted as he had been with his previous thoughts he had again been undermined by her words.

Did she truly believe those words?

He had heard the lack of emotion to her voice, that telltale severe tone she used when somehow she managed to find a way to protect not only herself but those she was speaking to.

It was one of her traits he had found himself distracted by.

One she had used on him in only one certain situation.

His mind shied away from actually thinking of that particular scenario.

It was not a moment that held much pride for him.

Something that made him recall how very close he had come to tossing aside someone precious to him for no other reason then as a means to protect himself.

Shizuru was capable of doing so but it would not be only for her benefit.

In that hallway he had understood she was attempting to allow Kuwabara a way to protect himself.

Anger could cloud full impact in many ways.

If Kuwabara could hate her then it would not cause the oaf more harm then necessary to acknowledge the life she had carved for herself.

But she had to know what a useless endeavor that concept was when dealing with the fool.

Kuwabara was no more capable of true hate then he was of fighting in a dishonorable way.

He paused, his face drawing into a murderous scowl.

Why should it matter to him?

What did he care if the enormous idiot's mind broke?

It could only be a boon for Kuwabara to crawl into a corner, speaking nonsense, and crying for no reason at all.

He would cease to be bombarded by the multiple useless, doltish statements that issued from him.

He would not have to endure the suffocating want to harm Kuwabara whenever the idiot mentioned Yukina.

He would not have to watch any more ludicrous instances of Kuwabara charging into a situation without thought.

So really he _**did not care**_.

Against his will the helpless anger on Kuwabara's face flashed in his mind.

Helpless as if the very ground had been stolen from beneath his feet.

It had caused a moment of pure insanity.

He had left the dwelling at that point, overwhelmed by the madness.

He had thought to exorcise those thoughts with speed and when that failed he had moved on to the Demon World to expel them with blood.

His lip curled in a silent snarl.

Was there no others in this area of Demon World?

He stopped walking so he could listen.

There were no sounds in the nearby vicinity.

Everything had gone silent, the anticipation of dire threat hung in the hush.

He sighed with annoyance.

He was the dire threat so the answer was obvious.

Anything he might have encountered worth challenging had either already found him or had escaped to avoid conflict with him..

He had not intended to travel very far into Demon World.

Shizuru would be attending the arena the next day and he would be there.

He eyed the nearest tree then made his way up it to recline on an upper most branch well out of the reach of anything that might have intentions of annoying him.

"_...the truth is you don't want to know anything about me...none of you do."_

His eyes wandered down to focus on his hands that rested on his knees.

That was not the truth of the matter.

He felt no compulsion to deny her past in the least.

If anything the more that was exposed about her the more he felt as if it had not been simple choice that had brought them together but some other force neither of them could have denied.

It was not something he could bring himself to wander too far into.

It was enough that the tie between them existed, that he was drawn to her as he was.

It would always amaze him that anyone would view him as she did.

Which was why he had such moments of indecision when it came to her.

"_I'm with you...a demon. I don't expect you to act like a human. So why are you acting like there's a problem with you acting like a demon?"_

There were things that one could not accept without full knowledge.

There were aspects of himself he had yet to share with her out of wariness of her reaction.

If she were to believe that nothing had changed for him in knowing these darker things about her then he had to be willing to offer something in exchange.

There was nothing to be gained from holding back when she no longer had the choice to.

It had been there, in that coldness of her eyes.

Shizuru had been convinced none of them, including him, could continue to care for her.

He would not allow her to walk that edge alone.

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	26. Confines

It was probably the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life.

It danced, whirling and twisting within its confines as if driven by some unheard music.

It was as if the secrets of creation shifted and gamboled just within her reach teasing her with its presence.

It was accidental that she had noticed it, that she had put her hand to the thin veil that surrounded the energy in front of her.

She had the distinct impression that it would take very little to tear that veil.

To release what she saw if only to see what would happen.

A small pinch, perhaps nothing more than she would've needed to rupture the skin of a peach.

The urge to do so was almost too much to resist.

She was so curious to see what would happen to this strange energy with its ceaseless movements, its overpowering sense of timelessness.

What was it exactly?

And then the energy spoke to her.

"Shizuru...are you alright?"

Wide pink eyes met her's full of concern and confusion in equal parts.

She felt her own eyes widen, her lungs pull in a quick breath fighting against a sudden weight that had lodged itself in her chest.

She pushed away from the wall with the arm she had braced herself with as she removed her other hand from Botan's slim shoulder.

_What...what just happened?_

She had been furious only moments before, seething under the constraints of being unable to find Takahashi before the fights began.

She had fully intended to find the man and force him to hand over Chancer but no matter who she spoke to no one seemed to know where he might be found.

She had known it would not be a simple matter but after a night spent attempting to track the teenager down without luck she was not in the mood to deal with underlings.

She had felt the wave of nausea she associated with the human access to the arena but had been unprepared for what felt as if something wrapped around her internally.

Abruptly the colors around her had altered becoming vivid, almost overwhelming.

Then the energy had distracted her the instant she touched Botan when she had moved to keep herself upright.

"You ain't lookin' to good." Chu muttered to her.

She shook herself internally, "I'm fine..."

"Are you certain?" Botan asked searching her face.

It was a joke really.

_If only you knew what I was just thinking..._

"Do me a favor?" She requested instead of answering.

"Of course." Botan agreed readily.

"Go be with the boys tonight." She said glancing away from the trust in the reaper's eyes, "It's messing with me to have you in there."

"You're worried about your brother aren't you." Botan assumed gently.

There was a lot of understanding in those words, more than she really deserved.

"He wouldn't..." Botan began reassuringly.

"I don't need you to do that." she interrupted bringing her eyes back, "I'm not asking you to do anything but go."

It came out much more forcefully then she intended due to the fact that she was distracted by the previous thoughts.

Disgust was rolling through her in mild waves.

She could not quite hold Botan's eyes with her own.

"I'll go see to them then." Botan replied though her tone held some caution in it.

She did not bother watching Botan walk away.

It may not have been quite guilt that ate away at her.

It was something far more penetrating, much less tangible.

She could hear the crowd already, the one aspect she did not like was that the cavernous walls of the complex made those sounds reverberate through her body.

She was moving towards the door that led to the arena before she thought about it.

"So now you've rid yourself of that one. Am I next on the list?" Chu asked conversationally as he followed her.

She did not want to think at that moment but his words reminded her of something she had thought of the previous night.

She stopped at the huge closed doors that led out to the arena and spun to face Chu. He pulled up short letting out a small sound of surprise.

"What are you doing here Chu?" she demanded.

"Well let's see..." Chu replied scratching at the side of his head, "the blue haired sheila popped in on me and..."

"No," she snapped, "Not Botan's reason. Your reason. Or am I supposed to play dumb and think a demon like you is just wandering around here because there might be the chance of a fight?"

Chu considered her for a moment, the smile on his face becoming smaller.

"Don't suppose you might be considerin' doin' that?" he proposed in a more serious tone.

"Everybody has an angle." she insisted moving closer to him, "Why are you really here?"

Chu sighed heavily, "Not really the way I planned it but s'not likely you'll be runnin' off to chat up Mukuro anytime soon."

She felt her lips pull into a smirk, "No I doubt that'll happen."

Chu's brows drew together as he considered her for a long moment.

She gave up on waiting him out, moving to lean against the wall nearest her.

She could feel the vibrations of the crowd above against her skin.

"I don't think you much like Mukuro." Chu finally stated.

"I don't care one way or the other about her." she replied smoothly, crossing her arms.

It was not exactly the truth but it was as close as she was going to go at the moment. She had no idea why it would matter to Chu in the least.

Chu snorted derisively, "Sure now...and Hiei likes all them males fluttering about you."

She smirked, "You know how stupid that sounds?"

It was ridiculous to even consider the possibility.

Hiei did not get jealous.

Why would he?

"Was worth a shot." Chu replied with a shrug, "Not sayin' it isn't the truth. You two are like two school kids all coy and muckin' about."

"Yeah cause coy totally describes me." She half snapped in annoyance, "You going to get to the point?"

"Not workin'?" Chu asked with a hopeful look then shrugged, "Only came over as a favor to the King. Heard tell there were some demons not listenin'. He wanted to know what they was about and since I had nothin' to do here I am."

She rubbed absently at her temple with her fingertips.

The sound of the crowd was mind-numbing. A constant hum that seemed to inch its way into her head bit by bit. She was not looking forward to the doors opening and the roar of the spectators that would follow.

"You sure you're..." Chu prompted worriedly.

"Too many hands in the cookie jar." she replied as the door began to open, "Maybe I'll get lucky and someone will get stupid tonight."

"That's the spirit!" Chu encouraged, "A good fight always solves things."

* * *

"Maybe she'll get lucky and won't have to fight tonight." Yusuke commented into the silence of the room.

She restrained herself from smacking the brunette by sheer will power.

She had no clue how Shizuru could spend any amount of time with this group in one place without shooting one if not all of them.

Kazuma had retreated to full pout mode after Shizuru had left, glowering in his not so intimidating way at anyone who tried to speak with him.

Yusuke found this particularly amusing and she had been subjected to hours of the two bickering with each other or at some points physically fighting.

Kurama had attempted to be helpful but for the most part had spent his time simply watching the two with a small smile on his lips.

She had thought it would become a little easier once they left for the arena.

That had been a pipe dream.

Hiei had shown up at the last-minute and then had to be convinced to stay with them.

With rumors of Kurama's death floating around it had been important for the red-head to go with them.

The only way that could be accomplished safely was if both Yusuke and Hiei's energies were used to mask the absence of Kurama's.

Without that they ran the chance of other demons noticing and attacking a more or less defenseless Kurama.

That had to be avoided at all costs so they had been forced to convince Hiei who wanted nothing to do with being forced to stay at Kurama's side.

Hiei wanted to find Shizuru.

Even with Kurama doing the talking it had taken a full painstaking, torturous hour to drag agreement from the fire demon.

And that had only happened after she had pointed out that Shizuru spent most of her time before the fights in areas no demon could enter.

They had barely made it before the first fight began.

All and all they were lucky not to have holes in them.

They were a curse, she was absolutely convinced of that.

It did not help that the bickering continued.

That Hiei cast murderous glares at all of them when he was not watching the fights in the arena.

That Kurama, who she had been convinced was the calming voice within this group, remained silent.

Then the little blue haired reaper had walked into the booth all smiles and no explanation about why she was up there with them and not in the arena with Shizuru.

She wasn't all that sure if she felt better or worse with that situation so she simply ignored it.

She had other things on her mind like the fact that Shizuru seemed off somehow.

Last time she had ignored the screens on the far wall that showed close-ups of the fights. Now she walked over to the wall, her eyes studying her friend.

She had seen Shizuru in more fights then she bothered recalling.

Every time Shizuru had been calm, almost in a zen state. That calm was one of the things that antagonized others into fighting her, the want to change that calm into something else.

She was just as guilty as others of that want.

Shizuru's calm was almost legendary.

What she was seeing was anything but calm.

"Is something the matter?"

She glanced over to find the reaper standing beside her, studying her face intently.

She could have thought about the disquieting concept of death beside her or treat the woman like nothing special.

"She's acting weird." she replied returning her attention to the screen.

"How so?"

Yes it was definitely creepy to have this person asking her questions too.

"Ah..." she paused trying to recall the name Shizuru had said when introducing them but was coming up with nothing.

Her memory for names was actually terrible, it was the real reason behind giving nicknames to most of the people she normally interacted with.

"Botan." the reaper supplied with a smile.

It was a smile meant to put someone at ease, instead it made her tense a little.

Death was smiling at her, there was no way that was a good thing.

"You said something was off with Shizuru?" Botan prompted gently also looking at the screen.

"She's acting strung out." she found herself replying as she returned her attention to the screen as well, "Normally she's hardcore but...she's not even paying attention to the fight."

At that moment the screen caught Shizuru's eyes ,narrowed as if in pain, roaming over the crowd.

It was not just that but other things.

She did not sit for more than a few minutes before shoving herself to her feet as if she could not stand to sit.

As the fights ended she paced a little adding to the impression that she could not stay still.

"She seemed ill earlier." Botan murmured worriedly.

"That's not sick." she insisted frowning, "I don't know what it is but if I didn't know better I'd think she was drugged."

"Is that a real possibility?" Kurama asked joining them, "Would they drug her?"

She rolled her eyes, "There's no way they would. There's too much at risk. All I'm saying is I know Shizuru and that ain't normal for her."

"An altered state then?" Kurama offered glancing behind him.

She knew that direction was where Hiei stood.

She was not all that informed about demonic abilities but she did know they were well within his hearing range at least. If anything she had spoken quietly so she would not have to deal with Kazuma if he overheard her.

That was a nightmare she did _**not**_ want to deal with.

"Whatever it is I don't know how she'll fight like that if she has to." she said with a small shrug.

"She is hopeful for a fight."

She almost jumped at the sudden nearness of the small demon.

His red eyes were locked on the larger image of Shizuru.

"How you figure that?" she asked.

Hiei glanced at her with contempt.

"Hiei has an ability that allows him to know certain things." Kurama said carefully.

Hiei snorted, "As if I care that you tell her about my Jagan."

"A third eye," Botan explained nervously, "in the center of his forehead. It allows him to manipulate minds..."

"Among other things." Kurama added as Botan trailed off, "though it does have its limits. He is not able to fully know Shizuru's mind. Her spiritual energies protect her from intrusion."

It was a little much to take in.

Shizuru had shared some of the abilities she had come across with demons but she had always been careful when talking about Hiei in particular.

She had her own theories behind Shizuru's reasons to not talk too much about Hiei.

"Okay...so she wants a fight..." she muttered.

"Unfocused as she is that is all that is in her mind." Hiei supplied darkly.

"Well aren't you the chatty one all of a sudden." she commented with a slight smile.

Those crimson eyes focused on her and her heart sped up again against her will.

Hiei tilted his head then smirked before walking away to resume his place at the larger window.

_Little bastard could hear my heart?!_

She turned in response to the main door opening.

Store and Candy hurried over to her side, both wearing equal expressions of concern.

"Problem?" she asked tossing aside her annoyance with Hiei.

"Huge.." Store confirmed, "The Committee found out what Shizuru was doing with Arata..."

"They've instituted a new addition to the fights. An exclusive challenge to the Executioner to either accept or deny." Candy took up then stopped as the crowd roared signaling the end of a fight.

A quick glance at the screen proved there was not a kill.

Shizuru stayed by the larger demon that had come to the house the other day instead of heading to the ring.

"And if she denies the challenge?" Kurama asked.

"Then the fighter can choose from anyone one in the arena itself, including people from the crowd." Store answered.

"Even those that are not fighters?" Botan questioned.

"Can they do that?" Kuwabara broke in having heard the twins.

"They made us fight two rounds in a row, down three fighters, and made Kurama fight totally passed out." Yusuke reminded him, "Great to know this Committee is just as messed up as the last one."

"It seems there was someone in your house that did not feel so against the dock fights that they kept what they were told to themselves." Kurama reasoned.

She had already suspected that was the case.

There was also that revenge was normal within the yakuza. Shooting someone as highly ranked as Arai had its consequences even if he had initiated the shooting by agreeing to the bet.

"Wanna wager the fighter will pick Kurama if she says no?" Store asked her raising an eyebrow.

"Or Kazuma," she put in then sighed heavily, "think she knows?"

"It was only just announced." Candy answered frowning, "Narumi no one can go into the arena until the fights are over. She will not be made aware of the changes."

"Hiei..." Kurama began turning towards the smaller demon.

"I am not a courier." Hiei snapped without looking at them.

"Can that thingy of his do that?" she prompted.

Kurama shook his head slightly, "If he could he would have already. You learn to...interpret Hiei's way of speaking as you know him longer."

"Well he said she wants a fight." she said with a shrug then rubbed at her temple, "We'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

She simply could not concentrate.

Everything seemed to be annoying her, causing more and more agitation.

She was not use to being this out of control.

For the sound of the crowd to be so oppressive that every time it increased she actually wanted to dive into it and beat the hell out of everyone that occupied a seat.

All she could think of was that she wanted one of the fights to end in death.

Maybe if she fought the increasing pressure inside of her would quiet.

Maybe her skin would stop crawling.

Maybe she would be able to have a singular thought instead of the whirlpool occupying her mind that seemed to demand some type of violent outlet.

If not a singular outlet then release through silencing the audience.

As the matches ended one by one without a kill she felt that pressure growing.

She did not expect the singular door to open instead of both to let in the last pair of fighters.

"Here now..." Chu half growled scowling at the fighter that approached the daïs, "What's this bloke think he's about?"

On the daïs Koto put a finger to one of her cat-like ears and turned to face the main booth above the main spectators.

"Well folks I'm being told to announce a new addition to these fights!" Koto said aloud, "Looks like our Executioner became a crowd favorite from first go! Our Committee has decided to give her a chance to showcase all of her talents in a no holds barred fight of her own!"

The crowd roared and she repressed the urge to cover her ears.

"You know about this?" Chu asked.

"No," she answered tightly, "That guy has no business being here at all."

* * *

_Miyake Taisei._

"How come you look worried?" Yusuke asked quietly, "You know that guy?"

She nodded, "He use to be an enforcer for one of the other yakuza families. He's gone up against her a few times. He's got a rep for killing. Real dirty fighter."

"That does not account for your sudden concern." Kurama pointed out on the other side of her.

"That's cause last time they went at it Shizuru broke her ankle." Store answered for her.

"That guy broke her ankle?" Kazuma asked scowling.

"No Shizuru broke her own ankle." Candy corrected him moving closer to the window, "He had her in a leg lock and she did it to shock him. It worked. He let go and she won."

"Where was I when this happened?!" Kazuma demanded.

"You were at school I think." Store answered lightly, "or screwing around with your crew hoping to catch Yusuke and get the hell beaten out of you."

Yusuke whooped with laughter.

"Shut up!" Kazuma growled at him, "She told me she fell."

"She did...after Miyake tripped her..." Store supplied.

"And then came the leg lock.." Candy took up.

"And then the ankle breaking." Store finished.

"I told you two to knock off the creepy twin crap." she half snapped as Shizuru hopped onto the daïs.

"She looks like she did when we met her." Candy said softly.

That was one of the problems she was having with the scenario playing out on the giant circle.

Shizuru's demeanor had changed again.

Gone was that nervous energy, replacing it was a fluid grace that Shizuru had used only back when things had been at their worst.

"Yeah I don't see this ending pretty." she murmured.

She did not miss that Kurama and Hiei traded glances or that the room settled into that strange, heavy silence.

* * *

"I take it you agree to the terms?" Koto asked in her much to anticipatory voice.

She wanted to be angry with what Koto had just informed her about but in truth she had suspected something like this was going to happen.

All that really mattered was that overwhelming agitation had resolved itself into vicious calm the moment she had hefted her self onto the ring.

She shrugged, "Not doing anything at the moment anyway."

"Nice to see you again Shizuru." Miyake greeted her casually.

She gave him a once over wondering if somewhere in the jeans and t-shirt he was wearing was a weapon of some kind.

More than once he had surprised her with that particular trick.

Even if it was a rule inside the arena that weapons were not allowed to be used it was not that hard to believe Miyake would break any rule if it gave him an advantage.

"How's the ankle?" he asked smirking.

"Great...you want to catch up on old times..." she replied blandly, "They weren't that good for you...you do remember that right?"

Now she smirked as his eyes narrowed.

Her ankle may have been broken the last time they fought but his jaw had received the same injury.

Her recuperation had been much less involved then his had been which to her evened the score quite nicely.

"Koto" she said shifting into position, "Get out of the ring already."

"umm..." Koto began uncertainly.

"Aww getting soft in your old age Shizuru?" Miyake taunted also shifting.

"Don't want her getting in the way of me kicking your ass." she stated firmly glancing at the cat demon, "Koto. Now!"

She did not get the time to see if Koto listened.

Miyake tucked in and came at her throwing jabs at her face.

She dodged each one, barely bringing her arms up to knock them to the side each time.

Miyake paused sending his fist up towards her chin, she saw the other fist coming from the side.

She twisted to avoid the one from the side hissing as something burned a trail along her upper shoulder.

She backed up, unsurprised when Miyake stepped back himself smirking.

Checking her shoulder she found a thin slash that bled freely.

"Neat trick huh?" Miyake taunted fisting his hands more tightly, "Met this kid not to long ago that taught me some real handy things. Like how to make my skin like razors."

She seethed inwardly but it was in equal parts against herself.

She should have known Takahashi would have stacked the deck.

The fighter she knew Miyake to be was good but not someone who employed any sort of spiritual energy.

The only way that could have changed was through Chancer.

The calm inside her churned, twisted with darker intentions.

She was not going to just beat Miyake.

She was going to crush him in all ways.

"Let's see what you can do." she taunted motioning for him to attack, "I'm not overly impressed."

Miyake rushed at her as she knew he would, fists flying more for her face then any other part.

She countered by slapping each strike to the side then moved in to slap Miyake across the face.

It stunned him enough that he paused, staring at her incredulously.

She allowed herself a full smile that showed more teeth than most people were privy to.

Miyake glowered at her a moment before he came at her again.

* * *

"What is she doing?" Kuwabara half moaned.

"Umm...slap boxing the hell out of that guy." Yusuke answered amused.

"She just had to go for playing with him." Narumi growled.

"A method of play fighting here in the Human World." He explained when Hiei glanced at him in confusion, "Normally it is not employed by adults engaged in real fights."

Hiei went back to watching without comment but he could see the tension in that smaller frame. He was certain that if the cloak were removed he would find Hiei's hand wrapped around the hilt of his blade, the knuckles white.

This time it was the blood that had Hiei so agitated.

He found the most frustrating part of having no access to his demonic energies to be the fact that he no longer could see the auras of energies around others.

He had to assume that was being employed by the human since he had cut Shizuru with no evidence of a weapon but that was all he could do.

There was some method to the madness of Shizuru's technique.

It had a rhythm to it.

She blocked each shot by only using her forearms in a way that only redirected the attack.

Every second or third block she landed a strike with the flat of her hand across Miyake's face.

She was testing the ability in a very interesting if not extremely antagonistic way.

He was uncertain if he should admire her for doing so or to be more frightened for her because of it.

Botan and the twins gasped in horrified unison as one of Miyake's fists landed a glancing blow across Shizuru's cheek.

Shizuru retaliated with her own strike, a solid blow to Miyake's jaw that sent him stumbling back a step.

Shizuru wiped at the slash across her cheek with the back of her hand then stepped forward into the oncoming Miyake.

"Jeez those two are really going at it." Yusuke commented.

There was the slightest of shifts underneath Hiei's cloak.

He wondered just how close Hiei had come to actually attacking Yusuke in that moment.

"Hey! That bastard just stepped on her foot!" Kuwabara yelled.

In the ring Shizuru was trapped by the tactic but it did not seem to hamper her. She ducked under the fist intend for her face the reached up with both her hands, grabbed Miyake by both cheeks, dug her fingers into his skin and ripped away creating bloody furrows in his flesh.

Miyake roared, releasing Shizuru in the instant he jerked away.

She moved back from him grinning.

"Does that count as pay back or is it as bad as him stepping on her foot?" Store asked Kuwabara almost innocently.

"Huh?" Kuwabara returned confused.

"You seem pretty hung up on the dirty fighting thing." Store said with a shrug, "I was just trying to figure out where the line is."

"Well scratching isn't really fighting." Kuwabara returned though he was frowning with obvious disapproval.

He was certain Kuwabara was unaware of the dark glance that was cast at him by Candy.

That particular situation had been building since the previous night while Kuwabara's complaints as to his sister's methods were flung about without thought.

Store did not appear to mind quite as much as Candy appeared to.

The trio of girls gasped yet again.

Miyake had finally managed to land a solid punch to Shizuru's ribs. Shizuru stumbled back, barely avoiding the follow up of his other fist.

He glanced at the screens.

There was blood seeping into the white of the undershirt she wore, the clothing torn from whatever method Miyake was using to cause the injury.

"Why doesn't she really attack him?" Botan asked worriedly, "What is she waiting for?"

"She isn't losing...is she?" Store asked looking at Narumi.

Narumi folded her arms tightly, "How the hell should I know?"

"If she does Miyake will not let it be a simple win." Candy asserted.

"You can't mean he'll kill her." Botan insisted.

"No he'll find some way to humiliate her first then he'll kill her." Store answered.

He saw Kuwabara open his mouth then spoke to stall the explosion.

"It is an Executioner match Kuwabara and even if it was not it would end that way. It is a fight against Shizuru." he informed the larger young man. "You will have to accept the full reality of this before it truly rips you apart. Your sister by all intents and purposes is what Yusuke was at one time. The _**one**_ to beat. Keep in mind if you had ever won against him you may not have killed him but you surely would have destroyed his reputation."

"I..." Kuwabara began scowling furiously.

"Want to stick your head in the sand no matter how many times this stuff is explained to you." Narumi interrupted him, "Now shut up before I gut you."

* * *

The searing agony in her side was distracting but not totally debilitating. There was a small chance Miyake had managed to crack at least one rib.

She had been taken by surprise by the sudden change up in Miyake's attack pattern.

It happened so it was best not to dwell on it.

Instead she bent over as if the pain was more than she could manage.

Predictably Miyake saw this as a sign she was more injured than she really was.

He moved in close which was what she wanted.

In the last moment she straightened, grabbed his shirt with both hands and slammed her knee into his crotch.

A high-pitched, strangled gasp emerged from him but she was not finished.

As he began to double over she released one of her hands and rocketed her fist into his diaphragm, releasing some of her own energy into his body.

Then she pushed him back, cracked his chin with her left fist then threw one last punch into his now exposed throat.

Miyake flew back from her to land hard on his side still in the ring.

She could hear his choking gasps as he struggled to breathe as she stalked over to him.

She had no interest in mercy.

No inclination not to see this battle through to its end.

She grabbed a fistful of his hair at the back of his head and jerked upward, forcing him to climb up onto his knees though it had to be a struggle for him.

She put a hand to his chest, releasing another jolt of her energy into him.

His entire body stiffened as if he were being electrified.

His eyes widened as she stood there looking into them until it almost seemed as if all there was to them were the whites and a small, pale bit of coloring.

He was such a small, weak soul.

It would be so easy to draw it from him.

The terror and pain that flowed from it was intoxicating, a discordant symphony that she could have lost herself in without thought.

Her fist tightened in his hair.

_This...what is this? _

That thought was enough to bring her out of the haze that had almost consumed her.

She let go of Miyake and took a few hurried steps back from him.

He landed with a thud, curling up on his side.

She could see his body was shaking.

_What the hell is wrong with me?!_

She took a few more steps away from Miyake as if distance might erase what she had been about to do.

Disturbed she wiped her hands off on her pants realizing belatedly that she was still in the arena, still in full view of the spectators.

_They saw that..._

She kept her back to the booth she knew they occupied, thanking whatever luck she still seemed to have that she could not physically see them in that moment.

"And there you have it boys and girls! This round goes to our very own Executioner! And I have to say it was as painful for me as it was for all you guys out there!" Koto announced cheerfully.

She was already at the edge of the ring before the first words were out of Koto's mouth.

She flinched as a large hand appeared to help her down.

"Ain't gonna bite you." Chu assured her.

She waved off the hand without speaking, not trusting her voice to be steady enough to do so.

The crowd was still cheering for her and she could still recall the pull of those intense emotions from Miyaki as she slowly allowed her energies to dig and tear into him.

The doors were open enough for her to slip through as she reached them.

"Wait up!" Chu insisted behind her.

Everything was clenching inside of her, being crushed by her emotions.

"Shizuru stop!" Chu snapped grabbing her arm.

She attempted to pull away only to find she was shaking and did not have the strength.

"You're not steady enough to be runnin' off like that girlie." Chu admonished in a softer tone.

"I'm fine" she insisted keeping her head down.

"Right..." Chu muttered, "Slow down is all. That side is bleedin' fairly ugly. Might need a bit o' doctorin' to stop."

She couldn't get it under control, everything was chaos inside of her.

She could pretend though, she had years of practice doing that.

She forced herself to take a deep, steadying breath and straightened, "You can let go now I'm not going to run."

Chu did so but slowly as if he did not trust her words.

_What he shouldn't trust is inside of me._

She picked her head up and was surprised to see just how far they had made it down the hall. Only a few more yards and they would be in the public area of this part of the arena.

"I just got a little carried away." she assured Chu moving forward at a slower pace.

"To right you did," Chu agreed but his voice held a note of worry in it, "never seen no one kickin' up dust to get away from a win."

_That wasn't a win! That was...what was it? An almost slaughter? I wasn't going to kill him! I was thinking of his soul...can I do that?!_

She didn't understand what had been going through her mind. It made no sense, but at the time it had seemed like she was perfectly capable of going through with the action.

She needed space, time to think and a lot of cigarettes.

"There she is."

She pulled herself out of the thoughts she was caught up in to find two demons approaching them.

"Go on about your business." Chu snapped at the pair as they drew closer, "She ain't signing autographs."

"Wait..." she said frowning as she looked at them, "Don't I know you guys?"

One of them smiled slightly, "Yes we met when you visited Mukuro's."

She traded confused glances with Chu, "Uh okay. What do you..."

She cut her self off as the one who spoke reached into the bag at his side and pulled out the golden orb she had come to despise.

She had to look away for a second, the black hate surging inside of her strong enough to choke her.

When she finally could look back she found the communications ball being held out to her.

"Ain't that for Hiei?" Chu asked the pair, "What's it got to do with her?"

"Hiei kills the messenger...sometimes." she supplied with a small sliver of understanding for the two demon's predicament, "They usually bring it to me so I can give it to him."

She had no idea when that particular thing had become normal.

She couldn't even remember if they had initiated it or if she had agreed to do it.

It hadn't even been a full month and Mukuro wanted Hiei back.

The normal thing to happen was that once that ball was placed in his hands Hiei left for the Demon World.

Sometimes he would stay an extra hour or so but that was all.

Her insides clenched again only this time with more conflicted feelings.

She loved him, wanted what was best for him, but she could not help the selfish want to keep him longer.

His place with Mukuro was important to him.

She wanted his place with her to be just as solid a concept for him.

Every time this situation presented itself she hid the hurt, the jealousy, the worry behind her usual mask of indifference.

"I'll take that." Chu insisted swiping the orb from the outstretched hand, "Run along now. I've got some patchin' up to do."

The two glanced at her then left, disappearing into the groups of fighters that passed them.

"Do me a favor." she said putting a hand to the burning pain at her side, "Go give that to him. Tell him I'll see him when he comes back."

"I don't..." Chu began uncertainly.

"I can't!" she snapped looking up at him.

To her horror her eyes began to burn with tears so she had to drop her gaze down to the ball in his hand.

She just could not face saying goodbye to him.

She was afraid she would get mad and say something she did not mean.

That she would tell him not to go.

To stay there with her because right then a part of her was almost in a panic thinking of him not being there.

That she might not be able to control the emotions churning inside of her.

That she would expose her human side to him in the worst way she could possibly imagine doing so.

"An' if he decides to chop me up?" Chu asked teasingly.

"Toss it at him and run." she suggested with a shrug, "Just do this for me okay?"

She couldn't quite bring herself to beg but she knew that if he resisted much more she might do just that.

"Alright then," Chu agreed then frowned at her, "S'long as you get yourself tended to."

The corner of her mouth twitched, "Mother much?"

Chu snorted, "S'right fun on me all you want. I'm tradin' your blood for me own and I get lip instead of thanks. You humans are a messed up bunch."

Chu sauntered away as if he really was indignant though he was easy to track since he was easily a head or two taller than most of the other fighters.

She allowed herself a moment of weakness and leaned up against the nearest wall, closing her eyes.

She hated feeling so conflicted, as if she were stabbing herself in the back by saying none of the things that twisted inside of her.

The reality was missing Hiei began before he even left and it was the worst feeling she had ever encountered.

Nothing else could make her feel so completely alone as the sight of that golden orb resting in Hiei's hand.

_So much for tough, unshakable Shizuru. When did I become so damn...girly..._

* * *

_Please REVIEW XD!_


	27. Balancing

"Well that clenches it." Yusuke commented with a slightly pained voice, "I'm not _**ever**_ fighting Shizuru."

He silently agreed with Yusuke on that particular point.

The strength behind Shizuru's finishing combo caused even him to have empathy pains for Miyake who remained curled in a fetal position on the daïs even after Shizuru walked away.

For a moment he had believed she would end the human's life.

It had been in the expression on her face, the way she had held him.

Then the moment had passed and a brief look of confusion and almost horror had flashed across her features lending credence to what he had realized when he had fought her.

Shizuru was losing herself in the fights to the point that she lost awareness of her surroundings or actions.

"I can't believe she did that!" Kuwabara exclaimed, "That's so low..."

Kuwabara's tirade was interrupted by the sound of flesh hitting flesh.

Surprised he looked over to find Candy standing in front of Kuwabara who was staring down at the young woman with shock on his face.

A small perfectly formed red hand print on Kuwabara's cheek told the story of what had just occurred.

"If you say one more word against your sister or about her seeming immorality I will shoot you myself." Candy informed Kuwabara coldly, "There are some of us who would not be enjoying our lives if not for her lack of them."

Without another word Candy walked out of the booth.

"I probably should've warned you about that." Narumi said slowly, amusement in her voice, "Candy has a hero-worship thing for Shizuru. Course I suppose that's because Shizuru pretty much rescued her and Store."

"There is no real question about it." Store put in leaning against the window and folding her arms as she looked at Kuwabara, "If it wasn't for your sister we would probably be dead or maybe worse. When she found us we were in a really bad place. And it's not like you weren't involved Narumi."

Narumi shrugged, "I wasn't. I was just there when we went to collect from that jack ass that had you guys. Shizuru was the one who noticed the ten-year olds in the bookie joint. She was the enforcer you know."

A small smile appeared on Store's face, "Yeah I guess we were a little out-of-place."

"Wait...enforcer? You mean my sister was working for yakuza?" Kuwabara asked scowling.

"Kuwabara knock it off." Yusuke insisted, "I want to hear this one."

"Why?" Kuwabara demanded, "First she's shooting people, and now she's yakuza!"

"Former yakuza," Narumi corrected calmly, "and only for about a year. She was never actually official, she more did favors for Takeo then anything else. Back then she really needed something to focus on, fighting just wasn't enough."

"I don't get any of this." Kuwabara said rubbing slowly at his face.

"So listen without interruption." He suggested mildly, "I believe it will do you good to know it is not as if she has turned into a complete stranger Kuwabara."

Kuwabara sighed heavily then turned his attention to Store.

"I don't remember offering." Store grumbled.

"Please it would help him to understand things." He requested.

It seemed an important aspect to be concerned with at that moment.

Kuwabara's constant resistance would only eventually lead to setting up roadblocks that would make the situation even more difficult to deal with effectively.

If Kuwabara could be made to understand the diversity of roles Shizuru had assumed in her lifetime away from him then he could come to terms with the reality of what Shizuru's spiritual awareness had caused her to be.

"Fine but I'm not going into huge detail." Store capitulated frowning, "Just listen so I don't have to repeat myself okay."

Kuwabara nodded though the frown remained.

"Okay well our dad was dumb." Store began slowly, "Not that we held that against him but he was a real simple guy. And he liked to gamble. Horses, poker games...if you could bet on it he did. I don't want you to get the idea he was a bad guy. He was a really sweet man. We adored him for what he was so don't get all stupid when I'm telling you this."

He glanced at Hiei out of the corner of his eye.

For some reason Hiei was remaining, his head partially turned towards Store so it was obvious he was listening to the tale as well.

Of course it had to do with Shizuru who was still somewhat of a puzzle to the fire demon.

It was not hard to imagine it would pique his interest to a certain degree.

"The thing was every once in a while he would get tied up in a high stakes poker game with this bookie named Oonishi. He sucked at poker but Oonishi thought it was funny to play him." Store went on then sighed, "I don't even know how that jerk found out we were helping our dad out with the odds."

Narumi chuckled, "Same way Takeo found out Oonishi wasn't paying him a piece of all the winnings. Someone found out you two were the brains behind the motor."

"Yeah rumors can get you killed." Store agreed smiling slightly, "But that's why we were good at what we did. We didn't just pay attention to the betting. You'd be amazed what people talk about around kids. Who's getting doped. Who's running on empty. Who's actually good at playing the game and why."

"So...you were the Candy Store before there even was one." Yusuke surmised grinning.

"Pretty much," Store agreed with a shrug, "anyway Oonishi got dad drunk and we end up as a part of the stakes. Of course dad lost..."

"Your own dad bet you?!" Kuwabara yelped incredulous.

"How someone whose parents basically abandoned him can freak out about bad parenting is beyond me." Narumi muttered with annoyance.

"Once he sobered up and realized what happened he tried to get us back but he couldn't. Besides we told him to stop trying." Store informed Kuwabara.

"Their father would have ended up dead Kuwabara." He explained for Store knowing it was not an easy story to tell, "I assume your mother was no longer in your lives."

"Mom died about a year after we were born but yeah he would've ended up dead. Not to sound arrogant or anything but our IQ's top out around genius level. Understanding that he was going to get himself killed wasn't hard."

"No doubt it was a difficult situation." He murmured, "Please go on."

"We didn't get to go outside except to find things out. Oonishi made sure to keep us on a tight leash. One of us had to stay with him as insurance when the other went out. It worked pretty well. No way we were going to do anything. It was boring but it taught us a lot about how things really worked. Problem was Oonishi was greedy and before Shizuru and Narumi showed up he was looking to sell us..."

"Like slaves." Hiei commented.

He glanced at Hiei a bit surprised by the statement. It was a rarity for anything to come out of Hiei that did not have something to do with annoyance on any given subject.

"When we went there I didn't even notice them." Narumi took up trading glances with Store, "All I was thinking was that Shizuru was probably going to start a fight and I was probably going to have to get in on it."

"If you're going to get anything out of me telling you this stuff you should get that she didn't have to bother with us." Store said centering on Kuwabara, "As far as she knew we could've been related to Oonishi. We were just a couple of kids sitting by the wall bored out of our minds. She only looked at us for like a second."

"We were there to collect money, not kids." Narumi grumbled moving to sit in one of the chairs.

"But Shizuru did notice you." Botan reiterated.

"She didn't just notice us. She told Oonishi to get together the money he owed Takeo and to get our things together because we were part of what he owed." Store continued, "It was probably the coolest, scariest thing I've ever seen. I thought Oonishi would just shoot her and all Shizuru did was stare at him."

"Yeah it was awesome." Narumi growled running a hand through her short hair, "Great times. Waiting to see just what she was going to do cause I sure as hell couldn't predict anything. I was pretty sure we weren't leaving that place without a lot of blood on the walls."

"Was she just shooting everyone?" Kuwabara asked tensely.

"Who said anything about shoot?" Narumi asked then reached down to retrieve the knife from her boot, "This was your sister's before it was mine. Shizuru doesn't like guns Kazuma. Including that bastard Arai she's only shot four people that I know of and considering her life that's pretty damn amazing."

"I believe we are moving away from the topic." He said to stall the inevitable line of questioning that would arise from Narumi's revelation of the knife having been Shizuru's before.

"What she did or didn't do to Oonishi isn't the point." Store insisted shaking her head, "What matters was that before Shizuru and Narumi came we were pretty messed up. You don't know what its like to listen to someone talking about selling you..."

Narumi took up the story, "When we left that place with those two Shizuru actually asked them what she was supposed to do with them. Store told us about their dad so that's where we took them. We thought we were done with them but a few days later they showed up asking to speak to Takeo."

"And the rest is boring details about the rise of the Candy Store." Store said with a grateful smile at Narumi, "Your sister saved our lives but it's not just people like us she does that for. She's done it for cops too. And just regular people. We're all background really but she sees us. If you ask Candy it isn't like Shizuru saves lives, its more like she saves your soul before it can be destroyed."

"That's a lovely way to look at it." Botan said though her voice was curiously tight as if she were near tears.

He found himself sharing a concerned glance with Yusuke.

It appeared even the brunette had heard the catch in Botan's voice and it bothered him as well.

It was not a far leap to connect the reaction directly to Shizuru.

The reaper's behavior was highly suspect as it was.

He had already known Botan was hiding something from them but the severity of what was being kept secret was still yet to be determined.

"In other words get off your sister's case Kazuma." Narumi insisted standing up, "Let's get out of here. She should be done getting doctored."

As the group moved to leave he slipped into step beside Narumi.

He was surprised when she put a hand to his arm stalling him from entering the elevator with everyone else.

"I forgot my knife. You guys go ahead." Narumi suggested sounding mildly annoyed.

When the elevator doors shut he waited knowing she had just lied to the group. The knife was where it normally was concealed, inside her boot.

"You're smart. I know you've put a couple of things together." Narumi said slowly turning to meet his eyes, "There's stuff that Kazuma just doesn't need to know about but you probably should."

"Am I to assume you are concerned about something being said?" He asked carefully.

The many layers of Narumi and Shizuru's relationship were still unfolding. There were times she seemed absolutely unconcerned with Shizuru and times like tonight where it was obvious that concern existed. There were even signs that it went beyond friendship into something akin to blood relations.

"You figured out Kazuma was one of those kids that were taken." Narumi stated only continuing once he nodded, "When we got to the hospital he was being kept at their parents decided to be parents. They told her she was to dangerous to have around him. I'm not exaggerating when I say her parents killed her. She went from bad ass to being dead inside. The twins story isn't normal for what was going on then."

"I am uncertain what you wish for me to..." He began frowning.

"I want you to not push it when it comes to those stories." Narumi interrupted tightly, "She didn't just get over that. Until about a year ago she was still acting like a pain in the ass."

"You're saying Hiei changed Shizuru?" He asked fairly intrigued by the concept.

"I'm saying I know he did." Narumi corrected, "Before she got involved with him she was just floating. It was like she gave into everything. No matter what happened she went with the flow like she didn't have a choice."

"There are some instances when she does not Narumi." He felt compelled to remind her.

Narumi snorted indelicately, "Just lost some points there. If Candy and Store can see how against the odds it is for her to be involved with anyone then you should. Hiei is her choice. You think that crap inside her head wants her distracted? Or like she hasn't spent a long time just thinking of herself as a tool?"

"_I didn't really know him. Not enough for there to be anything there. I guess I just...saw a chance of it...maybe. I should've known better. Things like that don't happen for people like me."_

How long ago was it she had said those words to him?

They may have been said in regards to her almost relationship with Sakyo but the tone of them could have applied to any romantic interest for her.

His response had been predictable, a reaction to the weighted resignation that pervaded the space surrounding them.

"_Reel it in Red. I didn't mean it that way. It isn't about deserving it. I just meant people who spend most of the time playing fix the universe. Not much time leftover for romance."_

Not just resignation but a distinct apathy that at the time he had noted but had simply shrugged off as a momentary thing caused by the subject matter.

"I had no idea Shizuru felt that way in regards to herself." He admitted cocking an eyebrow, "You are concerned she is slipping back into this manner of thinking?"

"No," Narumi half snapped, "Look the thing is it doesn't matter what I think. What matters is right now she doesn't have any choice but she's trying to have them. You saw the way she looked. How she ran out. All this crap happening around her, to her...don't you get a weird vibe off it? Doesn't it seem like she's being...I don't know used differently or something?"

"Like a tool that no longer serves its original purpose." He murmured glancing at the large windows.

"I don't know how these things work," Narumi admitted tensely, "this universe stuff. I do know that it's always been just one action, one person, one thing she has to do."

"Even if it is only something to be said. Yes I am well aware of the...usual nature of her spiritual energies. It has seemed to move much differently than before. What you're proposing is that we work against something that is meant to happen. I doubt even Koenma has attempted such a thing."

The doors to the elevator opened for them and this time they stepped into it.

"It probably sounds weird but if that friend of yours doesn't step up his game I don't think it's going to matter what we do." Narumi offered with a sigh, "When she starts thinking in the "just me" area Shizuru gets stupid."

"You are remarkably astute in your observations." He complimented.

Narumi cast him a disgusted look, "Just because I'm a criminal doesn't mean I don't pay attention. Besides its not like I haven't spent a lot of time with her."

He only allowed a brief smile to touch his lips.

He was well aware of the type of intelligence it required to deal with the inner workings of a band of criminals with any modicum of success.

He had not once viewed Narumi as anything close to a simpleton but he had in a way underestimated the avenues the gang leader thought in.

It took more than intelligence to grasp what they had been discussing, a mind capable of seeing beyond the daily structures.

_But then again she is in her own way aware of things the average person is not._

He needed some time to figure out the complexities but there were a few actions he could take immediately.

One of those required some time with Botan.

Another piece of the puzzle was within the small hands of the reaper, the question was simply how to go about extracting it without Botan withdrawing completely.

Hiei was obviously another albeit the fire demon's part seemed detached in many ways.

Hiei's involvement disrupted Shizuru's usefulness, caused her to make choices that undermined whatever grand plan was in effect.

Though Koenma was obviously avoiding contact with them he would have preferred consulting the ruler if only to garner some small bit of information that would help.

They had faced many trials together but none of them had been on such an expansive scale as this appeared to be.

When the elevator doors opened to the lower level of the arena he was surprised to find Chu had joined the group that stood a few feet away from the doors.

His brow furrowed as he noted that Yusuke and Kuwabara were unusually tense.

Botan stood with the twins but she wore a disapproving look.

Hiei stood a bit apart from the others, a scowl on his face.

As they approached he felt a wave of frustration pass through him.

In the fire demon's hand lay a communication ball.

_Oddly convenient..._

One of the things that had never come into direct conflict for Hiei were his ambitions and his relationship with Shizuru. They were separate, kept that way by both he and Shizuru. By the fact that either occupied different worlds.

It was not the most opportune time for such a thing to occur but again there was very little lately that could be described as such.

He sighed inwardly.

There were times he did not enjoy playing the roles he did, times that he felt it should be enough to state something instead of manipulating an outcome.

It was a boring thought but he did have them.

"I see Mukuro has need of you." He said as they joined the group.

Hiei's eyes centered on him, burning with intense emotions.

_oh...how interesting..._

"You have no need to worry." He went on casually, "We have everything well in hand. I see no need for you to ignore Mukuro's summons. I'm certain Shizuru understands."

He purposefully ignored the narrowed glance Narumi cast at him in favor of holding Hiei's eyes with his own.

There were many conflicting emotions in that crimson glare, the most surprising being a certain amount of disgust.

_How can you expect anything different Hiei? This is how you arranged it to be._

He could almost read Hiei's mind, the thoughts that were brewing within the maelström of emotions.

He doubted it had ever occurred to the fire demon that this moment might come, that some day he would have to face the decision that had been given to him.

He also doubted it had ever occurred to Hiei to care what they thought about his automatic reaction to the summons.

In some ways that response had seemed almost out of character for a being known to chafe at any type of assumed control. In regards to Hiei's ambition though it was understandable. Ambition could not simply be laid aside, it had to be tended to, sometimes to the exclusion of all else.

_Though the same could be said for other things of value..._

"You would run off like that." Kuwabara growled.

Hiei's focus shifted to Kuwabara for a moment then back to him.

How long could it last? The indecisive fury bound up in that smaller frame?

"You know nothing." Hiei finally spat before disappearing.

Kuwabara scowled at the place Hiei had vacated then stomped off in the direction of the exit. The rest of them followed more slowly.

Once above ground Chu gave a short goodbye before wandering off.

Oddly enough he found himself in Yusuke's company.

"You seem troubled." He commented slowing their pace so that they lagged behind the others.

"You ever think Hiei just doesn't know what to do?" Yusuke asked him uncertainly.

His eyebrows rose, "Yes I've often been given that impression. He may have some years on you and Kuwabara but that does not mean he has an answer to the obstacles in life."

Yusuke stopped walking, his hands tucked deep in his pockets, "I'm going to go find him."

"You believe he hasn't gone to Demon World?" He ventured curiously.

It was not often that Yusuke took it upon himself to seek one of them out especially not in an attempt to speak of emotionally difficult subjects.

Standing there with the youth he realized there was a certain maturity in the way Yusuke peered at him, some quality that spoke of knowledge that wanted to be shared. That Yusuke would choose to go after Hiei in the first place was surprising.

"I think he's pissed at us." Yusuke stated shifting uncomfortably, "and maybe at Shizuru...and maybe at himself. We all just assumed he would go running to see what Mukuro wanted but it would be weird right? Him leaving when Shizuru's doing this stuff. If it was me there's no way I would leave and you guys would know that."

He nodded in understanding, "We have only seen him react in one way to a summons from Mukuro."

"But that's messed up right?" Yusuke insisted then shook his head, "Yeah he's...Hiei but..."

"I suppose one of us should apologize for that assumption, not that he will accept it." He offered with a lift of his lips, "Or acknowledge that it bothered him."

"Yeah..." then Yusuke grinned at him devilishly, "Besides you're going to find out why Botan's acting weird and there's no way I'm staying around for that!"

Confused he frowned, "I fail to see..."

"Look she's already almost crying every time something weird happens." Yusuke pointed out, "I don't do girls that cry for no reason. And if she starts then Kuwabara will start griping about not making girls cry. I'd rather chase Hiei down in the Demon World then deal with that."

"Ahhh..." He intoned glancing at the group leaving them behind, "You are throwing me to the wolves."

Yusuke's grin widened, "Sure am, that has Kurama written all over it."

"Hiei may take offense to you chasing him down." He pointed out.

"Still not seeing the down side." Yusuke returned already turning away, "Rather get swallowed by that damn dragon then deal with a girl who cries for no reason...Botan probably will too."

Yusuke tossed out a wave before heading off in what he could only assume was the direction Hiei had gone.

It was strange watching Yusuke's form as it disappeared from sight knowing it would have normally been himself that went after Hiei.

"He going to drag that idiot back?"

He almost jumped at the sound of Narumi's voice at his shoulder.

He despised not having his energies, every sense was dulled in some manner.

"If we are to work against the concept of a lack of choices it is important to encourage that actual choices are made." He replied shifting to look at her, "It is said you cannot fight fate."

Narumi snorted, "I don't believe in fate."

He smiled, "Neither do I."

* * *

"You kinda suck at hiding when you're pissed."

He glanced at the ex detective debating if moving farther away would be discouraging or would only illicit Yusuke finding him again.

He did not care to listen to anything that might be said.

"I was not hiding." He snapped.

If he had wanted to be completely untraceable he could have been quite easily.

The fact was he had not bothered to entertain the notion that anyone besides Kurama might search for him and in Kurama's current condition that was impossible.

He had wanted to be alone.

Apparently that was too much to expect.

He turned back to the view of the city. One aspect he found favorable in the Human World was they were constantly building. At any given time he could find higher perches among the many empty construction sites without worry of being bothered.

That had been true until Yusuke had tainted the concept by doing just that.

"Soooo...look we shouldn't have been like that." Yusuke offered joining him on the girder he occupied.

He could simply push Yusuke off.

It was not as if the brunette would be seriously injured by the six-story fall and if he was then it might serve to remind the newly made demon to leave others to their own thoughts.

Then again it was Yusuke.

"You have some point to make. Make it and leave." He demanded impatiently.

He did not want to think at that moment.

He did not want to recall the faint scent of Shizuru's blood.

He did not want to go over the churning shock and disgust that had gone through him the instant Chu had delivered Shizuru's message.

"_She said to give you that. Says she'll see you when you come back."_

The communication ball was hidden among the folds of his cloak and he had no real idea why he had kept it.

Nor could he completely reason out the sharp sting of the others expectation of his immediate departure.

It had never mattered to him before, their approval was never something he had bothered concerning himself with.

He did not want to acknowledge the momentary automatic urge to return to Demon World since he never bothered to actually open the communications from Mukuro.

He preferred gaining information from the source, and there were things the ex demon lord would not divulge with the ball. There had been times the information had proven useless.

Those reasons and the fact that he did not like exposing Shizuru to the dangers he was normally heading into kept the ball firmly intact until he disposed of it.

He did not want to over-analyze exactly why he felt so completely frustrated.

"You know I got lucky...with Keiko I mean."

He had almost forgotten Yusuke was there with him, almost.

"If I hadn't come back early she would've dumped me." Yusuke went on as if he had any interest, "It was probably luckier than having a demon somewhere in my family."

The option of leaving was still very much in his mind.

It was mindless and pointless to even try to follow the thread of thoughts Yusuke employed to produce reasoning.

"I could care less about your female." He insisted knowing it was just as pointless to say anything.

Yusuke could ramble when he was of the mind to and frequently there was no escape until he was finished.

"Girls like Keiko and Shizuru don't ever say it Hiei. It's just not in them to tell us not to go after what we want. They may want to but they won't. I think after awhile it starts killing them a little inside to do it. To just let us go knowing bad things are going to happen to us." Yusuke said unaffected by his outburst.

"I find it less than amusing that not only she but you as well have decided I am leaving." he interrupted tensely.

Of all the conversations he had imagined to have with Yusuke this had definitely never occurred to him. When they spoke in any manner it tended to involve their fists.

"You always go back when Mukuro wants you to." Yusuke pointed out.

"I am her heir." he returned tightly, "I leave there just as easily."

"Really?" Yusuke asked with a smirk, "It's easy to leave Shizuru? Why are you bothering then?"

He opened his mouth to retort then closed it again as he realized he had just been outsmarted by Yusuke Urameshi of all people.

It did nothing to improve his mood.

Yusuke laughed again, "You ever thought of doing anything else besides getting power Hiei?"

He felt one of his eyebrows rise, "I have power."

"Let me put that another way. Ever consider there might be something to go along with that sort of thing? Like maybe a person?"

"Shizuru wants nothing to do with Demon World nor does she care for power." he replied almost certain Yusuke had no idea what he was attempting to say.

Yusuke laughed, "Probably cause she has it. I just don't think she sees it as important."

He had nothing to say in response to that statement. It was the truth after all. Shizuru had power in the human underworld without being to directly involved in any of it.

At the same time it was not the same as what he had. Her's was influence. His was by direct action.

_But that is how she is..._

Even with the want to state things between them there would never come a point she felt comfortable enough to express her own want when it came to his ambitions.

"Okay one more try and I'll leave you alone." Yusuke promised.

"Finally." He muttered.

"You didn't like watching her fight right?"

It was a testament to their long friendship that he did not do the first thing that came to mind.

As satisfying as strangling Yusuke might be he could not bring himself to actually do so.

"It was worse today. When that guy cut her up..."

Internally he flinched from the memory of the fight. Seeing that thin trickle of blood appear on her shoulder. That red slash across her cheek. The blood that had soaked her shirt. Yusuke would probably never have to experience that choking need to kill the human that had caused those injuries.

"If you go then if something happened, something worse you could pretend she's just somewhere else."

There was no thought.

One moment he was staring into the distance and the next his fist connected with Yusuke's jaw.

Yusuke grabbed one of the beams to keep from falling from the one he currently stood on.

"Do not ever assume you know me so well." He snarled.

Yusuke wiped at the blood that seeped from the corner of his mouth.

He had not held back in the attack but he also had not continued with it.

"You aren't going anyway Hiei cause its the same for you with her like it is for me with Keiko." Yusuke insisted spitting some blood out.

He simply glared at the ex detective still reining in the initial burst of white-hot fury.

There was no real way that Yusuke could have known just how insulting his words had been.

Nor could the brunette know how that particular thought process would cut into him, reminding him of his cowardly action while being held prisoner by Tsuneo.

"I've always been "that punk Urameshi", Yusuke explained leaning back on the beam he had caught himself on, "for as long as I can remember people called me that. Sure it was cool having all the people around me know my name, get nervous when I came by. Keiko didn't though. When she looks at me its different."

"I'm tired of listening to you." He insisted turning away.

"She makes you real."

Yusuke's words did not so much strike a chord as vibrate through his entire being.

"You get use to the fear. People looking at you but kind of looking through you too. You get use to being the last person anyone wants to see. The one everybody is hoping wont be talking to them. The guy they're real glad is gone when you leave. The fighting is good, makes you feel alive at least. But when she looks at you, when she notices you it's like life turns on."

He wanted to deny that simple explanation. It had never occurred to him that he viewed life in any proximity to the way Yusuke might. He had imagined their opinions would always be at odds.

Strangely enough it made him think of the first time he had held Shizuru.

That night he had thought of nothing more than to offer his heat to her.

That night she had asked him to stay with her, those topaz eyes centered on him.

It had been electric and yes even he could begrudgingly admit it had seemed as if in some odd way things became more vivid.

"You are not as dumb as you look." He commented without moving.

Yusuke chuckled, "I've just been with Keiko for a while now."

"She is why you left Demon World?" He found himself asking.

"Well yeah" Yusuke answered shrugging, "I mean power is great and all but once you get it its kind of boring. Life with Keiko isn't. You lucked out too you know."

He turned his head, "In what manner?"

"Shizuru's a fighter too. I always thought it would be easier if Keiko was one...but then again I probably would be dead by now if she was." Yusuke ruminated running a hand over his hair.

"Females are confusing no matter what they do." He stated drawing the communication ball from his cloak, "It is not easy with Shizuru."

It took more effort then when he bent the metals made in the Human World, when he was finished crushing the golden orb he tossed the remains away not caring where they landed.

In truth he had not entertained the idea of leaving Shizuru no matter what the message had been from Mukuro.

Mukuro had defended her lands for a very long time without his presence.

His reaction had been a mix of frustration from the previous evening, holding back during her fight, and finally the absolute certainty from all of them that he would abandon Shizuru simply because Mukuro wanted something of him.

Their certainty had surprised him to a certain degree.

He had always regarded them as being infected with compassion, that one of their traits was the utter belief of good intentions.

It had been applied to him before in many situations, except in that particular moment.

It had confused him that they believed he would do something of that nature.

In hindsight he could not blame them.

Yusuke's words brought at least some of his turbulent thoughts into focus.

"Why you?" He asked.

Yusuke shrugged, "Why not? This I get. All the crap that gets in the way. The things you want to get done, that you want to have. I get how it messes you up. You just needed someone to make a straight line for you."

It was an apt description of the method Yusuke had used.

A singular line of thought that made sense of some of the chaos he had been enduring for months.

"Does she know all of you?" He questioned.

"Sometimes I wish she didn't but yeah even the scary long-haired, tattooed part." Yusuke replied.

His gaze became unfocused for a moment, "You've been of use."

"Sure," Yusuke said, "and you're welcome. Don't go telling that stuff to anyone."

"Wouldn't it be a shame if I did." He tossed back grining slightly.

"Hiei...damn it!"

He chuckled as he left the construction site.

He needed to find Shizuru.

* * *

_**I would really appreciate some reviews. It helps to know what all of you think of how I'm doing. PLEASE REVIEW XD!**_


	28. Layer by Layer

Her hands were shaking.

They had been since she left the arena after letting the medics there tend to her injuries.

What ever it was she had almost done to Miyake seemed to still be affecting her. She had thought when Chu stopped her the weakness she had felt had been due to shock.

Instead of slowly wearing off the physical weakness was lasting though it did not seem to bring with it any type of exhaustion.

Which in and of itself was aggravating.

She would have much rather slept off the feeling, even if where she was happened to be a very secure place she could not stand the sensation of being vulnerable to anything that might come along.

She took a drag of her cigarette, pointedly ignoring the tremor that made the action something she had to concentrate on.

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the large house in the distance.

_Making a habit of this crap..._

She was not hiding.

She did not come here very much.

There were certain layers to the types of seclusion she was comfortable with.

She was not like Hiei.

There was not just being there and being away for her.

In truth she was not just concerned with having to deal with Kazuma, which was more than enough reason for her to not go running back to Narumi's safe house.

She had hit some kind of wall internally.

It was as if she had been swept up in something very similar to the sensations she associated with being under the influence of demonic energies without the pain involved.

She could not seem to entrench herself in her typical mode of disinterest, to pull away from the more immediate feelings of loneliness and abstract horror.

She could not get the image of Miyake's terror filled expression out of her mind.

She was use to seeing fear on the face of some of the people she fought, there was a point when they realized they had bitten off more than they could chew when facing off with her.

What Miyake had expressed was a level she had never associated with herself.

She did not want to dwell on the fact that while she had held him lost in the thoughts of his soul there had been an odd sort of hunger coursing through her.

Here, in the dark quiet of the night that sensation caused a deep revulsion even if she did not understand all of what those earlier feelings meant.

Her perceptions at the time had shifted without her want, without warning.

What seemed like a simple accidental wisp of confusion had been the only thing that brought her back from that mindset that she did not recognize as herself in any way.

How was she supposed to trust herself, her reactions in any given situation when there was no possible way for her to know she was crossing some internal line that more or less turned her into a psychopath?

What other description could she give that difference when not twenty minutes before that she had thought something very similar in regards to Botan who was someone she cared about?

_Wasn't fighting her either..._

She had made a huge miscalculation by allowing Takahashi to have his way.

Chancer had warned her he did not recognize what was inside her and she seriously doubted that at this point the kid could reverse what he had done by unlocking her access to them.

Which meant those instances were probably going to become more common and she had no real way to guard against them.

That was a sobering thought that sent a wave of nausea through her and made her eyes sting with tears.

At what point would she have to disregard what she was involved in to protect the people that she called family?

When would she become too dangerous?

Her options were not really options to begin with.

There was talking it over with the boys which she was predisposed to not consider an option to begin with.

Kurama had lost access to his demonic energies. Even though the red-head talked about not being bothered by the absence of them it was obvious that he was distracted by the loss.

Yusuke and Kazuma were not the brightest tools in the shed. Going to them was the same as talking to a wall since they had no clue about energies to begin with.

Genkai was gone.

Yukina was an option but she did not want to involve the young woman in anything that might endanger her.

Botan had very few answers and that book had only basic information to go on.

And Hiei...

The knife of loneliness and indecision twisted inside her sharply.

Though Hiei might be the first person her mind supplied when the want to discuss something came up she tended to shove the thought aside.

Her inclinations were towards dealing with problems on her own, not going to others unless absolutely necessary.

Besides that how exactly was she supposed to tell him of all people about what was happening to her?

How could she without mentioning things she didn't want him to know?

The last thing she wanted to be responsible for was teaching Hiei anything close to the concept of guilt.

"Shizuru?"

She jerked in surprise, looking up from her contemplation of the porch wood to find Hiro standing over her.

For a heartbeat she was simply confused by his sudden appearance, as if he had gained some magical ability until she realized she had been too distracted by her thoughts to notice anything.

Out of habit she stared at him just as he would have expected hoping he did not notice the moment of being startled.

Hiro was much too good at ferreting out weaknesses and using it against others.

"My father wanted someone to come out and check on you." Hiro offered smoothly.

Her back straightened at the soft tone he used. Hiro was not typically a decent person, it was always suspect when he was being nice.

"I'm fine." she assured him, reaching for another cigarette, "Tell your dad to stop being nosy."

Hiro chuckled then sat beside her as if it were normal for them to spend time alone together.

She noted he sat closer than she was comfortable with but there was not much she could do about that.

She was more or less trapped by the railing of the porch and the fact that her body did not feel as if it were capable of her moving without giving away her physical weakness.

Another thing she could not let him know.

"You can tell him that." Hiro suggested, "I try not to piss the old man off. It tends to get ugly."

She nodded noncommittal as if she were not hyper-aware of him in that moment.

Takeo's retirement from the yakuza had done very little to soften the ex boss. There were not that many including his own family that did not still tread lightly with him.

Hiro was actually terrified of his father but pretended it was nothing more than respect.

That did not mean that she could relax on the property when Hiro was there.

"I didn't come here looking for company." she said focusing for a moment to light her cigarette with as little shaking as possible, "What do you want Hiro?"

"You were messed up last time I saw you. I didn't just come out here because my dad wanted it." Hiro confessed, "Where's your friend? Shouldn't he be..."

"I don't see that as any of your business." she half snapped flicking her ash, "Why were you at the fights?"

Distraction was better than dealing with the jealousy in Hiro's voice.

It had been awhile since she had been so extremely aware of being vulnerable. Of course that knowledge was enough for her to wish for Hiei's presence, to wish they were that type of couple that spent times like these together.

She knew it was something she had helped create but that did not mean in that moment she was not susceptible to the want of what she could have counted on with him there.

"You're the one that suggested I put money in there." Hiro reminded her, moving closer, "I usually enjoy watching you fight but to be honest that really sucked Zuru."

She tensed internally drawing back a little as he used the old nickname. They had still been teenagers the last time he had used it with her though Narumi still used it when she was angry or upset.

"He should be here you know." Hiro insisted frowning as he turned more towards her, "You deserve better than someone who doesn't give a damn that you were hurt."

"I can take care of myself." she replied cautiously, "Hiei cares. He just shows it differently."

"You don't have to defend him." Hiro said scowling, "I would never do that to you. If you were mine you wouldn't ever have to worry about..."

"You should probably shut up." she interrupted with annoyance, "What are you trying to do? I've never acted like you have a chance with me."

"That can change." Hiro responded lifting a hand and reaching out towards her, "I know you don't really like being alone..."

She felt her eyes widened as Hiro's fingers touched her cheek, the caress shocking her enough to cause her to freeze.

Her heart began to race as she realized not only was he touching her in a way she only let Hiei, he was also moving forward with obvious intentions.

It was not just the shock that held her in place, the pervading weakness held her there and the thought that if she was not strong enough to fend him off things could go from bad to worse very easily.

Abruptly Hiro froze himself.

"If we were in my world you would be dead." Hiei informed Hiro darkly, appearing over his shoulder, "She is joined to me."

Profound relief flooded through her as she noted that Hiei's sword blade rested against Hiro's throat.

She was not quite able to identify the expression on Hiei's face, there was anger but there was more being displayed that she did not have much experience with from him.

In all honesty she had never been so intensely glad to see him in any mood before, it almost stole the breath from her.

Hiei pulled back drawing Hiro further away from her.

"You should inform your boyfriend what it means to threaten me Shizuru." Hiro growled.

She could not contain a short, breathy laugh, "You think I've kept him from the yakuza to protect _him_ from _you_ Hiro?"

That gained a small, momentary lift to one of the corners of Hiei's mouth.

_Can't be to worked up if he can do that..._

Hiro's eyes narrowed, "You..."

The blade at his throat shifted causing a small scraping sound effectively silencing Hiro.

"Your presence is no longer wanted. If you touch her again I will forget which world I am in." Hiei promised blackly.

Hiei removed the sword, straightening as he did so.

Hiro shook his head then without comment stood up and stalked away.

"That...was a little understated for you." She commented drily.

Hiei did not look at her, his eyes focused on the quickly diminishing figure moving towards the main house.

"Why are you not with the others?"

Abruptly she was aware of the fact that Hiei was right in front of her and not in the Demon World as she had only just began to accept.

That she was not in the right frame of mind to be dealing with him since his sudden appearance had created a new, more intense maelström inside of her already overwhelming emotional thoughts.

That as much as she had been yearning for him to be there only seconds before she very much wanted him to be anywhere else.

"What are you doing here?" she returned belatedly realizing she had dropped her lit cigarette into the grass.

The last thing she needed was to deal with the overzealous gardener over a patch of burnt grass.

She located it easily enough, bending to retrieve the remains that thankfully had put itself out at some point.

Unfortunately she underestimated her balance in the hurried movements.

Hiei's steadying hand on her shoulder saved her from a fairly embarrassing moment of hitting the ground head first.

"Our definitions are not the same." Hiei said as she straightened, "Otherwise you would not bother to ask such a foolish question."

Their eyes locked for a second.

"Don't do that to me." she snapped forcing herself to her feet, "I'm fine so you can..."

"Do not expect me to ignore the obvious." Hiei snapped back at her, "You are in no state to be alone and I will not leave you to fend off that human's attentions!"

"You're kidding right?" she asked stopping at the doorway to turn back towards him, "He won't come back out. Hiro's an idiot but he isn't suicidal."

"He has already shown a distinct lack of self-preservation." Hiei stated firmly.

She laughed, smirking slightly, "Yeah well I don't think anyone lives up to your standards in that area."

He was actually making her uncomfortable with the way he was staring at her.

As strange as it was the air between them was slowly becoming imbued with a manic, nervous energy that she had only associated with him when they were just beginning this relationship. As if suddenly there was something unknown and vibrant drifting in the surroundings.

Her insides squeezed with tension.

"Is there a reason you need encouragement to not collapse on the floor?" Hiei asked raising an eyebrow.

Of course he would notice the slight tremor that had traveled through her that she had tried to suppress.

_Damn him..._

She turned without comment to enter the single room house and sat on the edge of the bed.

She really needed him to leave but she could not think much beyond that odd shiver in the air. In some small way she was holding her breath, waiting for what it was going to produce. In another she was against the idea of discovering just what it meant.

"Hiei..." she began uncertainly.

"Your scent is heavy here." Hiei interrupted stepping into the house and sliding the door shut behind himself as his eyes roamed over the room, "Why?"

She glanced around the room, "I don't think Takeo lets anyone else use it but me. I come here when you aren't around..."

"To hide."

She frowned, "To be alone."

"Enough." Hiei insisted drawing her attention to him, "That is enough of this foolishness. If there are things to be said then do so. I do not enjoy the strain between us. At what point did you stop being the one to speak?"

"Since when are you the one who wants to?" she countered annoyance flaring, "All I want is one night to be left alone. You don't want to keep pushing me right now."

His eyes narrowed slightly, "It is not as if I fear you."

She could only stare at him in shock.

It was a rarity for him to take something she said as a threat when she did not mean for it to be taken in that way.

Then anger took the place of shock.

"I'm trying to be nice here." she forced out through grit teeth, "I'm trying to not be...too much for you. If you keep pushing I don't know that I can keep it in."

His head tilted as he studied her again, "In what way am I to take that? It makes no sense."

_Stupid...arrogant...pain in the ass..._

There were not enough words to describe the frustration that coursed through her, that caused her eyes to sting forcing her to avert her eyes again.

"I come here to think. I don't remember asking you to come along." she finally said.

If she kept her focus away from him she had slightly more control over her emotions, maybe enough to convince him to leave before anything truly horrifying happened.

"You ask nothing of me."

"Most guys would like that." she tossed back without thinking.

What was it that he wanted from her?

"You are being purposefully difficult." Hiei accused.

She sighed internally, "So go and hang out with..."

"I do not come to this world for them!" Hiei snarled, his voice full of frustration.

Surprised she finally turned to look at him.

She was use to a modicum of tension in his voice, it was normal for his tone to be mildly insulting but the frustration he had just expressed was not normal.

It was an exceptional gift to glare with the intensity he possessed.

Her brow furrowed as he looked away from her, another unusual happenstance.

That unnerving tension in the space between them seemed to double.

"I'm asking you to go." she told him quietly, "If you don't I'm going to be very...human in front of you."

Again came that heated attention as his eyes fully focused on her.

Those eyes that were slightly widened which was for him a sure sign she had shocked him with her words.

Was it really that shocking?

"I am to believe you accept my demonic aspects while you hide your human ones from me?"

She had always been well aware of the double standard reflected in the way she viewed these particular subjects. Hearing him voice it so clearly with obvious annoyance made it something worth defending.

"So sue me if I don't want you seeing me as weak." she grumbled looking down at the bed, "I didn't say it made sense okay."

There was the sound of cloth shifting.

She automatically looked up, confused by the sound to find what was probably the strangest reaction she had ever seen from him.

Hiei had removed his cloak and sword, she had caught him in the act of putting both on the floor. His movements were not the normal almost seductive grace she was use to from him. There was a sort of hesitancy in them as if he were talking himself into whatever it was he planned.

Despite the chaos inside her when his hands went to remove his shirt her usual humor asserted itself.

"It's not my birthday."

Hiei paused in his action, casting a decidedly annoyed glance at her before finishing the removal of his shirt.

He cast that to the ground before removing the cloth that hid the Jagan.

"I only require that you watch." He informed her turning more fully towards her then paused, "I will change."

His tone only confirmed that he was not fully comfortable with what he was doing. That to a certain degree he was doing something he did not fully want to do.

She was not certain what to expect but his obvious reluctance caused her to tense as she felt a surge in the demonic energies that surrounded him.

* * *

He was not certain what had decided him on this particular course of action.

He had not come to this place with any fully formed intentions.

He had wanted only to confront her, to rid the both of them of the uneasiness that resided between them that he had attributed more to the situation than anything else.

He had not been prepared for the concept that she had been hiding herself from him in this manner.

As usual she made no sense to him.

She was human.

That was undeniable.

It was one thing to control his strength when touching her but he had never viewed his dealings with her as lacking when it came to his expression of self.

She was privy to more than he allowed the others to see.

After hearing she was purposefully denying her own nature he realized the space between them was as much his lack of experience in these areas as it was her inclination to care too much for others.

They were the same in many ways but the differences that existed still held a somewhat mystic quality to them, a haze that he did not readily understand.

Granted her admission that she did not want him to view her as weak had caused a flurry of strange fluttering in his core. He had no true idea what she was withholding in order to appear strong to him but in the end it had been a sort of catalyst.

He was unwilling to allow the pretense of hiding to continue.

Despite his decision as his demonic form settled into place he found himself hesitant to meet her eyes.

Would this be what finally caused fear to be in her?

It was not often he bothered with the form and never under circumstances such as these.

He blamed the concept entirely on her.

If she were not so stubbornly refusing to be human he would not have entertained the idea of forcing the issue that he was a demon.

In this form there was no denying what he was.

And in truth he had never been so fully aware of her eyes on him, of the strange tension that ate at him as he waited for her response what ever it might be.

There was only silence from her which made the tension inside grow tighter.

Then she shifted as if she were moving towards him and his eyes automatically sought out the source of the sound.

Her eyes were centered on his body, her brow furrowed slightly.

His assumption had been correct, yet again Shizuru was reaching for him without preamble.

He had to force himself to remain still, this form was in some ways more sensitive than his other. It was more attuned to the sense of strength inherent in the slightly larger size. His perceptions slightly altered to take in more scents and awareness of energies due to the Jagan being fully opened.

This form was also attuned to perceiving threat and though she was not moving in a way that could be seen as such he still had to concentrate to not shy away from the light, cool touch of her fingertips as they came into contact with his chest.

Just as it had the first time she had reached out to him there was a sense of disbelief in witnessing the action.

He doubted he would ever become fully use to her doing so.

Her fingers traced closer to one of the eyes that lay on his chest but paused near the edge as if she were uncertain.

He reached up to lightly guide her hand over it.

"It isn't...real?" Shizuru questioned softly.

"The addition of the Jagan caused these to appear." He informed her ignoring the slight pull of reaction due to the changed tenor of his voice, "In some part they amplify it but they do not exist in a physical sense."

"You thought I'd be scared huh."

"I think you cannot accept something you have never seen." He returned finally looking at her, "This is the form in my mind when you mention demonic. This that you have never seen of me."

It was not fear he saw in her steady gaze, and to his horror those topaz orbs began to fill with tears.

The shock of seeing the water in her eyes broke the build of energies he used to maintain his demonic form. He felt it slip away as he stared at her.

While he did not equate tears with weakness he did associate them with pain, both physical and emotional, something to be avoided at all costs from those close to him.

He had found that as he aged he seemed to have a strong, natural aversion to them. He hid the reaction under the layers of self-protection he had built. If anything he blamed it on the familial link to the Ice Maidens.

He was not even certain he held the physical attributes needed to produce tears.

It was yet another reason for him to distance himself, why he only had sought out momentary bouts of female company.

Yukina had broken through those layers with disgusting ease even if she was his sister.

Shizuru's tears, that show of what had to be a deep agony, caused a sense of confusion and helplessness.

"Damn..." Shizuru whispered harshly turning away from him as she swiped at her eyes, "I told you to get out of here."

He realized belatedly that in his shock he had released her hand and stepped back as if he were rejecting what he was seeing.

That was not the case, he merely was at a loss.

The only thought prevalent in his mind was how to make her stop which he had no idea how to go about doing.

He was not all that certain what had caused those tears in the first place.

"Not so easy to deal with when it's in your face huh?" Shizuru commented.

There was a note of resignation in her voice that disturbed him.

He could have left, it was always an option. To simply not deal with anything so intrinsically full of the unknown.

What he did know was that if he decided to leave there would be no return from it.

It would be seen as outright rejection and rightly so since he would have perceived it in the same way.

That knowledge invaded the space between them, something almost tangible in its undeniable reality. A sense of something bent to the point of breaking. The question held in that quality was if that fragile concept would be snapped in a manner that chased them from each other or brought them closer together.

He could see she was aware of it as well. It was in the manner that she had brought her knees up to her chest, causing that unsettling illusion that she had suddenly become smaller.

As confused and unnerved as he was by her tears it was nothing in comparison to the deep-rooted denial that coursed through him at the thought of leaving.

Instead of attempting to speak to her he snatched his shirt from the floor and settled onto the bed careful to not move too quickly.

He also purposefully kept space between them, a border that allowed the both of them space to breathe.

"You don't have to force yourself." Shizuru offered in a dull, lifeless tone.

It grated instantly on his nerves.

Her expectations of him were decidedly low as they always had been. For a time that might have been acceptable but now it was only too apparent it caused more harm than good.

"You forget...I do nothing I do not wish to do." He replied tensely.

Shizuru sighed heavily moving farther away from him so she could lean her back against the wall before curling back into that detested ball of insecurity and painful emotion.

He did not like to think he was the cause of this reaction, "This is not..."

"It's normal I guess." Shizuru said interrupting him though she did not look at him as she spoke, "It messes me up when you leave. I know you have to but it doesn't mean I have to like it."

Being required to leave was a relative concept. He tended to if only out of curiosity or a deeper desire for conflict but he did not consider it as something he had to do. It was just what he did.

That particular thought was something he had never considered before. There was a time his ambition had pulled him back to the Demon World, a time where it had been all that swayed him.

He frowned.

He had spent the last year and a half chasing after dual ambitions without realizing it.

Demon World, his appointment as Mukuro's heir, and Shizuru.

Both held almost equal pulls though he had never once asked Shizuru how much time he had spent in her company. He could admit he tended to ignore the flow of time around her.

He had only asked that of Mukuro when he lost time within the healing tanks and then his mind was full of Shizuru not the outcome of whatever battle he had been injured in.

But he was well aware that Shizuru was not so easily swayed by her emotions.

That those tears would not have been shed for that singular reason.

There was more to this then she was admitting to, more that caused her normally sardonic nature to be completely subverted.

The only other time something similar had happened was during her time in Demon World, when she had discovered that her spiritual energies no longer worked in the way they had previously.

Her energies now flowed as he expected them to.

They surrounded her in a translucent bloom that shifted and swayed in an almost hypnotic manner. This was a sure sign of their strength and passivity.

Kuwabara's only flared when he purposefully used them, otherwise they were all but a second skin, tucked tightly against the giant's body.

In the arena Shizuru's energies had changed becoming that strange, undulating mirage that both surrounded her tightly and radiated outward in waves that had touched the edges of the daïs.

It had been only the second time he had witnessed it but he was certain it had increased in both intensity and size.

He had also witnessed the momentary horror that had crossed her features for that split second though he had been certain she meant to end the life of the human.

"You know...I can feel it when you do that." Shizuru informed him.

He tilted his head in confusion, "I have no idea what you mean."

"You just used your Jagan on me." Shizuru explained raising her head to meet his eyes, "I can feel when you do that."

He snorted indelicately, unwilling to admit he had done so without much thought. He had neglected to fully close the Jagan due to forgetting to cover it again.

"Does it make you uncomfortable?" he asked suddenly curious.

Her mouth quirked on one side, "The third eye staring at me? It's weird cause it doesn't blink but it's not like I didn't know it was there. I did go to the Dark Tournament and you weren't exactly shy about using it."

"How is it you are so accepting of these...things?" he questioned though he did close the Jagan entirely to put her more at ease.

"I'm not." Shizuru denied running a shaking hand through her hair, "I accept you. Pretty much any other demon creeps me out. I'm just a hell of a lot better at hiding it then most people bother being. At the Dark Tournament Keiko went stupid and ran away from me. I kinda got myself chased by a group of them looking for her. Trust me I was scared at the time."

"Is that when you met Sakyo?" he half growled.

Her eyebrow lifted, "Yeah he saved me from them. Who...nevermind I smell a red-headed rat..."

She studied him for a moment and abruptly he was uncomfortable with the scrutiny.

He had not meant to ask the question. Being in her company somehow turned his ability to think before speaking off. He did not appreciate that fact in the least.

"You know the best thing about him?" Shizuru asked slowly as if she were being cautious with her words.

"I have no interest in knowing anything about your past relationships." He snapped.

Shizuru chuckled, "It wasn't even one. Still you should probably get that jealousy thing checked so I'm going to tell you anyway."

He scowled hoping that would be enough to quell the moment of sharing, knowing it would have no affect.

"He would've followed the rules." Shizuru went on, "Being with Sakyo would've been like not being with anyone. He never would've cared about me. I don't think he had it in him to care about anything but himself."

"It is a rule to...not...care for you?" He asked knowing his absolute confusion was obvious.

"Yeah...you broke it by the way." Shizuru replied moving enough to retrieve something from her pocket.

The black and gold lighter glinted as she shifted it in her hand.

He barely held himself back from snatching it from her and destroying it once and for all.

The strength of the hate he felt for the object was a bit surprising.

"I don't keep this because it was his anymore." Shizuru said reaching for a pack of cigarettes that sat on the small table beside her, "I don't even keep it because it means anything. I haven't even thought about it being his since we started this."

She lit the cigarette she had just pulled out then flipped the lighter at him.

He automatically caught it, torn between using his flame to destroy it and grasping how little it meant to her.

It was a lighter, nothing more.

He tossed the thing back at her without commenting feeling slightly foolish for that surge of black hate he had felt only seconds before.

"I appreciate you not killing Hiro."

"That is not necessarily decided yet." He insisted gruffly, "At the very least if he touches you again I will remove his hand."

"Then I get to go punch Mukuro?"

It had to be the least expected thing she could have said. The result was that he simply stared at her again, his mind a total blank.

"I can now." Shizuru assured him conversationally, "I'm a lot stronger than I use to be."

How had the conversation turned into absolute madness?!

"I suppose that passes as a real threat." He replied scathingly, "What purpose would that serve?"

"Personal satisfaction." Shizuru answered with a dark smirk, "Hitting her would go a long way to making me feel alright about how possessive she is about you."

No it had not just become madness but a form of insanity that was beyond his understanding.

"Mukuro has no interest in me." He scoffed.

"I didn't say that she did or she didn't." Shizuru returned, "She's just really possessive when it comes to you. I don't like it. If you get to take off Hiro's hand it's only fair that I get at least one good shot at Mukuro."

"That would be suicide." He pointed out scowling at her, "Your energies are not on par with her's."

The smirk drifted from Shizuru's face as she looked away from him and took a drag from her cigarette.

He waited for her to speak since he was uncertain what it was that had caused the reaction.

Internally he tensed against the thought of her actually seeking out Mukuro in the Demon World. There had been a certain amount of steely resolve to her tone. He did not want to contemplate the outcome of a meeting such as that between the two females.

"You know...sometimes it's like I'm trying to do something someone else was suppose to do." Shizuru said quietly then shrugged, "It's hard to explain."

"Attempt to." He insisted moving a few inches closer to her, "I tire of hearing of you from others."

It was not that she had changed the subject so suddenly that had drawn his attention.

He had become adept at noting the change in qualities to her voice, there was a certain distance to it when she spoke of things pertaining to her energies.

"Hiei..." Shizuru began hesitantly.

"If I took issue with your humanity or in any aspect about you I would have never associated with you." He asserted tightly, "As I said before our definitions are different. When I say you are necessary to me that means not even Koenma could hope to separate me from you."

He could only tolerate so much hesitation, entertain so much need for patience.

He allowed for doubt but was unwilling to tolerate any more concerning that particular fact.

Shizuru studied him for a long moment then put out her cigarette in an ashtray beside the bed.

"It's like I ended up with a job I'm not ready to do." Shizuru began frowning as she spoke, "Like that someone else knew what had to be done and it would've gone good for them but they just didn't show up so I'm stuck with it. Everything is hard. Nothing is going to go the right way. And I can't even be sure what ends up happening is what is suppose to happen."

His brow furrowed, "Are you certain?"

He could not say he understood everything she had just spoken of but he did know that it was again against what was normal for her. There was no sense of control in her words, as if her perceptions had abandoned her.

"I think I...I messed up." Shizuru admitted quietly, "I thought I had it under control but today..."

"Your energies were not controlled." He supplied.

A short, harsh bark of mirth escaped her, "No _**I**_ wasn't in control."

The hairs on the back of his neck stirred as she put a hand to her forehead.

"Explain," He demanded heatedly as his core went cold.

He forced himself not to glance down towards the sealed wrapping on his arm. There was no conceivable way for there to be a repeat of previous events.

He had been cautious despite her insistence in the past that nothing remained behind.

The seal he had set on the dragon was twice the strength needed for him to hold it where it lay on his arm.

He never attempted to invade her mind.

Even the lingering memories had faded to nothing more than an occasional dream sequence that could at times awaken him but no longer affected his physical form.

He had known she had done something to affect her energies, had attempted to discover what she was hiding about it but in truth there had been a part of him that wanted to ignore it. To deny that it was not a natural step in the function of her normal energies.

"I was exaggerating a little before when I said I didn't care when I was in the ring." Shizuru offered drawing her knees closer to rest her chin on them, "I would've cared if I had to fight one of you. I still would've but not to kill you. I would've found a way out of that."

"And now?" He prompted sharply.

Her brow furrowed slightly, "Now I think...whatever Chancer let out of me is taking over."

Chancer.

The same human that had stolen Kurama's demonic energies was responsible for allowing Shizuru access to these unknown ones.

It explained many things, including that passing look of revulsion in the ring.

"It is not you that fights?"

Kurama was much more adept at asking questions, of knowing the right way to lead someone towards important information.

His was a much more direct route, one he would not employ when dealing with Shizuru.

"No its me...just not." Shizuru replied apparently frustrating herself since she made a small sound of disgust, "I see things differently like that. It's like I shut down and all I care about is the pain and terror I'm causing. I want my energies to take it all in and...I think maybe it makes me hungry."

As furious as he was with her for withholding this outpouring of information he could not hold too tightly to it.

Not with that lost expression on her face that only served to add to the entire impression of her occupying as little space as possible.

It did not help that her voice had dipped as if she were ashamed of herself.

He wanted to be angry.

His hands ached to smash something.

His own energies pulsed in mesmeric waves that crashed against his control, struggling to find an outlet that he was denying it.

What held him back was he finally realized exactly what Shizuru was trying so desperately to hide.

"You are afraid." He stated out loud for both of their benefit since it was a difficult concept for him realize, "And did not wish for me to know."

Her eyes on him again, that almost insulting expectation.

She had no true concept of what that knowledge did to him internally.

Her fear wrapped him instantly into a state of protectiveness that for a moment seemed strong enough to choke him.

He slowly approached her, having noted earlier how she shook from time to time.

She was on the verge of running herself, uncertainty in every movement of her eyes.

He reached out a hand and caressed her cheek, "There will be no more separation. If you must do this to its end then I will be at your side at all times."

"And if it gets worse?" Shizuru asked meeting his eyes.

Once again he was struck by the openness of her gaze.

Only he was privy to what danced in those topaz orbs.

Only he was given the gift of her vulnerability.

"I am here." He assured her before bending forward to capture her lips.

* * *

**I know this took me a bit but I hope you enjoyed it enough to REVIEW! THANKS XD!**


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