Eventually, Naomi circled back around to the same tree again. The shade was cool, so she sat down under the tree for a while to get out of the sun. She and the sun had never been on the best of terms, anyways. Now she was starting to get a little bored, though, so she started to play with a little bit of ice, forming it into different shapes.

Kurama glanced over when he sensed Osanna.

"Hello," he greeted her. "Enjoying yourself?"

Hiei glanced down at her again but left her alone, making sure he kept his power reigned in. He settled himself more comfortably.

Osanna shrugged, smiling a little. She was, but it was hard to communicate sometimes.

After a little while, Naomi looked up into the tree again.

"I can't imagine sitting up there for so long is comfortable," she commented. It was more to break the silence than anything.

"The plants around here are remarkably difficult to manipulate," Kurama commented to Osanna. "I must say I'm impressed that you managed to get that plant in the office to do what you wanted."

"Hn." Hiei glanced down at her. "You get used to it." He'd been doing this for years, after all. It was more comfortable to him than many human structures.

Osanna smiled, clearly pleased with the compliment, and inclined her head to him. Then she looked from him and then back towards the house, raising an eyebrow, clearly asking why wasn't he back with his friends.

Naomi shook her head.

"I don't think I could get used to it," she commented. She rather liked her own bed. "I'm barely used to Osa playing around with her little green things, and half the time they end up coming down with a terminal case of frostbite, anyways. I don't think I could practically live in a tree."

Now that gesture Kurama understood.

"It's too nice of a day to stay indoors," he replied. "It's much nicer out here than inside."

Hiei snorted, shaking his head.

"Kurama's plants sometimes suffer a similar fate," he said after a moment. "Except they get burned." It had happened on more than one occasion. Kurama had not been pleased.

Osanna smiled her understanding and nodded, agreeing with him. She plopped herself down under the tree, relaxing there.

Naomi couldn't help but snicker a bit. Seemed like some things were universal.

"It's too bad we left before I could build the massive snow-fort I was planning," she said, changing the subject. "Winters back home have been too mild... I can't get powder snow to do anything, half the time, and it's not good for building anything."

"It's quiet here," Kurama said. "I find it to be an oddly pleasant change."

"Hn. You would like Yukina's home, then." Hiei didn't say anything other than that. He didn't go there often, but when he did it was... interesting. It soothed a part of him, in a way.

But that didn't change the fact that it was freaking freezing there.

Osanna nodded, closing her eyes and relaxing against the grass. She could hear birds chirping nearby, but other than that it was very quiet. She couldn't even hear Hiei and Naomi clearly.

"She mentioned something like that," Naomi replied. "Must be nice to have a place like that to go home to." She had tried to visit her father once for a summer... It hadn't turned out well. She ended up leaving after about a week of getting picked on by her older sisters and getting cold indifference from her older brother. She hadn't tried to tell her father about it, because she assumed he would take their side, so she had just left. "So... why don't you ever say anything to her?" she ventured after a moment.

Hiei glanced down at her, trying to guage how much she knew. "Why do you ask?" he asked quietly, his voice cool but not cold or really angry.

"Seriously? If I had a sister that nice, I wouldn't be giving her the metaphorical cold shoulder," Naomi replied frankly. "If you want a sister to ignore like that, by all means, you can have mine. They don't like me, anyways." At least Yukina cared, as much as she could, although Naomi didn't add that part. After a moment, she added, "Although, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the two of you have the same eyes. I'm betting she'll figure it out eventually."

Hiei stiffened at that. He didn't really want Yukina figuring it out. He didn't want her to have the burden of having a brother like him. So he stayed quiet, just staring ahead.

"She is better off not knowing," he said after a few long moments.

Somehow, Naomi doubted that, but she didn't voice her opinion. Some things were best left unsaid for the moment. She wouldn't tell Yukina, if she ever saw her again, but she still seriously thought that the girl would figure things out sooner or later. Yukina wasn't stupid, and it didn't take a rocket scientist or anything.

Hiei stayed quiet, resting aganst the tree and keeping part of his attention on Kurama.

"Why are you here?" he asked quietly. He meant under the tree, not there in general.

"I don't like the sun much," Naomi replied. "I burn easily. And this shade wasn't technically taken like the other one is." She paused for a moment "...okay, and I don't want to get in the way of Osa and your friend. They get along well, and it's good that she's happy." What she didn't admit was that she kind of wanted an excuse to figure him out a bit; fire and ice typically never mixed, and she was kind of curious as to what he was like when he wasn't threatening her life.

Hiei snorted. "That's an understatement," he muttered. Those two got along better than okay. It was the closest he'd seen Kurama get to someone in a while. Then he shook his head. It wasn't his business.

Naomi knew it was an understatement, too, but she didn't care. She was glad to see Osanna getting close to someone. Osa deserved to be happy like that. Absently, she played with the blue stripe in her hair, twisting it around one of her fingers and letting it go.

Hiei noticed the movement. "From your father?" he guessed. Such traits were not uncommon among demons; he'd inherited his father's looks, but he and Yukina both had his father's eyes.

Naomi blinked and stopped twirling her hair. When she realized what he was asking she nodded.

"Yeah," she replied. "Little 'gift' from him." It was the one thing that typically tended to tip people off to her heritage, and she was always trying to make sure the stripe didn't get any wider. It was actually a fair indicator of her control over her power, and the more her control slipped, the wider it got.

Hiei nodded his understanding. "And your mother?" he asked quietly. It wasn't any concern of his, but she enjoyed the conversation, and he'd met very few halflings.

"I visit her every so often through the year," Naomi replied. "In the winter, a lot, and for a while around the holidays. She lives further south than I do, because she can stand that kind of weather." She had an inkling that her father visited her mother every so often, but she'd never been able to confirm it. "I do what I can to help her out in the winter... You know, moving snow around, making sure the outside pipes don't freeze, things like that." She had no idea why she was telling him these things, but it felt good to just talk for a while.

"Hn." Hiei was quiet for a few moments. "How did you meet the other one?" He jerked his chin in the direction of Kurama and Osanna. It wasn't normal for demons who weren't full-blooded to band together like this, and he was curious to know how and why.

"I don't remember," Naomi answered truthfully. And she really didn't. "Osa and I have been friends since we were both very small. I don't remember how we met. She's kind of just always been there, for as long as I can remember."

"And your living arrangements?" Hiei glanced down at her, shifting his weight on the branch.

"Does it matter?" Naomi asked, looking up at him. After a moment, she continued, "I wouldn't subject Osa to living with me... You saw how my house is." Hell, they'd 'argued' over the temperature for a while. "She has her own place that she can overrun with green things and I have mine."