Hiei looked at her for a moment before he shrugged. "In a way," he agreed. "It's a good challenge."

"And I know you like the challenge," Winter said, grinning. She lapsed into silence for a little bit. "So what do you plan to do once you have the sword? Challenge the Tournament of Kings again?"

Hiei shrugged. "Possibly." Honestly, he hadn't really decided whether or not he wanted to do that again. "I may just keep it."

"Uh huh," Winter said skeptically, though she grinned a little bit. "I know you. You like a challenge. And it won't give you a challenge just sitting around somewhere."

Hiei smirked faintly at that but didn't disagree. He'd just have to wait and see how things went, after all.

Later on that night, Winter found herself settling down near Yukina. Hiei had gone off to scout the area, and it was just the two of them for the moment.

Yukina looked over at her with a small smile. "Changed your mind yet?" she asked quietly. "About him simply tolerating you?"

"I don't know," Winter replied after a moment. "Maybe. There's something I just can't quite put my finger on." Though she couldn't deny that Hiei seemed to be more comfortable around her recently, which Winter wasn't quite sure how to handle. Him being prickly, she could deal with. Him having mellowed out was uncharted territory, as far as she was concerned, even though it made her feel oddly warm inside. She glanced at Yukina. "Any insight to share?"

Yukina smiled. "He's different, with you," she offered. "Relaxed, in a different way. Different even from how he is with Kurama. But that's not a bad thing."

"It makes me a little anxious, I will admit," Winter said. "I'm not sure I know what to do with that knowledge. I've been trying not to think too hard about it."

Yukina smiled. "Don't overthink it," she agreed. "Just relax. Things will happen as they happen. He's starting to like you, which is good, I assure you."

"It's terrifying," Winter admitted. "Not in the normal way, but in the 'I'm praying I don't screw this up' way."

Yukina smiled. "You won't," she assured her. "You'll be fine. Hiei is a hard person to push away, once he's decided he's invested in something."

"That's sort of comforting, at least," Winter said. She couldn't help but grin a bit. "Must be like looking in a mirror sometimes, hm?"

"Sometimes," Yukina agreed with a nod. "In some ways we are quite alike."

"I tried to nudge him into talking to you," Winter said. "I'm not sure how well it worked, and I'm not going to push again. He's stubborn."

"Very," Yukina agreed with a little grin. "He does things in his own time."

"No kidding," Winter said. She sighed and leaned back a bit. "It feels like things are changing in ways I don't know how to deal with yet. I don't know what to make of it."

"Adjust," Yukina said simply. "You'll just have to adapt. Unless you'd rather figure out how to go home?" She left it as a question, but she was fairly certain she knew the answer already.

Winter bit her lip a little.

"I should want to," she said. "I should be trying to get back home. But I don't think I do. I don't want to give this up yet." She ducked her head a bit. "Sounds a bit silly, doesn't it?"

"Not at all," Yukina chided gently. "This is something new, even if it is familiar. It's understandable that you want to stay here and explore."

Winter nodded.

"And it doesn't help that I want to stay near Hiei," she said, turning a bit pink. "Don't tell him, but I've been a little in love with him since I was thirteen. I think I might still be a little in love with him."

Yukina smiled. "I won't say a word," she promised. "Since you were thirteen? Really? I would have thought his manner normally rather... abrasive for a youngster."

“I honestly couldn’t explain it,” Winter admitted. “I mean, let’s be real, I’m kind of abrasive too. But yeah, it didn’t take long for me to realize I’d gotten attached, and it just sort of never stopped.”

"Interesting." Yukina smiled. "And what do you plan to do about this attachment? Now that you're actually in the correct universe to do something."