Akira smiled at Kuwabara as she passed. "It was nice meeting you too. I'll come by sometime." She said though she wasn't certain if she ever would end up coming back to the apartment. Sure she had enjoyed the meal, it was better than the healthy, fancy crap she usually ate at home. Something in her gut told her that she probably wouldn't end up coming back to the place unless invited over by Kurama as well. It was the most likely reason for her to actually return to the place. She ignored the conversation going on between Kurama and the human and then followed the now red-headed fox out of the apartment. "You know, I'm not really sure what to do now. I suppose I should go home, if only so that my parents don't suspect anything." Akira said as she looked up at the blue-black sky. Sure there were a lot of buildings in the way, but there was a strip of the sky directly overhead that could be made out, even if the stars could not be seen from the lights.

Kurama nodded. "That would probably be wise. Hiei and I will walk you home. Now that you have awakened your youki, I'm afraid you may have some trouble with the local demon population. There's nothing really strong in the immediate area, we make sure of that, but until you get some control over your powers we really ought to get you a weapon of some sort. Can you still use a kusarigama?"

Hiei nodded. "I can get you something by tomorrow evening." He offered, more for Kurama's sake than Akira's. The fox was obviously going to worry about his old friend unless the girl had some way of protecting herself. Hiei had a very reliable and discreet supplier of weapons in the Ningenkai. The old demon had an excellent selection, he'd almost certainly have a kusarigama that would suit the girl...if she remembered how to use one. It wasn't a forgiving weapon. Being out of practice could make her nearly as deadly to herself as she was to her enemies...maybe more so. Hiei didn't know how good the chimera had once been with the weapon. Knowing Kurama though, probably very good. Youko Kurama wouldn't have associated with anyone who was less than the best.

OOC: kusarigama=chained scythe

Akira paused in thought for a moment and smiled lightly. "I'm pretty sure I could handle it as I used to. It only feels like it was yesterday I last used a kusarigama to fight my enemies." She frowned for a moment though. "I would like to have one again, but perhaps I should be a bit more careful as well." She muttered lightly to herself and eventually trailed off. The last words whispered through her lips sounded something like 'Pain in my ass.'

Hiei nodded, smirking at Akira's muttered comment. Kurama could be a bit of a mother hen...but a pain in the butt. That was a privilege reserved only for him. "I'll bring it when I meet Kurama after school tomorrow." He told her, before turning his attention to the fox. "I'll meet you at home." He said, blurring away but brushing Kurama's cheek as he left. He hurried to meet his weaponsmith. He needed to ensure the demon would have something that would be adequate by the next day and he also needed to find out how much it was going to cost him.

Kurama was glaring at Akira ruefully for her muttered grumbling, his keen ears having picked up the whole comment easily, but the expression melted into a soft smile at Hiei's parting words and gesture. The fire demon wasn't the sort to hug or kiss him in public but Hiei had ways of showing he cared, usually too fast for the eye to follow. He mentally shook himself free of his thoughts, though the small smile lingered, and gestured for Akira to lead the way. After all, he had no idea where she lived.

Surprisingly enough, Akira found that she could actually navigate her way through the streets to her home. Of course her thoughts kept wandering towards Spirit World and what she might do if she gound get her hands on the toddler. She looked up at the over-large manor and frowned, she didn't feel like she belonged in such a place anymore. "Well this is home." She didn't really say it that loud but she turned to look at Kurama. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Akira said softly as she turned and looked at the manor.

Kurama eyed the mansion speculatively and nodded. It would have been a decent mark in their old business, and he absently catalogued the security measures he could see, more out of habit than anything else. He smiled at Kuro- no, Akira, he mentally corrected. "Of course. Perhaps you could tell your parents that you are staying over at a friend's house this weekend so we can work on training your powers...and maybe spar a little. Whether your mind remembers or not, it will likely take some work for your body to reacquire the reflexes you once had." It was Thursday night so the following day would be the last day of school for the week. That would give them two days to train and catch up, and allow Akira to be meet his other friends. With her putting out youki, it was better to introduce her all around right away, before someone stumbled onto her energy signature and mistook her for a threat.

Hiei slipped into Kurama's room through the open window, his business completed for the night. The fox wasn't home yet but the dark haired demon wasn't worried. Kurama could take care of himself. Hiei threw off his cloak and stretched languidly on the redhead's bed, perfectly happy to doze on the soft surface until Kurama returned. Beds were one luxury he was becoming quite fond of, even if he didn't consider them strictly necessary.

Akira smiled and nodded at Kurama. "Yeah, I can do that. My mother would be pleased simply for me to say that I have friends at all." She said as she looked back at the manor again. The security measures were very impressive, by human standards anyway. "Even if they tell me not to go, I won't listen anyway." She shrugged. "So I'll see you tomorrow." After a small moments hesitation she turned and walked up to the main gates which opened at her approach. She turned to look back once before continuing up the drive and into the house through the main doors.

Kurama had vanished soundlessly by the time Akira looked back. It wouldn't do to have his old friend thinking he'd gone completely soft over the years. He hurried home and exchanged the necessary pleasantries with his mother. Talking to her about Hiei would have to wait until after the weekend. There was no reason to risk getting grounded for life until after he had helped Akira with her training. It wasn't easy to relearn old skills in a new body and he had personal experience that could help.

He made excuses about homework and hurried up to his room. Spotting the fire demon curled up on his bed, he smiled and moved stealthily as he readied himself for sleep. He was always astounded by how innocent Hiei looked when he was asleep. It was a reminder that by demon standards, the half Koorime was still very young. Kurama slipped onto the twin sized bed, snuggling close to his love and nuzzling his nose into the black spiky hair.

"Go to sleep, Fox." Hiei said as he felt the redhead's arms slide around him. The amused voice betrayed the fact that he had probably been awake for some time but the red eyes did not open. One hand silently entwined with the slender fingers resting at his waist and the two demons settled in for the night without further movement.

(I'm just gonna skip over the minor details... >.<)

It had felt like the longest school day ever, but that could have simply been the result of her waiting for the end. Akira had been a little too excited about what would happen at the end of the day rather than concentrating on class. In outward appearance, she had looked calm and focused, and whenever the teachers called on her she'd had the answer already. She could see the memebers of Kurama's fanclub ready to swarm the both of them as soon as they exited the class. Akira frowned and she walked over to another of the popular boys and asked if he could do something. She was very persuasive and made it seem like she was kinda interested, but she really wasn't. The boy did as asked and walked out of the classroom and miraculously managed to clear the way. Akira smiled. "That was easy." She said as she walked out of the class, not looking at and pretending that she could care less that Shuichi was behind her.

A few short seconds later the boy ran over to Akira with a big smile on his face. Clearly the human was enthralled by her. Akira smiled back at him and muttered a thanks. Of course he asked her to go on a date and Akira managed to smile politely and say she'd think about it. With that she left the human boy behind as she walked out of the school gates.

(That's fine. Sorry for the long delay in posting. O_o' )

Kurama watched Akira's smooth manipulation of their classmates with well-hidden amusement. With the ease of long practice, he dodged his fan club's inquiries and requests. In a couple of minutes he was outside of the school grounds. Ducking out of sight, he took to the rooftops to deter some of his more resolute stalkers. Once he was certain he'd lost them, he dropped down beside Akira and fell in step like he hadn't just spent five minutes fleeing from teenage girls.

Hiei seemed to materialize out of nowhere at the redhead's side, hands tucked into his cloak as he easily matched his pace to Kurama's longer stride.

Kurama allowed his arm to brush against the fire demon's shoulder in greeting before turning a mischievous smile on Akira. "Ready to go?" He asked brightly.

He had told his mother that he was going to help Yusuke around the temple and probably spend the night there. He liked to keep a grain of truth in most of his lies. It made it easier to maintain the cover stories he wove. His mother knew Yusuke was learning martial arts from Genkai at her temple. She didn't know about the more supernatural aspects of his training, nor did she know her son did more than watch the training and sometimes help out with chores. Still, it was much easier to lie about what he was doing than to lie about where he would be. He saved those lies for when he was somewhere he couldn't readily explain, like Makai or the Dark Tournament.

(Even longer delay in posting. I forgot about this because I wasn't sure what to do with my next post. >.<)

Akira drew in a shuddering breath and looked over at Kurama, a slightly playful smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "About as ready as I'll ever be, my old friend." She said the words as calmly as she could manage, though there was a slight tremor to her voice. She didn't know the exact place they were going to, so she was sort of following Kurama, while walking next to him. It was hard to believe that she had gone all these years without knowing who she'd been before. She grabbed the pendant through the fabric of her shirt and felt a bit calmer at the contact.

"Hey, Kurama!" A familiar shout from perhaps only a few feet away. Yusuke ran over to the three people, having recognized both Kurama and Hiei as part of the group. The third person he didn't recognize, and he took a step back as he realized it was a girl. From the feel of her aura, she was a demon and he sighed a breath of relief. At least he wouldn't have to pretend like she was an ordinary girl. He still remembered how he used to hide everything from Keiko, and that never worked out too well. "So what's going on? Who is this?" He asked, taking one more look at Akira before walking along at their pace. He could already tell where they were headed.

Kurama smiled politely at Yusuke. "This is Akira, an old friend of mine." His eyes sparkled mischievously as he neglected to explain how old of a friend she was. "Akira, this is Urameshi Yusuke, a new friend of mine, relatively speaking." His smile widened at his small joke.

Hiei snorted and rolled his eyes but said nothing. He merely moved to walk a few feet ahead of the group, scanning the area for any threats, as was his habit. He stifled the urge to groan as he spotted a familiar orange haired figure stepping out of a shop a short distance ahead. He briefly pondered whether a rampaging demon would have been a more pleasant discovery. Pointedly not sighing, Hiei braced himself for the moment the oaf would spot them.

"OI! Urameshi! Kurama! Akira-chan!!" Kuwabara waved excitedly and jogged over to meet them, clutching a small box. He nodded a terse greeting at Hiei. "Shrimp." Turning his attention back to the rest of the group, Kuwabara's enthusiasm returned and he got a goofy look on his face. "Are you guys headed up to the temple? I was just going to see Yukina-chan!"

Hiei scowled and barely managed to refrain from setting the human boy's overly bright hair on fire.

OOC: That's okay. I've had a rough couple of months. I'm glad to pick it up again though. It was becoming rather interesting. ^_^

Akira nodded politely at Yusuke and smiled, showing off her nearly pearl-white teeth. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She said easily. Noticing the boy had a demonic aura allowed her to feel a bit more comfortable in his pressence than she felt around Kuwabara. And speaking of the orange-haired freak, he came running over as well.

"I feel like I'm missing something here." Yusuke said just as Kuwabara called out to them and ran over. "Hey Kuwabara." Yusuke paused and then stared at the oaf. "Wait, you know this girl? Wha- How-?" Yusuke was clearly at a loss for words, not something that happened very often. In fact, it was a rare situation, but there it was.

Akira smiled again. "Everything will become clear in a little while." She said cryptically, earning a confused stare from Yusuke. She simply grinned. "So, we going to keep moving, or stand around like a lost bunch of idiots?" Her question seemed more directed at Kuwabara and Yusuke than at Kurama or Hiei. This earned her another look from the former Spirit Detective.

Hiei snorted, having never stopped waking in the first place, though he had slowed his steps a bit so as to not completely leave Kurama behind. He didn't noticeably acknowledge Akira's question. 'Moving will not make those idiots appear any smarter.' He snarked under his breath, knowing the two idiots in question wouldn't be able to hear him.

Kurama caught Hiei's muttered comment and stifled a grin. "Yes, let's go. We can explain everything once we arrive at the temple." He began walking again, his long legs allowing him to quickly catch up with Hiei's purposefully slow walk.

Kuwabara lit up with a grin, totally missing Akira's implied insult. "Everything, Kurama? Are you gonna tell Urameshi what you told me yesterday?" He asked without thinking. He couldn't wait to see the look on Yusuke's face when he found out. It would also be good if Yukina found out at the same time. Sometimes Kuwabara got really jealous of her odd relationship with Hiei. Once she realized the fire demon wasn't interested in women, the human's main competition for her affection would be out of the way.

Hiei scowled darkly, "Shut up, idiot." He growled, without turning to look back at the orange haired human.

Kurama's small smile vanished and he froze, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Um...yes, I suppose I must." He gritted out before he once again fell into step beside Hiei. That was a conversation he had been hoping to put off until the next day at least, but Yusuke was unlikely to be distracted now that Kuwabara had brought it up.

Kuwabara blushed and slapped his hands over his mouth as he realized he had just inadvertently forced the redhead and the volatile fire demon into telling Yusuke about their relationship whether they were ready for it or not. "Sorry." He mumbled sheepishly.

Akira smiled a little at Hiei's comment and began moving as well. It would certainly be an interesting day. She looked back at Kuwabara without stopping. "You know, you should try thinking before you speak sometime. It's really quite something." She left her comment there, not exactly insulting him, but there was the hint of one.

Yusuke followed along, a very serious, yet confused look on his face. "Well, now I'm curious." He muttered out loud as he walked along. He looked over at Akira and wondered why she felt so comfortable. She certainly seemed like she knew Kurama well enough, or at least, he thought he could see that.

Kuwabara scowled and sputtered but he was blushing in embarrassment. He really hadn't meant to put Kurama on the spot like that. The orange haired boy had been thinking mostly of Yukina and had asked his question almost as an afterthought. He fell in behind the rest of the group, trudging along for a few hundred yards before his enthusiasm over his impending encounter with Yukina brought his usual high spirits back and he all but bounded up the stairs as they arrived at the base of the hill leading to Genkai's temple.

Hiei smirked at Kurama and vanished from the redhead's side. Moving at his normal blurring speed, he easily beat the human boy to the top of the stairs and in seconds was standing in the courtyard, watching Yukina tend to the garden. It was a chore that Hiei was always amused to catch her at. She wasn't great at the task due to her icy nature, and that fact sometimes frustrated the gentle demoness, but the hardier plants thrived under her persistent attention. Hiei flared his youki slightly to announce his presence.

Kurama shook his head and picked up his pace slightly. "Come on. We better get up there before those two come to blows."

OOC: You want to play Yukina or shall I?

(( I think I shall play Yukina. ))

Akira nodded to Kurama and made her way up the stairs. Though she began to grow tired, she never complained. The human had been in bad spirits until they'd reached these stairs, so she was guessing she would meet the girl called Yukina that he'd mentioned earlier. She smiled a little as she reached the top step and looked on at a girl with aqua colored hair. Hiei was flaring his youki, but the girl hadn't turned around yet.

Yukina felt the fire demon's energy and smiled lightly to herself, but merely continued her task of tending to the plants. Sometimes she would slip a little and her own icy powers would kill off some of the little darlings, but it was good work, and it made her happy when they were healthy. She waited until she could feel everyone's energy before she stopped, wiping the sweat from her forehead she stood up and brushed the dirt off her clothes. "Hello everyone." She said sweetly as she turned to look at them all with a smile. "I'm sorry, I wasn't really expecting any company, but please come inside. I'll make some tea."

Yusuke had run up after Kuwabara began bounding up the steps and he smiled at Yukina's greeting. "Yeah, I was just in the neighborhood when I ran into these guys." He said pointing over at Kurama and Hiei. He hadn't had any real reason for coming here, but the prospect that Kurama had something to tell him and this new girl, well, he was beyond curious.

Kuwabara beamed and gave the little ice demoness a typically enthusiastic greeting. "YUKINA-CHAN!!" He rushed forward, intending to take her by the hand, but tripped over....something. Pushing himself up from the undignified sprawl he'd landed in, he found himself glaring into seemingly indifferent red eyes framed by black and white hair. "Oi, Shrimp!! What did you trip me for?! I oughta...." He towered over Hiei, shaking his fist menacingly.

Hiei rolled his eyes and snorted expressively. "You ought to watch where you're going, Oaf. I was merely taking Yukina up on her kind invitation to move inside." The way he said it made it seem so reasonable and innocent, but the smirk on his face said the mishap had been anything but an accident. Thankfully, Kuwabara's bulk hid the expression from Yukina, just as Hiei knew it would.

Kurama watched the carefully orchestrated accident with a bemused look on his face. If Hiei didn't learn to curtail his more possessive instincts in regards to Yukina, it was going to start raising questions once it became known that his interest in her wasn't even remotely romantic. Kuwabara might not be very smart and Yukina might be rather naive, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to see the similarities between the siblings...once you started really looking at them. "Thank you, Yukina-san. Tea would be wonderful. Can I help at all?" He smiled politely at the petite demoness attempted to break the tension of the situation.

Yukina watched curiously as Kuwabara had his usual outburst and Hiei tripped him, though she couldn't see if it was intentional or not. "I'm glad to see you Kazuma." She said cheerfully as she began leading the way inside. "Thank you for the offer Kurama. A little help would be wonderful." Her tone polite and warm, she turned to smile at the red head as she opened the door to walk inside. Though it wasn't really necessary, she was going to wait until everyone was inside.

Akira was a bit surprised by the young koorime. She was so polite and friendly when most ice maidens were cold and distant. Of course, as she looked she noticed something unusual, that Hiei's energy, though darker, was very similar to this girl. And then she saw the eyes, and Akira smiled. They were twins. It was unusual, of course, but not entirely unheard of. Considering the way Hiei acted, Akira guessed that the ice maiden didn't know. She held her breath a little until they were invited inside.

Yusuke grinned brightly when Hiei tripped the big oaf and was laughing after it happened. "Hey, thanks for the invite Yukina." Yusuke said as he walked by her into the old home. There were a lot of memories in this place, not all of them good, per say, but he liked to look back on them anyway. Ever since Genkai had bequeathed the land to all of them, as a safe haven for any demon wanting to live peacefully in this world, and died. Well, at least this time the old hag died of natural causes, rather than back during the Dark Tournament. Yusuke shook those thoughts from his head and smiled to hide his thoughts.

Hiei entered the building but lingered near the door, uncomfortable as always with the idea of the enclosed space. Once everyone had entered, he sat down in the doorway to prevent his sister from closing the sliding door, effectively soothing his paranoia without having to voice his fears.

Kurama watched his fire demon with amused eyes, knowing full well that Hiei hated to be trapped. The redhead strongly suspected it was a fear instilled during his love's mysterious childhood so he didn't pry. While he would have loved to know how to erase the tension from the shorter demon, he wasn't sure he was prepared to know the things Hiei had not shared about his younger years. The things Kurama did know were awful enough without confirming his suspicions about the other horrors a lone child in the Makai might have suffered. Things that could make a person as bitter and suspicious as Hiei had been when they had first met. He pushed the sad thoughts away and turned a polite smile to Yukina. "Yukina-san, this is Akira, an old friend of mine. Akira-chan, this is Yukina, a very dear friend of mine." He made the introductions with utmost politeness. 'She's almost like a sister-in-law to me, one might say.' He joked, knowing Hiei would pick up on it through their near constant connection.

Hiei scowled. 'Not if one wanted to keep their tongue.' He shot back grouchily.

Kuwabara had bounded inside happily enough. His embarrassment all but forgotten in the euphoria of spending time with the woman he loved.

Akira smiled and nodded to Yukina. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Yukina." She said politely as Yukina blushed a little and returned the greeting. Akira was glad to see that Kurama had so many good friends, it was a very different atmosphere than way back when. It was peaceful, friendly. A nice change compared to the old days. She guessed it would be something to get used to, but it didn't look or feel too bad to start with.

Yukina had very softly returned the greeting to Kurama's friend, but she'd never seen the girl before. Though she did possess that faint demonic aura, there was also human spirit energy hidden there as well. "Kurama, if you would help me, please." She smiled and began to leave the room. "Please make yourself at home, Akira. I'll be right out with some tea and snacks." She said happily as she turned from the room. She took a deep breath to calm herself a little, trying to be wary of her own thoughts.

Yusuke watched as Yukina left the room and he closed his eyes to wait. Knowing that Kurama was going to help her, he could only try to calm himself and wait for whatever news the redhead had to give. Kuwabara had let it slip accidentally, but Yusuke was really curious now. Sadly, he would still have to wait.

Kurama blinked at the unusually rude request from the little ice demoness but smiled in resignation and followed her willingly to the kitchen. As soon as they were enclosed in the relative privacy offered by the distance between the rooms he confronted her politely. "Is something wrong, Yukina-san?" He asked quietly. "I have never known you to shirk your duty as a hostess before and while I don't mind helping, I don't think you really brought me in here to make tea."

Hiei shot one last warning glance at the retreating redhead and was blithely ignored. Fighting the urge to sigh, he set himself to the often difficult task of studiously ignoring his other companions.

Kuwabara visibly deflated when Yukina ignored him in favor of Kurama. It was weird behavior for the little koorime and he hoped everything was okay. He sat down on one of the cushions scattered around the room and stewed on what she could want from the redhaired fox demon, without much success.

Yukina was visibly nervous, wringing her hands clenched together. She stared at the floor as she forced her hands apart and lifted one up to the ice tear hanging around her neck. Hiei had given it back to her on his return from demon world. The only words he'd said then was that he'd been unable to find her brother, but she suspcted different. Though she normally never noticed much, she had seen something around his neck before he'd hidden it, too quick for her eyes to follow, but it had looked suspiciously familiar. She turned away from Kurama and started gathering ingredients for the tea, anything to keep her hands busy. "I have a question to ask you, Kurama, and I'd like it if you'd be perfectly honest with me." She said softly. "D-does Hiei like me?" She bit her lip as she managed to get the question out of her.

Kurama blanched and his eyes widened. He frantically cast around for an answer that wouldn't get him killed by his volatile mate. "Of course he likes you, Yukina-chan. We all like you, you're a wonderful person." The redhead's smile was slightly strained but he thought his voice sounded natural enough and Yukina wasn't actually looking at him. It was a good answer, vague and not strictly a lie while not hinting anywhere near the truth.

Hiei stared out the open door, pensive as he wondered what his sister wanted with Kurama. Still, he trusted the fox not to tell her his secret. His hand wandered to the black fabric covering his teargem necklace. The bauble rested against his chest, feeling cold no matter how long it rested against his abnormally warm flesh.

Yukina picked up the tea kettle as Kurama answered and she bit her lip again, this time drawing blood and she winced. Her shoulders began to shake a little. "If that's true, then why...?" Yukina stopped herself from finishing the question. She wanted the truth, she wanted to know, but no one would tell her anything. Her hands twitched and she dropped the tea kettle, which broke upon contact with the ground. She couldn't cover her emotions fast enough as tears flowed freely from her eyes crystalizing before they hit the floor. "I'm sorry, Kurama. Please excuse me for a moment." She said, her voice pained as she rushed out a side door out into the fresh air. Her hand clenched the teargem around her neck as she ran across the grounds, out of sight of the main room. There was a small clearing just a little into the woods where she would sometimes go to think.