As I said before, I always behave. I just frequently don't behave as you wish me to.

Hiei blinked, clearly startled by the book. That was... more than a little freaky. Even for him.

"Well, behave properly this time," Naomi replied. Absently, she flipped through a couple of pages. It was kind of interesting, even if she didn't understand most of what was in the book. "What are some of these?" she asked, flipping back to the middle.

Various spells. Some are control, some are manipulation, some are simply curses. The book somehow seemed to convey a shrug.

"I can see why Niobe was interested," Naomi murmured. She sighed slightly. "And none of this would be a problem if my father hadn't made my mother his mistress..."

People are fools, the book agreed. Like that one hiding above you.

"Be nice," Naomi chided. She'd figured Hiei was the one in the rafters; he'd hidden his youki well, but he still radiated physical heat that she could feel. She glanced up.

Hiei looked down at her before returning his attention to the book, still frowning.

Oh, please. Niceties don't get you anywhere, really. You were nice to your step mother and look where that got you?

"I'm not nice to Niobe," Naomi corrected, turning her attention back to the book. "I tolerate Niobe, and she tolerates me, because we're forced to interact when we both know very well that I should not exist."

You tolerate each other, but you aren't outright mean to her, the book pointed out. But whatever you say.

Hiei growled a little at her last statement, his eyes narrowing a little.

Naomi just pressed her lips together a bit and didn't reply. She didn't go out of her way to be mean to Niobe, but she also didn't go out of her way to be nice to her, either. She closed the book and set it aside, pulling her knees up to her chest. The book had forced her to think about a few things she'd rather not.

Hiei saw that and dropped down next to her, looking at her with a little frown. "What is it?" he asked quietly.

"Nothing," Naomi said, glancing at him for a moment before looking away again. "Nothing that can be changed, at any rate." She glanced at him again, knowing he heard at least her half of the conversation with the book.

Hiei snorted. "If you can't change it, you must accept it and move past it," he said quietly. That was how he worked, anyway. If you can't change it, you move on. Or kill it. But he didn't think that was plausible in this case.

"You can't tell me you don't still get a bit miffed sometimes about your heritage," Naomi replied, looking at him.

Hiei shrugged. "Sometimes," he admitted. Mostly he just ignored it, though. If he could. "Is that bothering you?"

"Your heritage or mine?" Naomi asked in return. She sighed. "I know my mother is a mistress, I know I'm technically illegitimate and shouldn't even exist. I just don't need it rubbed in my face every time I need to interact with my father and his family."

"Then why do you interact with them?" Hiei asked, frowning. In his mind, it was simple. If they were so upsetting, ignore them. Or kill them. But he doubted she'd do that.

"Because sometimes I have no choice," Naomi replied quietly. "And because my mother wants to see me on good terms with them." And she would continue to put up with them, for her mother.

Hiei snorted and sat next to her. "And you put up with them for her sake." He didn't like the reasoning, but it wasn't his life. That just meant he'd have to better prepare her to defend herself.

"Because she puts up with me," Naomi replied. She didn't move away from him when he sat down, but she didn't move closer, either. "She could have decided having a half-breed child wasn't worth the trouble, she could have gotten rid of me, she could have done any number of things. But she didn't, and she put up with raising me and all the issues that came with it." Because raising a hanyou was never easy for the human parent, and it was doubly so for a single human parent.

Hiei nodded after a moment. "I see." That was a valid reason. Debts had to be repayed, after all. "You'll just have to be better prepared, then."

That intrigued her. Naomi looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Hiei looked at her for a moment. "If you're better prepared, stronger, than when they saw you last, they will likely not be so willing to cross you." Hiei knew from experience.

Naomi smothered a snort. Yeah, good luck with that one.

"My father's a Five," she said, albeit softly. "Orion's almost there, Casseopiea and Andromeda are both Fours." Stronger than she was ever likely to get, although she didn't add that aloud.

Hiei shrugged. "Even so, if you improve more, it will make them wary. They'll wonder what else you can do." Or they would if they were at all logical, or like him. Which he figured they should be, at least in part.