Ningenkai was a vast world. Not as large as Makai, which was formed by so many labyrinthine planes and levels, but still large enough to a demon get lost in it. Right now, Hiei would have loved to do so.

He had traveled around a bit during the last eight years, in occasional attempts of understanding the human world. None of those trips explained to him who exactly was Valentine though, or why the humans were so devoted to such an obscure figure. Probably he would find some ridiculous legend about him in one of Kurama’s old school books — if he managed to convince the redhead to lend them to him now. It seemed that no demon or any other being from outer Ningenkai could step into this world without inspiring the silliest myths and tales. And usually those fantasies were nothing but a tiny fraction of truth.

His teammates and the girls still mocked him from time to time, mentioning that preposterous news scrap picturing him as an alien. Kurama even turned it into a practical joke once, making a hysterical scene and telling him among faked sobs that he had been sexually abused by an intergalactic creature. When the Youko showed him the picture of the "alien aggressor", Hiei made a point to teach the impish Fox a good lesson on "sexual abuse"... and they had both loved that.

Hn. Don’t think about it, the youkai told himself. Think of something else.

Valentine. Well, he was known as a saint. In Hiei’s experience, that meant the guy could be in fact any kind of creature, from a low-classed demon to a god. Valentine, Valentine... The name didn’t ring any bells. However, Hiei guessed the man was still very powerful. It was just a matter of looking at what happened with the ningens at this time of the year. They went mad, with all those flowers and love poems. Humans were an incomprehensible race, but even they wouldn’t get so nuts about a simple tradition. That means that this guy must be around and still operating, still influencing the ningens somehow. Maybe he has a weapon like the Insect Flute or something.

On the other hand, the Fire Demon doubted that Koenma and his all-powerful father would allow a demon with such a huge power over the humans remain loose in Ningenkai. So he’s not a youkai. He can’t be.

He wondered if this Valentine creature, whatever he was, nourished a special dislike for Koorime half-breeds, since he couldn’t imagine how that day could turn out worse than it already was. The words Kurama had thrown at him in the park hurt too much in his ears and chest. I should have traveled more, tried to find out who this "saint" is. Maybe I could have found him and worked a deal. Or just killed him. But Hiei had preferred to avoid being away from the town where Kurama lived for too long. He had always thought it best to keep an eye on the Youko, just in case.

In case of what, Hiei wasn’t quite sure. He had some possible scenarios in mind, of course. Kurama betraying him again, by preparing him some poisonous beverage with his demonic herbs, or by telling Yukina his secrets. Kurama finding a new, better, more qualified lover — or worse: a new, better, more qualified best friend. Kurama in the hands of the enemy, helplessly waiting to be rescued for an intrepid Fire Demon — Such a Kuwabarish scenario, Hiei moaned. Or the most absurd of the scenarios... Kurama stating his undying love for a cursed half-breed, born of an abject unspeakable relationship. Hn...

Hiei stayed around, just in case. But he didn’t bother holding his breath.

Either way, Hiei tried not to be gone for long. And since he had found Yukina, his appetite for traveling over the Ningenkai diminished even more. That town and neighbored regions had become the Jaganshi’s headquarters in a certain way — for "home" was definitely not the word to be used here. And it didn’t escape Hiei’s attention that once again his private utopia — the love of the Youko, the affection of his twin sister, a team he could belong to — was located in an island. First the Koorime Glacier, his forever lost home. Now the Honshu Island. Weird coincidence.

At least Mukuro’s realms were on solid continental lands. Maybe he should go back there at once, instead of just sitting on that tree trunk at the beach and philosophizing about the meaning of the islands and fate.

On the other hand, if he left now, he was sure that his mind would stay behind, making huge, vain efforts not to worry about the mess he had done. Yukina was unhappy. And while his twin wasn’t smiling, he wasn’t allowed to move on. That’s how it worked for Hiei. If it weren’t for him, the girl would still be living in the Glacier, raised by her mother, safe and untroubled. Hiei thought of it as a lifetime debt.

But what could he do now? He couldn’t unsay the words he had said. If he could, he would probably say them again. He told her nothing but the truth after all, and she had to learn it before... He quivered. Don’t think about that either.

But why did it have to be him to tell her? Those ignorant humans... Did it never occur to them? Not even to Kurama or Botan? They knew how Koorime reproduction worked, they should know Yukina didn’t know what she was doing. I’m the venom in Yukina’s life. I can’t get near her, I can’t be her friend. So why me?

Fate, again. If someone had to be cause of her sadness, who could ever be a better candidate than her outcast brother? Life was so predictable...

He couldn’t take back what he had said. He couldn’t change how things were. He couldn’t go and comfort her. All Hiei could do was stay there, sitting on that stupid piece of log, at the one point of the beach he knew was visible from Yukina’s window in the temple. For if she decided that he deserved to hear how heartlessly he had destroyed her happiness, he wanted to be there to listen to it all. And if she decided to slap him or cast a freezing spell over him, he would accept his punishment humbly. He almost hoped that she would come down soon to yell at him the same curse the Koorime Elder had stated on his birth.

Eventually, someone did come down looking for him, but not her. When he sensed the quiet approach of reiki whirling at his back, he feared Genkai had found nothing better to do than worrying about his wanderings inside her territory. It had happened only a handful of times, but Hiei always felt uncomfortable with the old woman’s interest on his business. For some reason he was reluctant to shoo her too bluntly. Respect? Go figure.

But it wasn’t Genkai either. Thankfully it was someone Hiei would feel no regret in shooing away. And if to make his point clear he had to appeal to a good kick in that oaf’s ass, it would be the first good news of the day. "What do you want?" he asked without turning.

Kuwabara didn’t let the youkai’s harsh tone affect him. "Talk to you."

"Not in the mood."

"I’m not in the mood either," Kuwabara shrugged. "I’m here only because Genkai said it could be a good idea."

"What?" So the old woman was in the picture after all.

"I usually don’t doubt the Shihan’s judgement," Kazuma declared. "But even the wisest ones make mistakes from time to time."

Hiei remembered Kuwabara questioning Genkai’s judgement many times. The ningen boy always thought he knew better. But pointing it out would only take them to a fruitless discussion, and the youkai wanted to get rid of that unpleasant company as quickly as possible. "What did she tell you?"

"She said you might know what’s going on through Yukina-san’s mind." Then, with a disdainful snort, "That you could help me."

What’s your game, Genkai? "She’s wrong," Hiei replied dryly.

"Just what I thought."

The Fire Demon hoped the ningen would be satisfied and went home to annoy that nosy sister of his. But life couldn’t be that good to him, could it?

"I guess it’s age," Kuwabara commented, coming to stand beside him. "Her brains are not working so fine anymore."

"Hn."

"She even suggested that Yukina-san might have told you things she wouldn’t have told me. Can you imagine that?"

Hiei sighed. He couldn’t imagine it. Why would anyone imagine that Yukina would ever want to confide her feelings to him? Genkai expected that, so did Kurama. Didn’t they understand? He and Yukina weren’t real siblings.

"Worse," Kazuma continued. "She actually expected you to be willing to help me. Now why would you do something like that?"

So the oaf was taking it personally. Just like Kurama... "How did she expect me to help you?"

"For starters you could tell me why the hell you dropped in the picnic like that and ruined my engagement!" Kuwabara roared, with arms akimbo.

Rather personally... "I just checked to know if you had made clear your intentions towards my... towards her. Which you hadn’t. So I made them clear myself."

"What are you blabbering about? I’m gonna marry her!"

"Hn."

"And what are your intentions towards Yukina-san?"

Asshole, Hiei rolled his eyes.

"Why are you here, anyway?" Kuwabara insisted. "Are you waiting for her to forget me and run into your arms? Because it’s not gonna happen, you hear me?"

Hiei knew that for sure. He hoped the ningen would get tired of yelling soon and went irritate someone else.

"You little cheat! If you wanna fight for her, than fight like a man!" Kazuma challenged him. "A honorable warrior doesn’t use gossip and slander as weapons!"

"You wouldn’t recognize a honorable warrior if one cut you in half," Hiei sighed. "And I really can’t think of a more honorable act than that."

The Fire Demon waited for the traditional explosion: the swirl of reiki, the "Oirya!" shout, a fist coming his way too slow... but none of this came. Kuwabara just stood there facing him angrily... and curiously. Hiei shivered under the glare. "What?"

"I can’t believe you’d do something to make Yukina-san sad."

Hiei looked away, a heavy lump in his throat. "I did what I had to do."

Kuwabara sat beside him, still eyeing him reproachfully. "What did you do? You hurt her, Hiei!"

"I know."

"And you won’t even tell me why?"

"You wouldn’t understand."

"I’m not the moron you think I am."

Hiei knew that. He would never be caught saying it aloud, but he knew it. "You’re ningen. She’s not. Yukina is very different from you. It wouldn’t work."

"But why?" Kazuma socked the trunk they were sitting on. "You really think I will give Yukina-san up just like that? No explanations? She’s everything to me, shrimp, and I’m not letting her go without being given a good reason. And the only good reason I can think of is if she doesn’t like me. And I know she does. She likes me more than you, and I like her more than anything else, and that’s it, I’m not taking this bullshit from you. Shrimp."

The youkai smirked sadly as Kuwabara took his breath. "Dumb mule."

"If you’re so sure that she shouldn’t marry me, why are you so sad now?" Kazuma inquired.

Hiei blinked. "Who says I’m sad?"

"You think I tracked you down through your ki? Didn’t need to. I could sense your sorrow from the middle of the temple’s staircase. You should know better than underestimating my powers."

"I should know better than assuming that you were able to do a simple thing like tracking down my ki when I’m not hiding it," Hiei riposted.

"Oh no," Kuwabara let out a humorless laugh. "You’re not getting away by changing topics this time. You will tell me why you’re acting like this, and you will tell me now!"

The boy was worse than a mule. It was time to get away, blur out of the ningen’s sight and look for a different place to perch on to wait for Yukina’s angry accusations. Hiei had no reason to sit there listening to all that screaming.

However, the Jaganshi didn’t move. He felt strangely glued to that particular space in that particular moment, as if a colossal anchor plummeted into the sandy ground with a rope attached to his neck. He was paralyzed in the clutches of Fate. Like he had always been.

"If I tell you why Yukina dumped you, will you leave me alone?" I can’t believe I said that, the youkai sighed.

"She didn’t dump me!" Kuwabara protested.

"Whatever. Will you?"

Kazuma eyed him suspiciously, but nodded. "Agreed."

"Right." Hiei paused, wondering where to start. "Have you ever thought about why Yukina’s race is called ‘the Ice Maidens’?"

Kuwabara raised a puzzled eyebrow. "Because they wield ice, what else?"

"I mean the ‘Maidens’ part," Hiei moaned. Obviously the dumb human had never thought of that.

"Is that a tricky question or something?" Kuwabara grouched. "Yukina-san is a member of the female part of the Ice People, isn’t she?"

Hiei faced him calmly. Perhaps making things clear in that small brain would cease this silliness of marrying his sister. "There’s no ‘Ice People’. Only the Ice Maidens. Their race is composed by females alone."

Kazuma sat very still, gazing at the Jaganshi’s unreadable face. Flustered black eyes met expectant red ones, both pairs trying to crystallize some understanding in the air between them. "You’re pulling my leg," Kuwabara said at last.

Hiei only shook his head.

"Listen, that’s just not possible," Kuwabara argued. "Little Koorime have to come from somewhere!"

"But not necessarily from men," Hiei explained. "Koorime are asexual beings. Each one of them already has all that’s required to produce daughters inside her own body." Hiei leaned forward, locking his gaze on the other. "Basically, Kuwabara," he said very slowly, "Koorime have no need of men whatsoever."

Kuwabara blinked repeatedly, striving to put that new piece of information along with the pile of Biology knowledge he had erected over his school years. "You mean they don’t... aaa... they don’t get... married?"

Hiei smirked. Clearly ‘married’ wasn’t the first word that had come to the ningen’s mind. "No, they don’t. That’s why Yukina can’t marry you." That and because I’m gonna cut your hands off if you dare to put them on her, you miserable creature...

Kuwabara had turned his mystified eyes to the sea, and Hiei took advantage of his distraction to put all his contempt for the boy in an intense ugly scowl. But somehow the youkai could sense his glowering hadn’t come out very convincing. Hiei pictured Kazuma and Yukina together in his mind and remembered the few peck-kisses and caresses he had witnessed between them, attempting to focus all his rage and indignation right on the figure of that perplexed young boy who was looking pleadingly to the foamy waters as if they could offer him an answer to an unknown question... K’so, it’s not working, Hiei sighed.

The human liked his sister. Hiei could scream all he could at Fate’s wicked sense of humor, but he couldn’t deny that. He wasn’t trying to corrupt his little innocent sister. He had true honest feelings that were now being ruthlessly crushed by the Koorime ancient traditions.

"But what about her brother, Hiei?" Kuwabara wondered. "Isn’t he one of them? How can there be a male Koorime?"

Hiei cursed under his breath. He hadn’t intended to bring that up. "He’s different," he growled.

"Different how?"

"Just different, okay?" Hiei snarled. "Forget that."

Kazuma looked at him thoughtfully. Then he shook his head. "No, I won’t forget that. She’s always very quiet about him, like she doesn’t want to talk about it. But you know the story, don’t you?"

Hiei grasped the jealousy in the accusation and laughed internally. "She asked me to look for him in the Makai, remember? She had to tell me about him."

"So what’s the story?" Kuwabara demanded, barely containing his anger. "Go on! Spit it out!"

"If she didn’t tell you is because she doesn’t want you to know," Hiei contended.

That silenced the young human for a moment, anger quickly turning into sorrow. Hiei sighed in relief. That had been cruel, but at least he seemed to have succeeded in persuading the other to drop that delicate subject.

However, after a few minutes Hiei felt Kuwabara’s hand resting on his small shoulder and he turned to see the ningen’s mournful face looking straight into his eyes. "Hiei, please," he begged. "I need to know."

Trying once more to summon his hate and resentment for the human, Hiei glared at him with rabid ruby eyes that resembled too much a certain huge black lethal dragon. However, the warm touch on his shoulder, Kazuma’s small somber eyes, Kurama’s voice ringing in the back of his mind, the memory of Yukina’s sweet smile when the engagement was announced that morning... All conspired to douse the flame held in that glare, as if the air around him were too moistened too sustain his fire.

Is this that Valentine guy’s doing as well? he moaned. Like Kaitou’s territory, which blocked and annulled any violent actions, maybe Valentine planted a kekkai around the cities that hindered common sense and entranced the ones inside to find love and companionship. Why does Koenma allow this guy to operate in Ningenkai? Now I’m sure this guy is from Reikai. The brat is covering him up!

But whatever the case, Kuwabara was still looking at him with the most dejected look on his face, and Hiei just couldn’t stand it anymore.

"Okay, listen," Hiei cleared his throat. "The Koorime tribe lives in a giant glacier that hovers several miles over Makai ground, cruising slowly over the northern regions of the demonic world. It is known as the Glacier, but since it’s so high in the air and it’s always moving around, it’s pretty hard to find it. The Ice Maidens live there by themselves, avoiding contact with any other youkai. They’re extremely xenophobic, and they simply loathe males. Got it?"

Kuwabara nodded silently, all his attention convened to the Jaganshi’s words.

"For the koorime, having relations with outsiders is a crime of treason," Hiei continued. "And intimate relations with a male are considered the most barbaric crime among them. The penalty... is death."

The youkai noticed the horrible paleness that took his teammate’s face, and waited for a sign to proceed. That was a tale Hiei had no intention to narrate twice.

"Go on," urged Kuwabara, his voice hoarse and dry.

"Procreating with a man is strictly forbidden," proceeded the youkai. "But physically possible. Their bodies have... aaa... well, they can have children both ways, okay?"

"With or without men?" Kazuma inquired.

"Yeah." Seeing that the human was still dubious, he added, "Well, don’t ask me. I know it works. I don’t know the details." In fact Hiei knew all the details about Koorime genetics, since at least a small portion of his body tried to act as if it belonged to a young Ice Maiden. It was awfully inconvenient sometimes, and he remembered with great annoyance those doctors who had examined him soon after his imprisonment in Reikai. They had been marveled with the eccentricities of his inner organs; a mongrel combination of two antithetical races that should have never come together.

They wrote pages and more pages of medical reports about him. If the attack of the Four Beasts to Ningenkai had not rushed Koenma to conclude his trial, Hiei was pretty sure that he would have been dissected alive by their enthusiastic curiosity. I wonder how much of those reports Yusuke got to read when he stole my file from Koenma’s office.

Fortunately Kazuma accepted his word for it, without forcing him into a Youkai Biology exposition. "That’s how Yukina’s brother was born?"

"That’s how both of them were born," Hiei corrected. "When a Koorime procreates with a male, she’ll give birth to twins, a boy and a girl. The girl will have mostly Koorime characteristics, but the boy..." Hiei’s chin hardened in recollection. "A male with alien appearance who was born from one of them own. A Forbidden Child. The Ice Maidens will consider him a curse, a tumor that must be extracted immediately from their society."

Kuwabara shivered, eyes widened and mortified. "Extracted? What do you mean, extracted? What happened to Yukina’s brother?"

Hiei saw the chagrined expression on the human’s face and lowered his eyes. That big oaf offering him sympathy... "He was taken to the Glacier’s border a few hours after his birth and thrown overboard."

"What?" Kuwabara was now furious. "From miles of altitude? That’s insane!"

"Those are the Koorime ways," Hiei commented absentmindedly.

"You can’t possibly agree with them!" Kazuma shouted.

Hiei didn’t answer. Of course he didn’t agree with those who had left him to die. Did he? "The koorime say that the Forbidden Child has only evil in his heart, so he can only represent the destruction of everything around him." Will I never forget any of the Elders’ words?

Surprisingly, Valentine’s kekkai didn’t seem to have the same effect on Kuwabara. The ningen’s glare over him was so intense Hiei started to feel terribly small next to that tall bulky body. "This is ridiculous! Don’t tell me you believe this bullshit!"

Hiei shrugged and looked away, uneasy. "I don’t know," he admitted. He didn’t have the reputation of a good, generous, judicious guy, either in Makai, Reikai or Ningenkai. And even if he had worked a lot as a thief, he had been mostly assigned as a professional killer, and praised by his employers as cold, quick, efficient, and unemotional. His methods were horribly destructive and his ultimate attack, the Black Dragon Wave, would spare not even his enemies’ souls.

"And you call me stupid," Kuwabara muttered, turning to the sea once more. "If they despise men as you said, when a male is born from them they’ll sure will paint him as the Fiend. What did you expect?"

Hiei rested in mute meditation, utterly confused. The big oaf’s words made unexpected sense. There’s something wrong today. This is all too weird... What am I doing talking to this guy?

Kuwabara let out a painful sigh, at last putting the puzzle together in his mind. "That’s what you meant this morning then," he whispered. "She didn’t know... You talked about daughters and it was okay. But then you mentioned sons..." A shiver ran through his spine. "You did a good thing, Hiei."

Hiei blinked. What the hell did he say?

"I mean, if Yukina-san had married me," Kazuma continued, "without really knowing how a human marriage is..." He let his head hang over his chest, dispirited. "I don’t even want to think about it."

Shifting his legs to an almost fetal position, Hiei felt his heart shrinking inside him. You did a good thing, the words echoed in his mind. It had seemed a good thing to him as well, at first. But the good thing managed to erase Yukina’s smile, discourage Kuwabara, hurt Yusuke and insult his woman, upset Kurama and make him feel even worse than he usually did. "What are you going to do now?" he asked.

"I don’t know," answered Kuwabara in deep dismay. "I have to think. Try to find a way through this. I know Yukina-san likes me." Then he glanced at Hiei abruptly. "Doesn’t she?"

Oh hell... The small youkai closed his eyes, very tired. "I... I think so..." he mumbled.

"Her parents probably loved each other too," Kazuma pointed out.

"I guess," Hiei sighed.

Crossing his legs on the tree trunk, Kuwabara raised his head in confidence. "I’ll find a way," he murmured. But Hiei could still notice a concerned curve on the human’s shoulders.

They stayed there for several minutes more, guarding a pensive silence, contemplating the small ripples of greenish water, hearing the distant cries of the sea gulls. The cool breeze caressed their faces, toying with orange and black hair locks and spiraling into their sleeves and collars.

"When are you going back to Makai?" Kazuma asked.

You’re just crazy to get rid of me, aren’t you? Hiei snorted. "Why?" he asked aloud.

"Maybe I could go with you and help you to find Yukina-san’s brother."

"What?" Hiei choked.

"You just said they are twins!"

"So what?"

"Twins usually have a strong psychic connection between them, like a thin silver chain binding their spirits through life."

Hiei gulped. "A silver chain? You can see it?"

Kuwabara stiffed his chest. "Of course I can. Are you doubting my powers?" he bragged. "When I was a kid there were these twin boys living in front. I used to play hide-and-seek with them." He chuckled. "I only had to find one of them. To find the other I just had to concentrate to see the silver chain attached to the one I had found, and then follow it till the other end. Piece of cake."

Hiei had held his breath in terror, until he heard the magic word. "Concentrate? So you don’t see this silver chain all the time."

Kazuma looked away, unwilling to admit any weakness. "These things require training and effort," he grumbled.

Yusuke was the one known as the lucky one of the group. But only now Hiei understood that he owed the endurance of his secret to a simple fluke. The dumb human was right about the psychic connection. The only reason why Kuwabara had never seen the energy link between the koorime twins before was because he had never thought of searching for it.

And that left Hiei no choice. If he had the human beside him reaching out with his reiki looking specifically for that connection, it was sure thing that he would find the lost end of the link a lot closer than he would ever expect.

He turned to Kuwabara again and was surprised at how quickly the human’s grumping had disappeared. His face was beaming once more. Probably another symptom of the Valentine’s kekkai, Hiei sighed regretfully.

"Think about it, Hiei. The chain between Yukina-san and her unique brother must certainly be golden, not silver."

Hiei felt ten tons of brick falling over his conscience. It was hard enough to hear Yukina praising her unknown twin, dreaming about a strong worthy warrior with a noble unequalled soul. Unique? "What if her brother is an evil monster, just like the koorime predicted?" he muttered.

In a millisecond Kuwabara was shaking Hiei by the collar of his tunic. "How can you say such an horrible thing about Yukina-san’s brother?" he yelled. "Take it back! Now!"

This is ridiculous, Hiei thought. But the picture of Kurama deriding the Ice Maiden’s portent haunted his mind, and the waggling of his brain by Kuwabara’s enraged hands wasn’t helping him to think. "Okay, okay! Cut it out, I take it back."

Kazuma stopped shaking him, but kept his hold in Hiei’s collar and glared at him for a moment more before releasing him. For good measure. Hiei rearranged his tunic, cursing himself for getting soft. Kuwabara should never be fast enough to grab him like that, and he couldn’t believe he had actually apologized to him.

"So when do we start?" Kazuma asked.

"Start what?" Hiei mumbled.

"Looking for him."

"You’re not going."

"What?!"

"You... Are... Not... Going!" Hiei stated. "Understood now?"

"Of course I am!"

"NO WAY!!!"

Kuwabara winced. That refusal had been awfully emphatic. "Why not?"

"I don’t need your help!"

"Don’t gimme that," Kuwabara barked. "How long since she asked you to look for him... three years, four? You’re not doing so fine to refuse my help."

Hiei began to feel cornered, a feeling he had always dreaded. His mind raced for an excuse, finding nothing acceptable. So he lied through his teeth. "I’ve been tracking him down with a... a methodic exploration of the places he... might have been taken to. This must be done carefully and discreetly, because some of the regions he passed through are dangerous... inhabited by powerful youkai... and thief gangs. I can’t have you there. You rush things, call attention. What would a human be doing there?" Hiei crossed his arms and huffed. "I know you want to be the one finding Yukina’s brother, to be rewarded with her kisses and... argh!" His face contorted in disgust. "Forget it. She won’t do that. And I’m not taking you with me. You would only cause me trouble."

Kuwabara stared at the cranky Jaganshi so hard that Hiei could feel his black eyes poking on his cheek. He turned to the human and stood that solid gaze the best he could, a bitter lump forming in his throat. Reiki waves involved the human’s muscular body and Hiei could sense the probing of mighty psychic powers fully directed at him. Kuwabara was looking for something in the Fire Demon’s spirit, that was clear. An answer, a clue, a key. And Hiei couldn’t use the Jagan to block the probing without making the human even more curious. K’so, what if he sees that damned chain now?

After one minute, Kuwabara let him go, withdrawing his ki. "I don’t get you," Kuwabara sighed, standing up. "Why do you choose to be such a bastard?"

Hiei’s eyes popped out. He had been very civil until now. He should slice that moron in pieces and save all the worlds of that buzzing annoyance...

"I mean," Kazuma continued, "you obviously take great pains in keeping everyone who might like you not liking you."

Her brother had told her, but still Shizuru found it hard to believe. Kazuma had come down the stairs with a deep scowl on his face and said, "I’m gonna talk to the shrimp." And by his tone, she knew he really meant "talk", not "scrub his face on the rocks". Hiei and Kazu talking?!

But there it was, the incredible scene right in front of her eyes, completely visible from her spot at the base of the staircase. The two boys sitting side by side on a tree trunk, talking. "Oh my... the stars will fall from the sky today!"

"They’re just talking, Shizuru, not kissing," countered a voice beside her. "Then the stars would fall from the sky."

"I guess you’re right, Genkai-shihan," Shizuru chortled. For Kurama would make them fall...

"So the boy accepted my advice," said the old lady.

"You really think something will come out of it?"

Genkai shrugged. "Something will."

"I mean, something that might solve this problem with Yukina, whatever it is." Shizuru hoped so. Despite what she had told Kurama when he suggested that they joined forces to "fix things", she did want to see her brother happy. The kid was nerve-racking in his infatuation for the little Koorime, but nothing could be worse than seeing him depressed and heartbroken. Shizuru had had enough of it when Yukina went back to her homeland in Makai just after the boys freed her from Taroukane’s Mansion.

But Genkai’s reply was far from comforting. "I have no idea. I don’t even know if this so-called "problem with Yukina" is a solvable one."

"Then why did you send Kazu to Hiei?"

"Oh, I’ve been looking for an excuse to gather those two for a civil conversation for quite a while now," Genkai grinned. "I thought this could be as a good time."

Shizuru arched her eyebrows. "So you did it just for fun?"

"No, no. I happen to think they’re very much alike."

Shizuru smirked. "You mean two unreasonable, stubborn, reckless, irrational, thick-headed bullies?"

The old lady chuckled. "That too. But I was thinking about how they both have powers that allow them to see farther than the average, yet both fail to see anything that they’re not really looking for."

Shizuru considered it for a moment. "I think I know what you mean."

"You do?"

"At least about Kazu. That’s funny; this morning, before the picnic, I remembered something that happened when we were kids. Our parents took us to the Sanja Festival and I got lost in the crowd. Really lost. I was carried away by the flow, you know? And I saw all those strange people around me, heard all that noise, and felt them all in my head... I was eight years old then."

"Don’t tell me you panicked," Genkai smiled. "I can’t imagine you panicking, not even at that age."

"I don’t think I panicked. I don’t remember if I cried. But I couldn’t find my way back, with all those people around me and inside my mind."

Genkai nodded, understanding. "An inexperienced empath should stay away from emotional crowds."

"I guess my parents skipped that lesson on their "How to Raise Psychic Children" course," Shizuru snorted. "Poor Dad. He panicked. He went to the police at once, to report my disappearance. But Kazu told Mom he could find me. He was just a baby hanging on Mom’s lap, could barely speak. But he kept screaming he knew where I was, and for some reason Mom decided to give it a shot. Kazu pointed the way and guided her straight to me."

"One of those stories to remain forever in the family lore," Genkai commented.

"You bet. Mom told everyone this story. All my neighbors know it. Sometimes people I never saw before will come and ask me about it." She eyed the old woman’s jaunty face and flinched. "Don’t tell me you knew that story already."

"Your brother bragged about it. But he said you panicked."

Shizuru huffed. "I’m gonna kill him."

"That might solve the Yukina problem," Genkai suggested.

"Don’t encourage me, I’m really gonna kill him." The girl breathed in slowly. "I don’t go around telling people the other side of his abilities."

"The other side?"

"Exactly what you said, Shihan. Like when Yusuke glued a big card on the jacket of his uniform. Kazu spent the whole day with that "Kick my ass!" sign on his back. If he’s not expecting something, he just can’t see it, no matter how strong his powers are." Shizuru frowned at the boys talking at the beach. "You think Hiei’s like that too? He would notice a card glued to his back."

"I suppose so," Genkai conceded.

"But if you mean the Jagan, he doesn’t seem to use it that much, except as a weapon, or when he really needs to..."

"...to look for something specific," the old lady completed.

"Right. I see your point."

"It’s more than the Jagan though," Genkai continued. "Hiei spends so much time perched on the shadows and watching... Hours, days, weeks, just watching and doing his best not to be spotted. But if he truly saw what he watches, I doubt he would go on hiding in the dark. He circles the temple jumping from tree to tree and looking for a "Keep Out" sign, doesn’t find any, but never sees the other signs asking him to come down. And who knows what other signs are flashing to him in the city that he blinds himself to."

Shizuru tilted her head and gazed at the little black-clad figure sitting beside her tall brother, surprised at the realization that she understood the shihan’s enigmatic words perfectly. That’s why she had cautioned Kurama when he spoke of "trying to put some sense into Hiei’s thick head"; the redhead’s feelings were blatantly obvious to someone who knew what to look for, which meant that the Fire Demon would undoubtedly miss them entirely. A fatal math, right on Valentine’s Day. "Those kids are hopeless," she sighed.

"And just the opposite from you," Genkai added.

"What do you mean, Shihan?"

"I’ve been watching you, girl. You exploit your powers to see everything around you, so nothing will escape your awareness."

"I’m not that good."

"You’re good enough for your own purposes, aren’t you?" Genkai’s expression was unreadable.

"My purposes?"

"If you can see all, that spares you from having to look for anything. Right?"

Shizuru was dying for a cigarette. "You don’t seem very pleased, Shihan."

"Luckily, you don’t have to please me, Shizuru. I have nothing to do with what you do to your life." The old woman sat on the ground with a fatigued groan. "But I see lots of things too. I’m just reporting what I learned from it."

The girl snickered. "I’m afraid to ask what you saw."

"Why? I’m not judging you, I told you."

"I would judge me, Shihan. And if I know you, that’s exactly what you expect me to do."

Genkai was laughing playfully. "Perhaps we’re both too clever for our own good."

Shizuru joined the laughter, vaguely wondering if Hiei and Kazu were having as much fun with their chitchat.

She doubted it.

"I don’t suppose you’re gonna tell me what you think I should be looking for," the girl winked.

"I wouldn’t do that even if I knew," Genkai agreed. "I just wonder why you would prefer to hang out with your kid brother and his friends all the time, instead of..." She shrugged.

"Instead of having a life of my own?" Shizuru offered.

"You said it, not me," Genkai pointed out.

"They’re my friends too."

"I know. And they’re all very fond of you, even the hopeless boys. But why them?"

Shizuru stared at the treetops, knowing she had no answer. The age difference was not the point — how old were Kurama, Hiei, Yukina, Botan and Koenma, not to mention Genkai herself? But come on, every time I had to choose between playing cards with them and going out for a party with my college mates, I never stopped to think twice. And apart three or four dates, none of them all that successful, her social life had orbited around "the Tantei and the girls". What a chauvinist group name!

More astounding yet: why would her best friend be Keiko? What did they have in common? Keiko was so docile, candid, emotional, high-spirited... so believing. Shizuru dreaded the idea of growing alike her. The mere idea of devoting herself to one boy and making her life depend on him without even a glance to anyone else, having to justify herself all the time for having chosen a boy with such a bad reputation, and...

She halted that line of thought immediately. Deliberately, she pulled her cigarettes out of her pocket and lighted one. With Sakyo’s gold lighter.

Genkai’s right. I’m too clever for my own good. "I won’t be around the hopeless kids for too long, I suppose," she murmured. "Soon they’ll be all married and settled down, too busy with their families to have picnics in the park with old mates."

The old lady snorted. "For some reason, I don’t see it coming so soon, Shizuru. Marriage only breaks friendships if one lets it happen. Yusuke and Keiko didn’t. Kuwabara and Yukina? Don’t believe it for a minute."

"Were you ever married, Shihan?" Shizuru asked politely.

Genkai laughed. "Oh, no! Too much of a trouble."

"You never wanted to be married?" The younger woman pried curiously.

"Marriage demands a lot more discipline and commitment than I could ever offer.

Shizuru's eyebrows raised to impossible heights. "The master of the Leiko-Hado Ken? Not disciplined enough?

"Marriage is a lot tougher than Leiko-Hadou Ken," she muttered.

"You can't be serious."

"Why not?"

Shizuru was speechless for a moment. "Well, for one thing, I can't imagine my silly little brother managing to do something that you can't."

Genkai laughed. "There are lots of things your silly little brother can do better than I can, Shizuru. But that's not the point. He's in love, and more than a little blind. It won't take more than six months before he starts seeing Yukina-san has more of a personality than a fairy tale princess. And it will take even less to Yukina understand that Kuwabara lacks some traits as Prince Charming."

The prediction brought a cold fear to Shizuru's heart. "So you think Kazu is making a mistake."

The old master shook her head. "No, I'm not implying any of the sort. I'm just saying that things won't be as smooth as he and Yukina might expect. They will find serious trouble soon ahead. How are they going to react? I have no idea. It's not impossible to find a way around the obstacles."

"If it were, I don't think my parents would've been together for so long," Shizuru mused.

"But it's not easy," Genkai continued. "And the effort must be constant, permanent. That's what marriage is about. Every day of your life, doing the best to fit yourself to someone else, accepting things you don't like, doing stuff you don't care much about, neglecting little parts of yourself for your mate's comfort. And most important of all, being ready for the changes."

"Well, Kazu is more settled down now, since he came back from Makai after the Sensui crisis," Shizuru pointed out. "But it's not unlikely that he gets in trouble again with demons and who-knows-what-else. Specially with Yusuke and Hiei still around."

"Oh, that's not what I meant," the old lady shrugged. "I wasn't referring to changes of fate or fortune, and being chased by demons wouldn't be much of a change to Kuwabara anyway. I was talking about changes of heart."

"You mean... like love fading away?" She tried to picture her brother not drooling and sputtering around the little Koorime, and failed. He's completely nuts about her.

Genkai smiled. "When two people promise to be together for better or for worse, they usually don't realize the worse is not some menace that will come barging in from outside, but the boredom and doubts worming their way into their hearts," she commented. "Because there will be boredom. There will be doubts. You just can't spend so much time around one person before those little bad habits, like leaving dirty socks on the floor or making weird noises while eating miso start getting to you. Sooner or later you'll be asking yourself disturbing questions."

"What questions?"

"Did I marry too soon? Did I choose the right person? Shouldn’t I have waited? Shouldn't I have listened to Mama? Isn't the new waiter of the Pai Cafe cute?"

"Shihan!" Shizuru smirked. Then, curious, "Is he?"

"I might be old, but I still have eyes," Genkai winked.

No doubt about it. The girl felt gloomy all of a sudden. "I don’t know if I still have eyes, Shihan."

"Maybe you should look for them, then," suggested the old lady with a frolicsome wink.

Shizuru shook her head, fingering the lighter that was still on her palm. For how long I’ve been brooding like this? How many years? Time had passed. Her younger brother and friends weren’t all that young anymore, they were fending for themselves, getting married, growing and daring, reaching out for love and fulfillment. What had she been doing?

The conversation at the beach had ended. Kazuma stood up and walked away, apparently to take a stroll by the sea. Too much in your head, little brother? She could sympathize with that. "Shihan, have you never found someone worth the trouble? Someone worth the discipline and the commitment?"

Genkai hid her face under her pinkish-gray hair and stood up. "I did," she whispered. "But he didn’t think he was worthy."

Shizuru frowned. Was the Shihan blushing? "I don’t understand."

"Good. You have more important things to look for than an old woman’s secrets." Genkai faced her seriously. "I mean it, girl. Time passes too fast."

Shizuru nodded in silence, putting out her cigarette.

"I’m gonna check on Yukina," said the Shihan, climbing the stairs.

When Shizuru turned to the beach again, there was no one in sight. Hiei had vanished, Kazuma disappeared behind the trees. And she had absolutely nothing to do there.

I need a life, she moaned to herself. For how long will I let my lighter haunt me anyway?

Patting one last time the lighter, she shove it back inside her pocket and got on her feet. She felt hungry all of a sudden, and urging for a large cup of black coffee. She could try Genkai’s kitchen, usually packed with rice crispy cookies and oat crackers. Maybe the Shihan would be willing to tell her more about that old secret love of hers over a nice cup of coffee. But after a moment Shizuru decided against it. She would go back to town and stop by the Pai Cafe. And see if the new waiter was as cute as Genkai had praised him.

"After all," she exclaimed to the mountains, "I am not dead."

~*~