Early morning came with a heavy rain beating down on the island. Lightning flashed through the sky followed by the roar of thunder. It shook the air of Hanging Neck Island. The earth trembled throughout the whole island waking the sleeping people and demons in Kubikukuri.

         The eye of the storm was circling around a small opening in the forest. There the force of the energies was stronger than normal. Rika Makoto floated in the middle focusing the energies of water, thunder, lightning, and earth. The energies swirled out all around her emanating from her body. She closed her eyes clasping her hands together. When she did so, the force of the energies increased.

 

         The sound of the elements clashing outside woke up the others that were sleeping at the hotel. Kurama jolted out of his sleep. He was still staying in Makoto’s suite in one of her extra bedrooms. He sat up in the bed. He could feel the hotel shaking profusely.

         “An earthquake?” Kurama said in shock. He jumped out of the bed and walked over to the window to see what was going on outside. He saw the increasing destruction from the horrible weather.

         “What is causing all of this?”

         “Of course it’s the one that is missing from this room. It is Makoto. She never returned last night. She has been training vigorously in her demon form all night long.” Hiei said appearing from the shadows behind Kurama. Kurama turned around to face him. By Hiei’s appearance, he must have been outside recently.

         “Hiei, I guess you were outside watching her. Haven’t you?”

        Kurama turned back towards the window with concern still embedded in his eyes. He couldn’t help taking blame for her strange behavior. Whatever it was that was hurting her, it had to be extreme and he was the reason that she was hurting.

       “You aren’t the reason, Kurama.” Hiei said teleporting next to Kurama. Kurama looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

      “How are you so sure?” Kurama asked plainly, unconvinced by Hiei’s words.

      “I read her thoughts. She is still grieving for Suzaku. That was the reason for her tears when you kissed her last night. She felt like she was betraying him.”

      Hiei’s words carried no emotion as he spoke, but that was only a mask to hide his actual feelings. Hiei looked out towards the center of the storm where Makoto was. His thoughts warming as he recalled her thoughts from earlier.

         For the first time, he regretted his telepathic powers. At that moment, he wished that he didn’t read her thoughts. He never knew how much the great Rika Makoto actually loved demons.

         Her affection for them was why she was engaged to Suzaku. That was also the reason why she became quickly attached to Kurama and himself. She didn’t know why because he only read her mind for a moment.

         Hiei could understand why she would willingly let them in without wanting to kill them. There was a lot about Makoto that Hiei wanted to discover. He had many questions that he wanted to ask her.

         He was curious about why she was so fascinated with demons. He was curious about how she created her demon form. He was also curious about her past since all that he knew of it was from the fables that he was told.

         Now, Kurama understood why the beautiful goddess cried. He had to see her. He had to talk to her. Kurama turned to leave after her, but he was stopped by Hiei.

         “You are going to see her? I don’t think that would be wise. She is determined to train undisturbed. Leave her be.” Hiei warned Kurama before he went any further. Kurama brushed off his friend’s warning and left the room without saying a word.

        

         Rika Makoto flew high in the air then looked down to the ground beneath her. She raised her right hand forming a huge boulder underneath her. She raised her left hand next to her face. Heat began to emanate from it until her hand was engulfed in fire.

        As the fire grew stronger and hotter, she closed her hand forming a tight fist. She drew her fist back as she began to dive rapidly towards the boulder. She extended her fist out a second before she reached the boulder.

       As soon as her punch hit, the boulder disintegrated leaving a large crater in its place. She jumped back immediately after impact landing outside of the crater. She powered up to attack again, but she stopped at the sound of rustling in the leaves nearby.

     She turned towards the sound to see Kimika standing in some nearby bushes. She was smiling when she saw Makoto.

    “I heard all the noise out here so I suspected that you were probably the cause especially since you hadn’t come back yet.” Kimika said softly as she held tightly to her umbrella. “May I train with you please?”

   “You train with me? Please, Kimika. You can’t fight.” Rika scouffed letting out a loud laugh.

   “You are wrong! I can fight! I am half demon you know! We tend to be excellent fighters!” Kimika snapped, sticking her tongue out.

   “Whatever you say. But this is a solo session, kiddo. We can try training at another time.” Makoto looked away, crossing her arms. She floated a few inches from the ground. “I must prepare myself for the exhibition matches of the Dark Tournament.”

   “You can’t enter the Dark Tournament. It has already started.” Makoto turned towards the voice coming from behind her. She saw Yusuke and Kuwabara standing there.

   Makoto closed her eyes and grinned. “Oh. Great. It’s the idiot patrol.” She opened her eyes shooting a look of amusement at Yusuke. “I’m not in the actual tournament. These matches are exhibition matches. They are kind of like Celebrity matches. That’s why they invited me. Normally, gods wouldn’t dare compete in the Dark Tournament since they believe it is beneath them, but I am different. I’m a rogue goddess. As long as demon blood is on hands, I could care less.”

   Kuwabara and Yusuke looked at each other with fear settled in their eyes when they saw her blood thirsty gaze.

  “Okay. She definitely has some unresolved issues.” Kuwabara whispered to Yusuke who nodded in agreement.

  “Thank god that we aren’t demons.” Yusuke smirked nervously as he backed up behind Kuwabara.

  Makoto let out a loud maniacal laugh as she made her way over to Yusuke and Kuwabara. The two of them fell on the ground behind them.

  “Oh, Spirit Detective. Do I frighten you?” Makoto cackled. “Don’t worry. I have an amazing death planned out for you.”

  Makoto turned away from them so she could hide her amusement. For some reason, she loved scaring the pants off of those guys. It made her day to see the stupid expressions that they made.

  When she looked back towards Kimika, she saw him, Kurama. Heat rushed to her cheeks causing them to turn red by just the sight of him. The memory of their kiss replayed over and over again in her mind. She wanted it to go away. She wanted the memories to stop before they completely took her over. She fear that the feelings her memories caused would overtake her completely erasing her memories of Suzaku.

 

  The sound of helicopter blades could be heard from the other side of the island. Two choppers landed in a large clearing releasing a small army of demons adorned in guard attire. They lined up in two groups with the last demon of the second group holding iron chains.

  He yanked hard on the chains dragging out a small girl. By appearance, the girl was no older than twelve. Her beauty was extraordinary with her long flowing raven hair and radiant ruby eyes. However, her beauty was countered by the rags she wore and the chains around her neck and wrists.

  She remained calm even with the brutal manner of the demon guard. She kept her eyes downcast toward the ground and remained emotionless as two men approached her. They circled her like vultures as they looked her over. They then walked over to a small portly man who was wearing a suit standing by the first helicopter.

  “So what do you think men? She is an amazing find. A rarity to the spirit world, demon world, human world, all the worlds that exist. She is a half breed.”

  “What makes her so special? What is she a half breed of?” One of the men asked. He walked over to her and put his finger under her chin forcing her to look him directly in his eyes. The girl looked at him without any emotion in her eyes.

  “Whatever she is, she seems like a feisty one.” His partner said in a deep raspy voice.

  “I can guarantee that she is. It took a lot for us to capture this pretty little thing. She is half ice maiden and fire demon. She is rare because when an ice maiden has with an outsider the child is almost always a boy. However by a fluke, this little beauty was born. Discarded by her own world, this little one was fighting her way through the spirit world.” She heard her captor say in a voice filled with greed.

  “I don’t know. I don’t believe you. I think that I’ll have to check for myself.”

  The girl didn’t move as the man’s partner made her way over to her. Her expression did not change at all as he made his way over to her. Her eyes flickered red. The air started to grow warmer as he came closer.

  The rain started to pound harder on the earth soaking the grey rags that she wore. Her hair was so wet that it began to cling to her face. Her eyes began to glow brighter and a strange energy began to emanate off of her.

   The chains around her neck and wrists began to melt away. When her captor saw that she was freed from her chains, he ordered the demon guards to stop her. Fire surrounded the girl pulsing outward destroying all who surrounded her.

  She removed the fragments of melted chains throwing them on the ground at her feet. Once she was free, she began to run into the forest at max speed. The sound of her bare feet hitting the muddy forest floor echoed in her head.

  Her breath became heavy as she increased her speed through the forest. The sound of her footsteps quickening began to grow louder as she ran through puddles. She didn’t know where she was or where she would end up. Only fate knew.

 

  She put all fear aside as she ran into the unknown dangers of the forest. The faster that she went, the harder the rain hit her face making it more difficult to see. As she went deeper into the forest, she could feel six different energies coming closer.

  She looked up while blocking her face from the rain. The winds had grown stronger and so did the rain fall. She turned toward the direction of the energies and moved closer to them.

  As she came closer, she saw light from an opening. She could hear voices talking from the nearby clearing. She hid behind a tree watching a group of five teenagers standing around a big crater.

  From two of the people, they were emanating demon energy. The woman in the middle was emanating a much stronger energy. It was one not commonly found in a demon. It was an energy that she had never felt before that was slowly coming from the cat woman. She wasn’t safe there especially with an unknown sixth energy lurking nearby.

  The girl backed away from the tree. She was going to turn away and run, but she felt the tip of a blade being pressed against her back. Her blood ran cold as fear consumed her.

  She was caught. She was going to die before she could find them. She couldn’t. She had to find her brother and sister. She began to emanate fire from her body to push the knife away.

  “Don’t do that. Don’t be foolish. I’ll kill you before you have the chance to free yourself.” She heard a man say from behind her. The man pressed his blade against her back once more. She had no choice, but to stop powering up and submit to his demands. “Walk Forward.”

 

  Everyone turned around when they heard the rustle of leaves. They were surprised to see that it was Hiei pressing his sword to the back of a girl. He was forcing her to move toward them.

  Kimika saw how young the girl was and ran to her side. She pulled her away from Hiei and held her in her arms. She then shot a look of disappointment at him.

  “Hiei, how dare you treat this girl like that?! She isn’t a monster or something!”

  “Kimika, don’t be crazy! You don’t even know what she is! She could be here to kill Yusuke and his friends. They ARE on the most hated list.” Makoto scolded looking toward Kimika as she held tightly to the girl.

  “Rika is right, Kimi. That girl is giving off enormous amounts of energy. She could be very dangerous.” Kurama said softly.

  He observed the girl who was wrapping her arms around Kimika. She seemed like an innocent child. But how could a child like her possess such a great power?

  “But she means no harm. I feel her true feelings. She is very terrified.” Kimika said softly as she tried to defend the girl. She looked up at everyone with concern.

  “We’ll find out her true intentions. I’ll torture it out of her.” Hiei said making his way over to her. The girl moved behind Kimika in terror. Kimika put her hand up to prevent Hiei from getting closer.

  “No, Hiei! Don’t come any closer!” Kimika screamed angrily. She began to power up for an attack, but Rika put her hand down.

  “No need for hostility. I have a more humane way of finding out” Rika walked over to the girl smiling gently down at her. She offered the child her hand. “Don’t worry. I won’t bite. You can trust me. I am a goddess. I will not bring harm to you, child.”

  Rika kept her hand out until the girl accepted it. The girl looked at Rika and she could feel her fear melt away. The girl smiled up at Rika. Rika rubbed the girl’s head softly. She was slightly astonished at how adorable the girl was.

  “Now, tell me, sweetie. What is your name?” Rika asked softly.

  “My name is Horuna, goddess.” The girl answered gently as she smiled from ear to ear.

  “Wow, Rika. How did you get her to trust you so quickly?” asked Kuwabara.

  Kuwabara and Yusuke walked over by Kimika’s side. He looked down at the girl by Rika and Kimika. He began to blush when he noticed how beautiful she was.

  “I can answer that. It’s called the Lure of the Divine. It’s a very powerful force that emanates from every god, goddess, or divine creature. It is strongest in gods and goddesses though. It is similar to the sensation of falling in love. It renders the creature unable to harm them. It works on any creature except their own kind.” Koenma answered from behind Kurama. He looked over at Rika smiling.

  “Koenma. Nice to see that you know your stuff when it comes to my kind.” Rika smirked softly when she saw the son of Enma in the form of a teenager.

  She turned back towards Horuna and looked into her eyes. With one look, Horuna stopped moving and froze standing up. Rika was able to look into her past and read her thoughts.

  That move was a branch of the Lure of the Divine. It’s called the Vision of the Divine. It’s an ability granted to the gods and goddesses only. It allows them to see in any creatures past and read their mind. The creature has to be one of the deity’s respectful element. There are some exceptions like a god of love or death. They can use the ability without the restriction.

  Half way through her move, Rika stopped. She turned and looked at Hiei wide-eyed. She couldn’t believe it. Why didn’t she notice it before? The strain of Rika’s move made Horuna collapse. Kimika caught her.

  “What, Rika?” Hiei asked anxiously.

  He wanted to know what she found out that had her in such surprise. “What is it?”

  “Hiei, She is… She is…” Makoto stuttered.

  She was too exhausted from all her training to answer. Makoto changed back into her teenage self. She never felt like that before, but using the Vision of the Divine move drained the rest of her energy. She couldn’t maintain all the horrid visions that came from that girl.

  Kurama saw the way that Makoto was behaving. He ran to her side grabbing her around the waist to keep her from falling. He could feel her energy slowly slip away from her. She slowly slipped out of consciousness in his arms.

  “Makoto.” Kimika said concerned. “Big Brother, what is the matter with Makoto?”

  “I don’t know, Kimi. But you can feel her energy draining too? She must not have possessed enough energy to do that move. She ended up tiring herself out.” Kurama said softly as he lifted her into his arms.

  He looked down at the sleeping goddess. He felt a weird energy coming from her. The weird energy made him feel warm inside similar to the way Kimika made him feel, but quite different also.

  “Impossible, Kurama. Goddesses and Gods unlike other creatures have unlimited energy. They never lose energy so the cause of her weird behavior must be from that girl.” Koenma looked over towards Horuna. “Whatever was in her mind, must have been too much for her to handle. I advise that you take them to rest. Once you have figured out her secret, bring the girl to me. Makoto I would rather avoid.” With those words said, Koenma walked away.

  “I wonder why he wants to avoid Makoto. I know that she is very scary, but she isn’t all that bad. She threatened to kill me in a nice way today.” Yusuke smirked.

  He walked over to Kimika and smiled. “Kimika, I’ll carry her upstairs. If you want?”

  She met his smile with a warm one of her own. She handed Horuna over to him. “Yusuke, that is very sweet. Here. Please be careful with her.”

  Yusuke blushed softly when he saw her beautiful smile. He never saw her but once or twice when he actually went to school. Even then, he didn’t notice her true beauty until that moment.

  Her breathtaking features left him in awe. She looked so innocent, pure, and enchanting. Something about that girl set him in an almost peaceful mood. Looking at her, seemed to make all the terrible things melt away.

  “Don’t worry. I will.”

  Yusuke followed Kurama back to the hotel. He took Yusuke to Makoto’s suite where they placed Horuna in the extra bedroom. Then Kurama placed Makoto in her bed to rest.

  Kurama didn’t leave her room instead he stayed by Makoto’s side. He couldn’t help but watch her sleep. There was something that drew him to her. At first, he thought it was the Lure of the Divine, but it wasn’t a feeling that made him unable to control his actions. No. He had full control of everything that he did and said.

  This feeling was more of a normal occurrence. It was a feeling that no move could conjure. He couldn’t leave her side. He wouldn’t. At least not until she woke up.

  “It’s scary. Isn’t it, Kurama?” Yusuke walked inside the room walking over to Kurama’s side. He looked down at the sleeping Makoto smiling. “It’s scary that such a beautiful girl could actually be such a powerful goddess. To believe that this girl is the same as the woman who attacked us yesterday and the same as the cat woman we saw outside is very scary.”

  Yusuke looked over at Kurama smiling. He could tell by the way Kurama was looking at her that he was growing fond of her. “What I can’t understand is how she has that demon form?”

  “I don’t believe that it is really a demon form. It is only called that because it is much harder for her to control than her regular goddess form. It is only her cat warrior form. It is her other goddess form since she is also known as Rika the cat goddess.” Kurama said leaning against the wall behind him. He didn’t break his gaze from the sleeping Makoto as he spoke.

  “I guess you like beautiful cat goddesses?”

  “What are you talking about?” Kurama turned towards Yusuke looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

  “You haven’t left her side since she helped you with Kimika. Also by the way that you are staring at her, I can tell that you are becoming attached to our favorite demon killer.” Yusuke said with a small smirk.

  He walked over to the door heading out the room. “Just tell her, Kurama. It’s not like she would kill you. You are Kimika’s brother. Also by the look of it, it seems that she cares a lot for your sister, so she wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. That also goes for Hiei since he’s a good friend of Kimika. Just tell her, Kurama. I think she will be receptive.”

  With those words said, Yusuke left Kurama in the room deep in his thoughts. He walked down the hallway passing the room where Horuna was. He peeked into the room and saw Kimika next to her bed holding the girl’s hand.

  He walked into the room with his hands in his pockets and a small smile on his face. “Kimika, What are you doing?”

  His words shattered Kimika’s thoughts causing her to turn around quickly with surprise. The surprise within her faded quickly when she saw that it was only Yusuke. She smiled wryly at him before looking back down at Horuna.

  “Oh, Yusuke. It is just you. I’m just checking on her.”

  “Why are you so concerned for her?” Yusuke asked when he noticed how worried she seemed about Horuna.

  Kimika turned back towards Horuna looking at her softly. “It’s because of what I saw and felt when I was holding her before.”

  “What you saw and felt? Are you telepathic or something?” Yusuke leaned against the wall at the foot of the bed and looked at Kimika.

  “No.” Kimika shook her head then turned back to Yusuke. “I’m empathic. I can sense people’s feelings through touch. I also can see and feel their true emotions.”

  “Oh cool. You are an empath. But how would that power be useful?”

  Kimika smirked in amusement at his naivety. “No. I’m not an empath. I am an apparition with empathic powers. You really must be new to this spirit detective job?”

  Yusuke laughed in embarrassment while placing his arm behind his head. “Am I really that transparent?”

  She covered as she giggled softly. “Yes. You are, Yusuke. Otherwise, you would know that empathy is a mental healing power. It could also be dangerous.”

  “How could seeing people’s feelings be dangerous?” Yusuke looked at her confused. He couldn’t understand how such a simple power could be harmful.

  “Well. Since most powers are controlled by the creature’s feelings. Empathy can make it impossible to control one’s powers since empathy makes you feel and see other’s emotions. So with my power of conjuring water to use against my opponent, that power is mostly triggered by my feelings of love, fear, and sometimes anger.”

  As Kimika was talking, her hand began to move. She turned back to check on Horuna. The girl was still asleep. She only moved her hand to turn around.

  “She is still sleeping. Don’t worry, Kimika.” Yusuke walked behind her placing his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and tried to get rid of the worry that was all over her face, but she couldn’t. Yusuke could see very clearly the worry that she possessed.

  “Kimika, give me your hand.” He reached down his other hand removing her hand from the girl’s.

  “What are you doing, Yusuke?” Kimika looked up at him confused as she held his hand. She turned her body around facing Yusuke.

  “Don’t torture yourself, Kimika. You can’t just sit there reliving her pains. Isn’t there anyway that you could help her without using your powers?”

  “I’m not torturing myself. This is how I heal. I share other’s pain and help them fix what’s ailing them. I want to help her. You don’t know what this girl is going through.” Kimika snatched her hand out of his grip and turned back to look at Horuna. Yusuke could hear the sadness in her voice as she spoke.

  “You are right. I don’t know what she is going through. But if you tell me what you felt from her, then I could help her too.” Yusuke said softly looking at Kimika with understanding. Kimika looked at him wide-eyed.

  “Why would you want to help her?”

  “Don’t look at me like that. I am one of the good guys. I want to help you help her.” Yusuke grabbed an empty chair and placed it next to Kimika. He sat down upon it backwards.

  “So tell me. What are the feelings that you get from this girl?”

  “Well, there lies a great amount of anger and fear inside her. But the feeling that is the greatest in her is longing. The girl longs for someone or something. I believe that is why she was there, but I will not know until I find out from her.”

  “She longs for someone? Do you mean that she was looking for one of us?”

  “Possibly, but I won’t know for sure.”

   Concern filled Kimika as she remembered the feelings that she felt when she first held Horuna. She had felt feelings that were all too familiar to her. The longing for a family member. The longing that she once called her own.

   “I guess that we won’t find out till’ she wakes up.”

   Yusuke saw the look in her eyes. Her concern for the girl was great. He touched her lightly on the arm in the hopes to comfort her. “Come, Kimika. Let’s go get something to eat. You must be hungry. I know that I am.”

  “How could you think of eating at a time like this?” Kimika shot a look filled with anger.

  “Don’t be angry at me. I just think we will be of better use to her if we eat first. Don’t worry. We will also bring back food for the others. She will most likely be hungry when she wakes up.”

  Kimika soften her glare and smiled in agreement. Then she left following behind Yusuke.

 

  Kurama stood by the window while watching over Makoto as she slept. She looked so peaceful that it was hard to believe that this girl was actually the feared Rika Makoto. She looked so much younger than her other forms which made it hard to believe that Rika Makoto, Goddess Makoto, and teenage Makoto were all the same. The only similarity they had was their extreme beauty.

  Kurama moved closer to her side and looked down at her. Her hair was still slightly wet from the rain. It clung to the sides of her face framing it with small raven waves. Her cheeks were flustered red. Her beauty was so enticing that it seemed to draw him in.

  He could barely control his desire for her. He desperately longed to claim her soft pink lips with another kiss. He came so close to the sleeping beauty that he could feel her breathing. He shut his eyes as he closed the final distance between her lips and his, but before he could claim them, he sensed that there was someone else in the room. He quickly turned toward where he sensed the strange energy and found Hiei sitting on the windowsill.

  “Don’t stop for me, Kurama. I just came here to see if Makoto woke up yet. Maybe I should have knocked first.” Hiei smirked looking away from Kurama and crossing his arms.

  “Hiei, it is not what you think.” Kurama said defensively. He became flustered in embarrassment at his friend’s sudden discovery.

  “I don’t know. It kinda looks like you are trying to wake her up by kissing her. Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone especially her. All I want to know is what she was going to tell me before she passed out.”

  “Thank you, Hiei.” Kurama moved away from the bed and walked in front of the window facing Hiei. “I almost forgot about that. She did seem surprised before when she was looking at you. Whatever she learned from that girl must be about something really important.”

  “I know. I just don’t know if it was good or bad.” Hiei said looking over at Makoto. He then turned back towards the window. “I wish she’d wake up soon. The suspense is killing me.”

  “Patience is a virtue, Squirt. I thought with your many years of life that you would know that by now.”

  Hiei and Kurama turned around towards the bed. There they saw Makoto sitting up in the bed stretching her arms behind her head. She looked at them with a flirtatious smile. She closed her eyes while stretching her arms high above her head.

  “I never thought that I’d wake up to see two very attractive demons watching over me. You two know how to make a girl feel special.”

   Hiei and Kurama began to blush in embarrassment. Hiei turned his head away from them and said impatiently.

   “Try to control your ual hormones and focus. It is hard to believe that you are actually the feared goddess, Rika Makoto. You are just a loud, fool.”

  “Why you arrogant bastard!” Makoto snapped angrily. Her cat ears returned laying back on her head as she yelled. “It is hard to believe you and Horuna are even related. She is so sweet and kind unlike her stuck up, of a brother!”

  “Brother?!” Hiei and Kurama exclaimed in surprise. Hiei jumped down to the floor and teleported to her side.

  “What did you say?!”

“I said that girl, Horuna, is your youngest sister. She is your mother’s third child, second child with your father.” Makoto calmed down. Her expression became very serious as she spoke.

“But I thought only boys were born to ice maidens who mate with an outsider.” Kurama said softly. He looked over to Hiei who was still in shock. He had no clue what was going through his head, but whatever it was must be similar to his own feelings the day before.

“Well. I guess that isn’t true. She was born to his father and mother. The poor girl has been through a lot in her life. She was abandoned once they learned of her special jewels.”

“Special jewels? You mean the tear of the ice maiden jewels?”

“Yes, Kurama. Well, the girl has the ability to make those jewels, but she’s able to control which tears produce them. So that means that she could cry normally like everyone else. She also makes two types of jewels. The regular ice maiden jewels and a red ruby that is worth ten times the normal jewels. Anyway because of her unique gift she was exiled then later sold to greedy humans.” Makoto could see the anger in Hiei rise. He tightly formed a fist causing himself to bleed. “She recently escaped her captors. Apparently right before she bumped into us. She was running to find you. Before she was exiled, your mother told her of your identities. She told her of you and Yukina.”

“Stop!” Hiei yelled in anger. He closed his eyes in frustration bringing his fist up to his face. It trembled as his anger rose.

“Hiei…” Kurama said softly.

“No. How did I not notice?” Hiei said partially to himself. Makoto looked at him with eyes overflowing with concern. Makoto rose from her bed and walked over to her.

“Hiei, please calm down. You had no way of knowing.” Makoto reached out to touch him but he stopped her. He looked up at her with anger and frustration written all over his face.

“I’m a telepath. I could’ve known before when we were outside. But instead my blood lust got in the way and I was about to kill my sister.” Hiei turned away from her then he teleported out of the room. Makoto was going to stop him and follow him, but Kurama grabbed her arm, stopping her from doing so.

“Leave him, Makoto. You did what you were supposed to do. Now, you must let him use this information as he wishes.” Kurama said gently.

 He knew very well where Hiei was going. He was going to do exactly what Kurama would do in that situation. He was going to see the sleeping girl, Horuna.

 

 Hiei walked into the room where Horuna was sleeping. He moved over to her bedside. The sight of her sleeping so peaceful seemed to overwhelm him. He gently watched over her brushing her bangs out of her face. He could see the true beauty of the young girl.

 Her face was cold from the rain and her long black hair was still damp. If Makoto’s words were true then there was a resemblance between her and himself. She was abandoned just like he had. She was left to die because of how she was born. She most likely had a worse life than him especially with how desired she was in most of the worlds.

 He couldn’t believe that the girl, who he had heard so much about, was actually his sister. The ruby ice maiden was what she was called. He had heard the tales of the ice maiden who secluded herself from the worlds mastering her gifts. Hiei heard of her limitless talents and wanted to find her himself.

 By just the thought of his past desires sickened him. He really was a monster if he was willing to harm her, his own sister. At that moment, he had more than just one sister and she was one that knew about Hiei and Yukina. He didn’t know what to do.

 As he was standing over her, Horuna woke up. She opened her eyes and that was when Hiei knew the truth. Her ruby eyes were just like his. She stared at him for a moment before grabbing the sheets to cover herself. She sat up in the bed staring at him in fear.   

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you. Do you remember what happened to you earlier?” Hiei said softly while trying not to spook her when he noticed her fear.

 Horuna shook her head. “Only some of it.”

“Tell me what you remember.”

“There are many things that I remember, but what is it that you want to know if I remember?” Horuna asked softly as she looked innocently up to him.

“Do you remember what happened in the forest before you passed out?”

“I remember running through the woods until I came to the clearing. I remember seeing the five teens inside it. I remember debating whether or not I should go to them for help. I was too scared because I was sure who they were. I was going to run away, but I was forced to enter the clearing by the point of a sword to my back. I remember being forced to join the people in the clearing. I vaguely remember of what was being said around me. However, I do remember seeing two women before passing out.”

“You were escaping your captors. That’s who you were running from. Right?”

“How…? How did you know that?” Horuna’s eyes grew wide with surprise.

“One of the women that you met before told me. She has the power to see into your mind.” Hiei answered ignoring the surprised expression that she wore. “I don’t know what they did to you. I do know with your rarity your captors won’t stop until they find you. We have to stop them.”

“You want to stop them? But why? Why would you want to help me?”

“You are too weak to resolve this problem yourself. You need our help if you ever want to be truly free and safe.”

 No matter how much Hiei wanted to tell her his real reasons for helping her, he couldn’t. There was something inside of him that prevented him from admitting to her the truth. Maybe it was because he hadn’t completely taken it in himself.

“But I don’t understand. I am a stranger to you. You will gain nothing from helping me. So please tell me. Why?” Horuna looked up at him with pleading eyes.

 The look in her eyes tortured him making it difficult to hold in his feelings so he turned away from her. He turned toward the window to hide any expression that might give her a clue to what he was truly thinking.

“It doesn’t matter now, Horuna. Just tell me what I need to know about the men who captured you and where we can find him.”

 Horuna could tell by Hiei’s words that no matter what she said he wouldn’t answer her. She looked down into her lap in defeat. She released a soft sigh before revealing to him everything that she knew of the monster who captured her.

 

 Silence hung over the room as the tension began to slowly suffocate Makoto. She couldn’t tell if it was his presence or the strange way he made her feel that affected her more. She wanted to leave, but she knew that leaving wouldn’t put an end to the strange emotions building up inside her.

 Leaving would only delay them. They would return the moment that they were reunited in a room together. According to their current situations, they would be together very often.

 She was frozen in her thoughts unable to act either way. As if driven by similar wonders, Kurama took hold of her arm stopping her from whatever action she chose. She turned around slowly while masking her concerns behind a warm smile as she faced him.

 “I’m sorry, Makoto. I know that you must still be grieving for the loss of Suzaku. I should have took that in mind before I kissed you.” Kurama apologized softly.

 “Please, Kurama. Like I said before, you don’t need to apologize. You did nothing wrong. But it is better if we forget that it even happened.”

 Makoto’s words seemed sincere, but they were only masking what she truly desired. She could see the shock and confusion begin to emanate from his eyes after hearing her words. She wanted to take them back but she couldn’t. A part of her was stopping her from doing so.

“Why? Did you hate our kiss that much?”

“I didn’t hate our kiss at all, Kurama. I really liked it a lot. It’s just that I am confused. I don’t know what to make of the strange way kissing you makes me feel. The new feelings that were created by our kiss scares me. They make me feel vulnerable and I can’t afford to feel that way. Not now.”

“But Mako…” Kurama started, but was interrupted by Makoto.

         “Kurama, I know that you want to talk more about this, but right now we have bigger responsibilities. We need to focus on Horuna and how we can help her. So please drop it for now.” 

         Her words were cold, but they were contrary to how she actually felt. A part of her desired to welcome the feelings that he sparked inside of her. But fear prevented her from acting on its desires or sharing them with Kurama because the hold that fear had on her was greater than that of her hidden desires.

 

         He couldn’t tell if it was the warmth of her laughter or her charming wit that amused him the most. She seemed very interested in everything that he told her. She was light-hearted and warm. It was hard for Yusuke to believe that the girl sitting across from him was the same as the one he saw in school. She was completely different, but she was different in a good way.

         She seemed to be much more relaxed and comfortable. Usually, she was very distant, but now that wasn’t the case. He was happy to see her like this. He was happy to see that she had become so carefree. He couldn’t tell if he was happy because she was happy, or because he was the reason for her happiness.

         “I have been talking about myself all this time, but I haven’t asked you anything about yourself.” He smiled gently as he spoke, watching Kimika as she shoved her french fries in .

         “What do you want to know?” Kimika asked through a mouth crammed with food.

         “There is so much that I want to know about you, Kimika.” Yusuke started softly as he gazed down at his half-drunken milkshake. “I know we never really talked in school, but we can change that now.”

         “You were rarely in school for us to talk.” Kimika laughed after gulping down more food.

         “That’s true.” Yusuke snickered at the truth in her words. “But even when I was at school, you were always so quiet. If I had talked to you before, would you have responded?”

         “Probably not.” Kimika shook her head in response. “With your reputation, I would have maintained my distance even more than I do with the other students.”

         “But why? You don’t seem like the loner-type.”  

         “I have to keep my distance. My life is too complicated and dangerous for me to grow close to normal humans.” Kimika’s mood began to change as she responded to his questions. It became neutral. It was neither happy or sad. “That’s kinda why I am happy that I became friends with Makoto and all of you. You all can understand the pressure of being different and having to hide your secret life from the rest of the world. You can understand me in ways that normal humans can’t.”

         His eyes grew wide at how sincere her words were. “Yeah. I guess that’s right. I do understand how hard it is, but I don’t understand how your life could be so complicated. What could possibly make your life so dangerous and complicated?”

       “When my mother and I came to the human world, we were given a temple to call our home. We were allowed to live there as long as we protected it.” Kimika answered softly as she slurped down her milkshake.

      “Protect it from what?” His eyes grew wide as his interest rose.

      “Mostly anything that threatens the treasures that our temple holds.” Her answers remained short and simple as she rotated between eating and talking.

     “Your temple holds treasures? Like what?”

“Yes. It does. Well, at least that’s what my mother told me. I don’t know much about our temple and the treasures it holds or why it is so important. I just know that because of its importance I try to keep my distance from humans. They tend to be too curious, greedy, and can rarely be trusted.”

“That is true for some humans, but not everyone is the same. If you judge everyone before you even get to know them, then you’ll never find the people that you can actually trust.”

         Her eyes grew wide at his words. Those words… Those words were so familiar. She heard them once before not that long ago. Those words were similar to what Makoto had said to her once before.

“It is funny how similar you are to Makoto. I really hope that one day you and her will be able to become friends. I understand somewhat why she hates you because you killed someone that she loved. But only if she knew the reason why, maybe she wouldn’t feel like that. I saw what the Saint Beasts did to the humans and I’m glad that you stopped them. I don’t think she knows what Suzaku and the other Saint Beasts were doing. She wouldn’t hold his death against you if she knew the truth.”

         Yusuke paused at her words caught up in his thoughts because of them. She was so hopeful and understanding. He began to admire her even more.

         “Maybe you’re right. Maybe one day in the future we can be friends, but we’ll just have to wait. But it might happen sooner than you think. Makoto is starting to warm up to me. I can tell.” Yusuke smirked while leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed behind his head.

         “Yeah. I noticed that too. So maybe you and Koto will become bffs in no time.” Kimika laughed as she remembered how Makoto treated Yusuke and Kuwabara earlier.

         “Bffs is a bit of wishful thinking. I would be glad if she could just like me enough to take me off her most wanted list.” Yusuke joked softly.

         Kimika chuckled at his words, but her laughter soon ended when she recognized the time on her watch. They were so caught up in their conversation that they didn’t realize that they stayed longer than they had intended. The food that they ordered for the others was brought to their table by the waitress.

         Kimika grabbed the knots of the two bags of food as she rose from the table. “What’s up, Kimika? Is something wrong?” Yusuke asked in confusion at her actions.

         “We need to head back to Koto’s suite. Even though I enjoyed our conversation, we spent too much time down here. We have to bring this food to the others. Horuna might have woken up and will most likely be very hungry.” Kimika answered as she began to walk towards the exit of the restaurant.

         Kimika really had a one track mind. Besides his attempt to keep her mind at ease, he couldn’t keep her worry at bay for long. He took off after her trying to catch up to the quickening girl.

         “Kimika, wait!” Yusuke yelled as he ran after her as she walked quickly out of the restaurant.

         When they reached the hallway, Kimika slowed down to let Yusuke catch up. She turned towards him as he ran up to her side.

         “Please hurry, Yusuke. I have to get back so I can check on Horuna.”

         “I understand. Just wait for me. Okay? We did come down here together.” Yusuke huffed as he tried to catch his breath.

         “I know. Just hurry up…” Kimika stopped when she saw two figures blocking their path to the elevators.

         Yusuke turned around to see what Kimika was staring at. There standing at the end of the hallway blocking the elevators were two figures. It was hard to tell if they were human or demons because they were dressed in military uniforms and their faces were hidden behind camouflage masks. One was very large and seemed to be rippling with muscles by the part of his arms that weren’t covered with armor. The other one was much smaller than the other.

         Yusuke and Kimika stopped when they noticed that they weren’t moving out of their way. Yusuke stepped in front of Kimika guarding her from the two strangers. Their spirit energy didn’t seem like much, but there was something about the two strangers that he didn’t trust.

         “These two have similar energies to those that were with the girl earlier.” The smaller of the two said as they put their hand to the rim of their black shades. Their voice was soft like that of a woman.

         “If that’s so, then they must know where she is.” The taller of the two said in a low burly voice.

         “Hey You! Move out the way and let us through! You don’t want me to have to kick your !” Yusuke yelled when he noticed that they weren’t moving.

         “Don’t worry, boy. We aren’t here for you or your girlfriend. We only want to know where the Ruby Ice maiden is.” The smaller soldier said removing their hand from their glasses.

         “I don’t know what the heck you are talking about!” Yusuke snapped angrily as he readied himself to fight.

         Kimika looked at them wide eyed. Fear overcame her when she heard that name. It had been a while since she had heard that name. It was a name that had once led her with desire when she used to live in the demon world. Could it really be? Could that girl, Horuna, really be the Legendary Ruby Ice Maiden?

         “Horuna…” Kimika whispered softly in fear.

         “Yes. That’s her name.” The stockier of the two said after hearing Kimika’s words. “It seems that your girl knows what we are talking about, boy. So why don’t you tell us where she is?”

         Yusuke turned back to Kimika looking at her in confusion. “What makes you think that they are talking about Horuna?”

         “Because it is the only thing that makes sense. I sensed earlier that she was running away from something, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Well, until now.” Kimika whispered softly to Yusuke.

         “But what is all this Ruby Ice Maiden stuff?”

         Kimika looked at her with an eye brow raised. “You truly have a lot to learn, Yusuke…”

         “Sorry to break up this private conversation, but we have a deadline. Tell us where the girl is and we’ll leave you alone.” The smaller of the two interrupted with slight annoyance.

         “Like hell we will! You are going to miss your deadline because you are aren’t getting Horuna!” Kimika yelled as her fury began to build up inside her.

         “Well then we’ll just have to beat the truth out of you.” The larger soldier said as he cracked his knuckles.

         With those words, the two soldiers leapt into the air and came down at them with incredible force and speed. Kimika and Yusuke jumped out of the way only seconds before impact. The force of their attack sent them fly into different directions.

         Kimika was able to land on her feet, but the containers that she was holding scattered on the floor. The smaller of the two soldiers came at her attacking her with furious attacks at an incredible speed. Kimika tried her best to dodge their punches and kicks, but she wasn’t fast enough. It didn’t take long before one of their attacks hit her.

         With one forceful kick to the side of her head, Kimika fell to the ground unconscious. The smaller soldier walked over to the unconscious Kimika. They looked down at her before lifting her over their shoulder.

“This girl can be useful to us. We can use her to retrieve the Ruby Ice maiden.”

 “Kimika, No!” Yusuke yelled as he tried to fight his way back to her.

  No matter how fiercely he tried, the larger soldier was too strong for him to overcome. He tried to break away from his fierce attack, but he couldn’t. The strength of his attack began to take its toll on Yusuke.

“Give us Horuna and we will give you back your precious girl!” The taller of the soldiers yelled as he continued his assault on Yusuke.

“Dammit.” Yusuke whispered as he tried to break through the soldier’s attack.

  In a fit of rage, Yusuke swung a powerful punch for the soldier hitting him square in his cheek. Even with how strong the punch was, the soldier didn’t budge. With a devilish smirk, the soldier contoured his attack with one of his own.

  The force of his attack sent Yusuke flying into the floor. The impact of the ground caused Yusuke to slowly slip out of consciousness. He wanted with all his might to save her, but his body couldn’t comply with what his heart wanted.