Yukina had left her home and traveled through the Makai looking for her brother. She wasn't the strongest of demons,

and was captured and tortured by humans who wanted her crystal tears. After that, she'd left the search to the Spirit

Detectives who had rescued her. But now they had their own lives to live.

Yusuke and Keiko were getting married. Kuwabara was training in the mountains with Genkai. Kurama was in his last

year of college. Botan had her own job too. She couldn't count on them to do what she should've been doing herself.

Quietly, without letting anyone know, she packed everything she thought she'd need while in the demon world. And a

few chocolate bars, just in case.

She thought about leaving by herself, but even with the training she'd received while in the human world, many demons

were still stronger than her, and with her being a koorime the strongest would be attracted to her. But she couldn't ask

one of the detectives to go with her, they were all busy except...

Hiei was always so nice. He'd always come to visit, even though he didn't have any news. He ate the things she made

while she was learning to cook, even though she hadn't been good at it at first. Yusuke had gagged and chugged a gallon

of water from a vase that time she made the cookies with salt instead of sugar, but Hiei had eaten five or six before the

detective had gotten there, all without saying a word. He looked after her. She couldn't count how many times she'd

looked up to see him in a nearby tree, seemingly asleep but alert to everything that happened. For some reason he was

nice to her, probably because he hadn't found her brother.

He was a powerful demon, she'd seen that in the tournaments he'd fought in, both the one with and against the other

members of his team. He'd be able to protect her. But she shouldn't ask him for anything else, he'd done enough. He

kept saying how much he liked the Makai better...But that didn't mean he'd want to babysit her on her little quest. She'd

heard the others talk about how he wanted to fight strong demons, like the one's who'd be attracted to her tears.

But...But...

She wanted him to go with.

She shook her head. She couldn't ask him to go with. But she would say goodbye, she owed him that. Never mind that

she wasn't telling anyone else, they would only try to stop her. That's why she wasn't, yeah, that was it.

She scanned the trees, making sure he wasn't nearby. Nope, if he was still in the Human world he'd be at Kurama's.

Hiei was at Kurama's, sitting in the window seat with his sword propped up next to him. He didn't open his eyes at her

entrance, but she saw the tiniest movement of his head, an almost imperceptible nod.

"Hello Yukina,'' welcomed Kurama, polite as always, "Would you like some tea?''

"Yes, please,'' she smiled back. Kurama vanished around the corner, into the kitchen. She settled in to wait, closing her

eyes and sitting silently with Hiei. The stillness didn't bother her, after all, she'd grown up among Ice Maidens, quiet was

nothing new. After a few moments she opened her eyes and looked around the room.

Kurama had painted the walls with what most would call fantastical plants from his imagination, but Yukina recognized

them as demonic in nature. Kurama came back with two cups of tea, which smelled delicious. She took a moment to

savor the smell before sipping slowly. If all went well, it would be awhile before she could try his specialty blends again.

She hadn't had this flavor before though, and she closed her eyes, trying to decide what it tasted like.

"What do you think? I'm trying to think of a name for it.''

"After Rain.'' Yukina's eyes flew open and she grinned at Hiei. That was exactly what it was. Kurama nodded and wrote it

down on a paper.

"So why exactly are you here? Normally we come to you.'' She gulped, a little nervous now.

"To say goodbye,'' she whispered. Two sets of eyes, green and red, focused on her face, but neither said anything. She

swallowed again.

"I'm going to the Makai to look for my brother.''