The Shotgun Approach

Chapter 36: From the Start

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! You guys are fantastic!

I rewrote this chapter so many times, I have like 4 versions of it. Some scenes may make their way into TSA Tidbits, not sure yet. Thank you, everyone, for your continued support. I hope to get back to writing more often.

. . .

A loud crack from the fire made me jump, and I tore myself away, closing my eyes to avoid staring into Artair's face. "Take it off," I pleaded, voice hoarse and trembling. "Please."

Hiei's hands stilled at my waist, and I took in a shaking breath, waiting.

After a moment of near breathless silence, I heard him clear his throat, an okay for me to flicker my eyes open. Hiei's Jagan was wide and glowing an eerie shade of purple. The illusion was gone, and for his credit, he wouldn't look me in the eye, so he was at least smart enough to be ashamed.

"I'm not angry with you," I said, wiggling out of his lap so I could stand, my legs spread, so his were trapped in between them. I tipped his chin up with the tip of a finger, and he snarled at me. "Let's go somewhere more private."

The unpleasant look on Hiei's face disappeared, and I watched his adam's apple bob as if he was nervous.

"You started this," I hissed. "So, finish it."

The challenge in my tone lit a spark in his eye, and he rose, swift and fluid as water, hands coming up to cup my ass, lifting. "You started this," he growled, "when you so obviously couldn't keep the hunger off your face earlier."

"Don't flatter yourself," I retorted, wrapping my legs around his waist and squeezing. "Now, are we doing this or not?"

Hiei stared at me for long enough that I grew uncomfortable, squirming until he dropped me. His eyes narrowed, raking over me from head to feet, then back again. I resisted the urge to wrap my arms around myself, standing open, with my chin raised as if I didn't care what he thought.

"It's just sex," I cajoled. "It doesn't have to mean anything."

Hiei's eyes turned cold at my words, sharp, almost brittle. "Do I look like the kind of man who has casual sex?" he hissed.

"You were sure acting like it just moments ago," I snapped.

Hiei's sudden change in attitude rankled me, and now I was hot for an entirely different reason. Taking a step further away from him, one that was pointed and evident, I clasped my hands behind my back to stop myself from taking a swing at him.

Hiei didn't say anything, just glared at me until he folded his arms across his chest and looked away. "I have no excuse for the illusion. But I'm not looking for a one-time thing."

"So, enemies with benefits then?" I asked with a roll of my eyes. "What do the kids call that? A 'booty call'?"

Hiei looked ready to hit me, and part of me wished he would. The moment was over, and I could feel another wall mounting between us, thicker than the one before. He confused me, treated me like trash, like his enemy, only to turn around and do things like this. My hands rubbed down my face, frustration in the line of my shoulders, body tense and tired. Strung out. The air felt cold, even with the blazing fire at my back.

"You are misunderstanding," Hiei said finally, his voice finely controlled, on the verge of snapping.

"Am I? Because surely you do not want a relationship with me? Which is what non-casual sex alludes to, isn't it?"

Hiei was silent for a long time, the air between us charged, like an electric current. Any second it would spark and burn us both. He licked his lips, eyes darting to the ground before he rolled them and released a breath I hadn't realized he was holding.

"Yusuke wants you," he said. "I want Yusuke. And the only way I will ever have him is if I am willing to share him."

My mouth dropped open. It was the last thing I ever expected Hiei to say. I floundered for words, found none, and then sucked in a breath that had me choking on my own saliva. Coughing pitifully, embarrassed, my cheeks flushed pink as I stared hard at my feet. I cleared my throat, "Well then, that's—that's something."

Hiei shook his head, spitting out a biting "idiot," before he walked away. I watched him stalk off to the medical tent, disappearing behind the cloth flap.

"Gods," I pressed a hand over my eyes, talking to myself. "I messed that up."

"Sure did," said a voice all too recognizable. One that made me freeze up and then sigh, resigned.

"How long have you been there?"

Yusuke stepped out from behind a bunch of gathered up rubble, the backside shrouded in darkness and shadows cast by the blazing bonfire. A cigarette, freshly lit, was between his fingers, his other hand shoved in the pocket of his dirty jeans. He looked unbothered, casual, bored even.

"Before he even showed up," he replied. "I wanted to talk with you, but then...that happened."

He gestured with the cigarette towards where Hiei and I were previously sitting. He brought it back to his lips and took a deep drag, blowing the smoke towards the sky.

"So, you heard everything then?"

I flopped back down on the makeshift bench, Yusuke sinking down beside me, almost close enough to touch but not quite.

"Oh yeah. Heard every word." The way he said it was airing on the side of him finding it funny, but there was a hard bite behind it that said otherwise.

"You knew...before this." It wasn't a question, I could tell just from his tone.

"I knew he wanted more from me...yeah. But that isn't why I'm pissed off."

He took a long drag from his cigarette, holding in the smoke before exhaling it in one long huff. The smoke lingered for a bit, and I breathed it in, the acrid scent of carcinogens and tar burning my sensitive nose. It didn't bother me. And Yusuke couldn't die from it. Not anymore.

I waited him out, letting him gather his thoughts and smoke in peace. He finished and immediately lit up another one, rolling the half-empty pack back up into the sleeve of his t-shirt. He took one more drag and then shifted in his seat, so he was facing me.

"He loves you, Ettie. Even after what you did...I think it hit him harder than me. He tried to hide it, but it was so obvious to all of us..."

Yusuke trailed off, shaking his head. He flicked the ash off the end of his cigarette and continued. "And now he gives you that bullshit fucking reason." Yusuke took on a mocking imitation of Hiei's voice, "I can't have him if I don't have you. Blah-dee-fucking blah."

"Is he wrong?" I asked, noticing when Yusuke's eyes flicked away, down towards the ground.

He remained silent for a long while, chewing on his bottom lip and occasionally remembering he had a still burning smoke trapped between his fingers. When he began to jiggle his knee, I reached out and laid a palm on his thigh, not to stop him, but to soothe. He smoked the rest of the cigarette and flicked the butt into the roaring bonfire.

"He's not wrong..." Yusuke finally said, "but he's not right, either."

My brow furrowed, confused. "I'm not sure what you're suggesting?"

Yusuke's eyes flicked to my hand on his thigh, and my face grew warm with an unexplained blush. He swallowed thickly, the lump at his throat a slow bob. He ran a hand through his hair twice before his face screwed up, and he spoke out in a rush, "I think we should all be together."

Dumbfounded, all I could manage to say was, "Excuse me?"

Yusuke cleared his throat, looking anywhere else but at my face. "I think...the three of us should be together...like, all of us."

As if that made it any clearer. My ears must have been broken, for surely Yusuke wasn't saying what I thought he was saying.

"You're asking for a polyamorous relationship?" I asked incredulously.

I watched something come over him, some sort of stealing of his nerves or a firm resolve. Yusuke sat up straighter, finally turning to face me, going the extra mile to straddle the makeshift bench, so I knew he was asking for my undivided attention.

"I want you both: you and Hiei. I think it would be amazing. Something great. I've never felt like this before in my life, not for anyone. I need you both, but the only way this'll work is if both of you want each other, too."

It was my turn to be at a loss for words. In fact, I was finding it hard to breathe. My face was burning, and I couldn't look Yusuke in the eye anymore.

After collecting myself, I cleared my throat and said, "I think this is a conversation he should be involved in."

"You're right," Yusuke said. "That's what I was trying to do earlier, and you two royally fucked it up."

So he wasn't just sneaking around. It didn't make me feel the least bit better. If anything, my face heated with further shame.

"Do you love him, Ettie?"

Yusuke's question was a loaded gun. I didn't want to lie to him. The aftermath of all this built a small sliver of trust between them again, but the most minor lie could shatter it to pieces in instants.

I stared down at my hands. It took little thought to find my answer, but the turmoil it caused made me take my time before answering the king. I cared deeply for them both, and Yusuke's proposal did hold appeal, but there were too many factors to consider. It wasn't an uncommon thing for demons...though humans generally frowned upon it. Then there were the logistics of it...

Yusuke, noticing I was spiraling, jerked my chin up with his thumb and grinned at me. "Ettie, do you love him?"

"Shouldn't you be asking if I love you?"

Yusuke shook his head and repeated himself as if he were speaking to a moron, "Do. You. Love. Him?"

"Yes," I breathed, starting up at Yusuke with a bit of wonder. "I think I might."

"Can I kiss you?"

I nodded, words failing, even as my lips parted in anticipation. Hiei's taste still lingered on my tongue, and it made me kiss Yusuke all the harder.

He kissed so differently from Hiei, his lips were fuller, and they made a delicious smacking noise each time he pulled away only to quickly dip back in. He took his time, not devouring but savoring, a lazy kind of kiss that made a simmering heat start from the top of my head and spread warmth gradually to my gut. I felt the wetness between my thighs almost instantly and couldn't believe my neediness. How embarrassing.

Yusuke grinned against my lips, nipping at the fullest part of my bottom lip as if sensing my thoughts. He shifted closer, strong hands taking me around the waist, and turned me, so I was straddling the bench. He let his palms wander, skirting up my sides, and pausing so he could run his thumbs beneath my breasts as he continued his lazy kisses.

I was the first to pull away, panting, the ache between my legs nearing unbearable. I felt dirty. Moments ago, I was tongue deep in Hiei's mouth, and now there I was allowing Yusuke to do the same.

Standing abruptly, I smoothed my dirty clothes and took two quick steps away from him.

"Get him to agree—I mean, really agree—to everything, and I will consider it."

Yusuke rocketed to his feet, his grin brighter than I'd seen in ages. "You better do more than just consider it," he said as his parting words, no doubt going off to find the elusive fire demon.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, a migraine flaring behind my eyes, and part of me hoped Hiei flitted off somewhere to delay the inevitable. I wouldn't accept the proposal without Hiei's approval...nor would I take it if he agreed merely to appease Yusuke. I might be horny, but I'm not without morals. I don't want either of them to feel coerced or trapped.

I loved them both, perhaps in different ways, but the sexual attraction was quite equal.

And I wanted them both to feel the same.

It wouldn't work otherwise.

Not that I had any previous experience with these things...nothing firsthand at any rate.

I stood by the fire a while longer, and when Yusuke did not return, I was both relieved and worried. I thought of him searching for Hiei, or arguing with him if he was already found. The fire demon might not wish to settle, the prospect of being stuck with her so unappealing he would try to convince Yusuke to change his mind. And Hiei would win because he always did. He would let the anger he still harbored for me hold him back from something Yusuke truly believed in.

And wasn't that something...

The idea of it put such a blinding smile on the man's face, it would be etched in my mind for years to come.

Was this selfish? Did I deserve any of it?

A relationship built on my failures would be tenuous at best. The type of relationship would make it even more fragile—three different minded people trying to become a single cohesive unit. I wasn't sure it was possible.

I found a place to sleep for the night, nestled in the corner of a medical tent, wrapped up in scratchy woolen blankets. As they always do, the nightmares came, and I woke drenched in a cold sweat, pieces of hair plastered to the sides of my face. It was still dark outside, sometime in the small hours of the morning, but I moved from my cocoon anyway, folding the blankets neatly before leaving. I took the bottle of meds from my pocket, knocking two out into a shaking hand and swallowing them dry. It would be a while before they kicked in, so I spent time restocking my medical bag. I cleaned my tools and weapons—two wicked-looking knives and a small tactical ax I kept at my waist—and geared up.

By the time I was finished, the other teams had gathered outside the tents, milling about and preparing for their own days.

It was with a sense of trepidation when I noticed Koenma among the crowds, talking with the ferry girl Botan and Kuwabara's older sister, Shizuru. Both women had their hair up and were carrying packs like most of the others. Botan was at an advantage with the oar she tended to fly on, much like Jin, and she spent most of her time carrying patients back and forth to be triaged and treated.

I chose not to approach them, keeping a wary eye on the King of Spirit World. He noticed eventually, spotted me sitting by the dying embers of last night's blaze, and he inclined his head in the way of greeting. I did not return the gesture and just let my eyes do all the talking. Being powerless right now wasn't helping anyone, and I wanted Koenma to understand that, too. He could go against the council of elders if he wished to. They didn't even need to know.

Eventually, the king dropped his gaze, and he strode away. I lost sight of him and felt the frustration in my stomach bore its hole even deeper. It made me sick.

The touch of a warm hand at my back made me stiffen. It was light, barely there, as if the hand was hovering above my shoulder, afraid to make contact. His scent alone was enough for me to loosen, an unbidden sigh slipping from between my lips.

I should not be allowed to take such comfort from him.

"I spoke with Yusuke," he said hesitantly, and only after an anxiety-inducing stretched moment of silence.

A breath rumbled from my chest, almost a groan but not quite. I felt it...the sense of something shifting into place, the changing of times, a matter that was years coming but still seemed as if it was happening far too soon.

Hiei's hand settled, a gentle weight, his fingers curled over the rise of my shoulder, his warm palm pressed into the blade. He waited—Hiei's usual impatience a thing of the past in the face of this. "I am...sorry. My actions last night were...less than honorable."

He sounded choked like he was saying the words through a constricted throat and gritted teeth. It made me want to laugh, but I bit it back and accepted the apology with grace—no need to stomp on his ego any further. "Thank you," I murmured. "I appreciate the sentiment."

Hiei's hand remained, and I wondered what else he planned to say. Why wasn't Yusuke here with him?

I heard him take a steadying breath, one he tried valiantly to mask. "I spoke with Yusuke," he repeated.

Growing exasperated, I turned, knocking Hiei's hand from my shoulder. He stood awkwardly behind the bench, his arm still outstretched like he didn't know what to do with it. Hiei slowly lowered it, his face twisting into a glower to cover up his embarrassment.

"Is that all you men know how to do? Repeat the same few words over and over again?" I snapped. "Yes, you spoke with Yusuke, you are one of his advisors, so there is nothing unusual about that."

Hiei's glare took on more venom, and I tried not to laugh. Of course, I knew what he was saying, I just refused to accept it without them using the actual words. Hiei especially would not get out of it so easily.

The fire demon refused to budge, his hands shoved into the pockets of his EMT cargo pants. He was wearing short sleeves today, the dragon tattoo stretching from the back of his right hand and up into the opening for his arm. His muscles bulged there, and I would call it obscene if I didn't enjoy the sight so much. Over the years, the short man had filled out even more so than his days as Mukuro's right hand.

Add the shorter hairstyle and the rather unique sharpness of his face, and it made many a lady (and man) turn their heads.

I could count at least a dozen incidents Hiei had been blatantly hit on while tending to a patient, either by the patient or an onlooker. It always made a sizzle of jealousy burn in the pit of my stomach. But it also made me laugh. Mostly because he would serve them with a scathing refusal, one that squashed any chances the person thought they may have.

Realizing my mind wandered, and I was still staring, I quickly shifted my eyes up to his face.

His entire stance reeked of 'alpha male,' It made me feel a tad too warm.

"You two alright?"

Hiei's eyes flicked towards the voice, gaze turning menacing. "Leave."

"Sorry, I was told to fetch Etternia."

The way he said my name made Hiei's lip curl. It was too familiar, lacking the formality a stranger should have when addressing her.

But that was because Touya wasn't a stranger.

I stood, hefting my medical bag over my shoulder, glancing at Hiei for permission to leave. He was too busy staring down Touya to acknowledge me, and I rolled my eyes.

"We will continue this later," I said for only Hiei to hear.

The fire demon's eyes flicked to me briefly before he nodded and disappeared. I released a breath I didn't know I was holding.

Joining Touya's side, I gave him a tiny smile. "Its been a while."

"I haven't participated in a tournament in some years," he said, smiling in return. "I don't envy Yusuke in the slightest."

"I imagine no one does right now."

He nodded in agreement, all pretenses of a smile long gone. "He doesn't deserve this."

I wondered how much Touya knew. How much any of them knew.

"No, he doesn't."

Touya lead me away from the remains of the bonfire, weaving his way expertly through the disaster camp. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"To see Koenma. I volunteered to find you. I had some...questions."

"Later, Touya. What does Koenma want?"

He gave me a look of displeasure for brushing him off so quickly but answered me anyway. "He wouldn't tell me, but it sounded urgent."

Surely he planned to tack on even more time to my sentence thanks to this. Or maybe he just wanted to haul me straight off to prison. He would cite it was some sort of violation of my parole, and that would be the end of it. I would rot in Spirit World until I died, and then he would throw me in the bottomless pits of Hell for all eternity.

When Touya led me into a smaller tent used mostly for team leader meetings, I almost pushed my way straight back out.

Koenma sat primly at the only table, Yusuke pacing the back of the tent-like an agitated animal. Kurama was in the far corner at a writing desk, but he was facing the room at large, his legs crossed and arms folded in his lap. Curious that neither Kuwabara nor Hiei were present.

"Talk later?" Touya asked. I nodded, and he ducked his way out of the tent, leaving me to the wolves.

Koenma cuts to the chase the second the flap settles. "I'm here to offer you a deal. One I have discussed extensively with everyone."

"Then why aren't Kuwabara and Hiei here?"

"They chose not to be."

Yusuke stopped his pacing and, like Kurama, was standing on the sidelines watching the show.

"Why?"

Koenma shrugged. "You'll have to ask them."

I didn't move far from the entrance, afraid to let them see my back, wondering if Yusuke planned to give me a taste of my own medicine. "And? What's this deal?"

Here, Koenma hesitated, glancing at both Yusuke and Kurama, before he turned his attention back to me. He sucked furiously on the pacifier perpetually stuck between his lips, before he spat it into his hand and pocketed it. He rose to his feet, his robes brushing the ground, his actual height quite impressive. He towered over me.

Koenma's arms were wrapped around his chest defensively, but he said with all the confidence of a politician, "Your powers for access to your realm."

I stared at him, struck stupid. My mouth gaped open, but nothing came out except a choked, "what?"

"The council met yesterday evening and put it to a vote. We can't retaliate without being able to send our own troops in for a counter-strike."

"You must be joking?" I said, staring incredulously from king to king to advisor.

"I think it's a pretty fair trade," Yusuke said.

"It's suicide!" I waved my arms helplessly, taking a step closer to him, to do what I didn't know. Maybe physically stop him from making such a stupid decision. "You know nothing of those lands! Anyone you sent there would be murdered within a few hours by the wildlife alone!"

"That's where you come in," said Kurama. He rose from his perch and circled the tent, planting his palms on the round table. Kurama gestured to the chair across from him. "Take a seat."

I did as I was told, if only for a chance to talk them out of this.

"You expect me to lead you to your deaths, is that it?" I snapped. "I won't do it!"

"Even for the return of your powers?"

I shook my head at Koenma, "Not even then. I won't risk their lives any more than I already have."

Yusuke couldn't entirely hide the prideful smirk on his face, though he put in a valiant effort. I'm sure the show of loyalty gained me brownie points with him, at least, and it wasn't a lie, which made it even better. The King of Makai ate up the short distance between the back of the tent and the table, and then I was staring him straight in the face as he knelt on one knee in front of me.

"This needs to end, Ettie. Its been...its been fucking years since this all began. It's gotta stop sometime."

I didn't know how to respond. I didn't want to put Yusuke in that kind of danger...it would all hinge on whether I got to take the boys. The terrain itself was treacherous, the wildlife even more so. Goddess forbid they met any of the demons from her realm, many of them were far worse than the Elementa.

I wrung my hands in my lap, twisting Freya's ring around my middle finger. The pros and cons did not equal out.

A vulnerability I rarely showed made my hands shake, and my eyes plead. Yusuke needed to understand. "I can't lose you," I whispered on a shaking breath.

Yusuke's grin was cheeky, triumphant for all the wrong reasons. "You're not gonna."

The determination and confidence in his eyes won me over. It was that spark, the one that drew me to him in the first place. The very same one that brought everyone to him, like Yusuke Urameshi was some sort of magnet.

Perhaps he was. I found it harder to separate from him with every passing of the clock's hand.

I looked to Koenma, gripping my thighs to stop my nervous fidgeting. "I have...conditions."

Koenma gave me a look that screamed, 'are you kidding me' but he motioned for me to proceed anyway.

"A small team should head in first to scout. I know where many of Einarr's encampments are, but I doubt he conveyed his true numbers as he never fully trusted me. It would be foolish to be caught unawares."

"That is smart, Koenma," said Kurama, agreeing with a nod.

Yusuke was on his feet now and back to pacing. "Alright, so we go in. Like old times. The boys back together again, kicking ass, saving the world."

"It would be unwise to send all of you at once and risk the chance of you all dying. It would be chaos afterward."

"Koenma's right," I said. "This is a stealth only mission, and frankly, some of you aren't very stealthy." I looked pointedly at Yusuke, who proceeded to put on a face of utter betrayal.

"Like hell am I gonna send my fucking family down there and sit on my ass topside like some sort of chicken."

"Yusuke—" I began, but he cut me off with a scowl.

"I'm going, end of story. Now get on with your bullshit list of terms."

I wanted to slap him upside the head and kick him in the family jewels for good measure. Shelving the issue, for now, I did as Yusuke asked. "I need to be their guide. This is the one non-negotiable term. I'll live forever without my powers before agreeing to let them go alone."

"That would mean lifting your travel restrictions."

"Do you really think I'm going to run?"

Koenma looked me up and down, nervous and unsure, nothing like his father. A better ruler by far. He needed to think better of himself.

"I don't know anything about you, Ettie. The little bit in your file I do have is from when you first entered one of the Makai tournaments as a healer. Your record starts then, and it hasn't grown much over the years."

"They'll die without a guide, Koenma. You know enough about the layers of Makai to know that, at least."

"There is...someone else I could use. It doesn't have to be you."

I was struck speechless and instantly confused. Who the fuck was Koenma talking about?

Annoyed now, for being lurched around and always questioned and stared at like a sideshow freak, I growled out, "So, why am I here then?"

Was this what Hiei wanted to speak with me about earlier? Was he trying to warn me, and I was so conceited I thought it must be about our relationship or lack thereof?

Stupid.

"Ettie...you know why." Yusuke's eyes implored me; begged me to give even the tiniest bit of leeway.

I licked my lips and cast my gaze to the ground, a sudden rage taking over me. It spread like a contagion, from my mind, straight down to the toes curled in my boots. My hands gripped the sides of my chair, and I felt the wood splinter beneath my palms. The sound it made drew everyone's attention to my anger, but I didn't care.

I snarled through gritted teeth, "And, what was Hiei and Kuwabara's vote in all this? I deserve to know at least that, I think."

I heard Yusuke sigh, resigned. "Hiei voted against it. Kuwabara was on my side."

Swallowing thickly, all I could do was nod. Hiei voted to keep me powerless. I understood his reasoning. It didn't stop it from hurting my chest like a physical blow.

"So it was put to the vote then. Who won the majority?" I asked, even though I already knew.

"Koenma is here as the tiebreaker," Yusuke said, unable to look at me.

That explained the questioning. Of course, no matter which way the vote went between the king and his hands, Koenma would have needed to approve it anyway. They would need his power to remove the brand on my back.

"I have one last condition," I said. "If the brand were to be removed...I would ask that another limiter be created for me."

No one said anything, and the air in the room turned awkward, stifling.

"I'm sure that can be...arranged," Koenma finally said.

With a final nod, I rose from my seat, zeroing in on Koenma and waiting for his final verdict. I still couldn't bring myself to look at the other two men in the tent. Kurama would have been the one to side with Hiei, and as for Yusuke...I was no longer sure where he stood. Then there was the council, who voted for or against my freedom? How many would rather I am left to fade to nonexistence than to call upon me for any sort of favor?

A contract appeared out of thin air, where the terms of her punishment were written in red ink. Black signatures at the bottom, mixed with tiny droplets of each owner's respective blood, glowed faintly with magic. Koenma took the contract in hand and tore it in half. The pieces floated away from each other as he released them, and burst into flames.

"Etternia of the Elementa, demoness from Sector 9 of the third level of Makai, I hereby absolve you of all past deeds and crimes under the conditions as follows—" A new contract appears, the page blank until red words begin to fill it line by line as Koenma speaks. "Etternia will spend no more than fifty years in the service of Reikai, and all that entails. She will not be allowed to hold lands nor titles, and may only earn money in honest ways. She will assist in the King of Makai's day-to-day workings, to be assigned by said king, under the condition that her actions for the council be appropriately documented and put into record.

She will spend no less than 2600 hundred hours furthering her training as a healer and a member of the emergency medical units, a vital resource for demons and humans alike. She will agree to guide a team of the King of Makai's choice into the third dimension of demon world, and should she fail to do so or betray said team in any way, she will be executed without impunity."

I carefully listened to his terms, reading the document myself to make sure there wasn't anything he skipped over. Finished, I used my fang to pierce the pad of my thumb, and Koenma held out an inkwell. I let my blood drip inside and watched as Koenma did the same. Then Yusuke and Kurama, as our witnesses.

We all signed. The signatures glowed bright and then faded, forming to the paper as if they were always there.

"Turn around, please," Koenma said, his voice gentler than I would have expected.

The brand was already burning hot, I could feel it searing my skin, the pain itching its way up my back and making my skin break out in goose-flesh. Koenma did not pull some sort of cattle brand from his robes; he didn't bring out any tool; in fact, he just held out his hand, palm up, and pressed it to the small of my back.

The brand was sealed to my spine, cutting off the most vital line of energy and preventing it from flowing anywhere it needed to be used.

When the king's hand connected with my skin, the pain was visceral and tearing, like my skin was being slowly ripped piece by agonizing piece, until all that remained was muscle and sinew. I must have been screaming, my vocal cords felt shredded, the pain lasted a mere minute and felt like an eternity.

Koenma's palm retreated, allowing my vision to clear, and I found myself sprawled out on the dirt floor, huffing in great lungfuls of dust. My body was on fire, from every tiny hair follicle down to every nerve ending in my toes. It ached so fiercely I couldn't move, even the slightest movement made me want to continue screaming until my lungs were bloodied.

"It's done," I heard Koenma say, his voice a watery facsimile to the one he was using only moments before. "She'll be in pain for a while, but all her powers are at her disposable."

"What about the limiter she requested?"

"Why would she want something like that? I thought she was only doing it to hide before."

"I don't know, Yusuke. Her powers are off the charts...maybe she's afraid of them herself?"

They didn't know I could hear them, they thought I was unconscious. I wanted to tell them they were wrong, to rally against an accusation that made me sound weaker than I already was. They all knew how much of a coward I could be. This was no different, and I hated to admit it. I didn't know what I would do if I was given full access to them anymore. I didn't want to hurt anyone else.

I didn't want to hurt any of them.

A pair of arms lifted me from the dirt. They were gentle and kind, but I still ached all over, and tears began to stream down my face. A voice shushed me, cradling me against a chest that was warm and solid. His smell comforted me, all my senses surrounded by him, and slowly the pain ebbed to something bearable. By then, I was deposited into a sinfully comfortable bed, and I sunk into a down comforter with a tiny sigh, not even caring when hands tugged at my dirty clothes until they were stripped away.

"Goddamn," I heard him murmur, and I let my hazy eyes slip open.

Yusuke was at the edge of the bed, eyes staring at the scars littering every corner of my skin. Of the ink stretching across flesh, the darkness and the light of them, the story they told. He noticed my eyes open and paused his blatant eyeballing without a hint of embarrassment.

"How ya feeling?"

"Like shit."

He laughed, rubbing a hand down my bare shin in a show of comfort. "I figured." Here he paused again, warm palm wrapped around the thinnest part of my leg, thumb brushing in rhythmic motions against my skin. "Hiei will be here soon."

My eyebrows raised towards my hairline. "I hope he plans to tell me why he voted against me."

Yusuke eyed me like I'd grown a second head. "He did what he thought was best. You gonna hold that against him?"

"No, I deserved it."

"You did," he nodded in agreement, lips quirking up into a smile. His hand continued its motions down my leg, occasionally he would get brave enough to let his fingers skim a little higher, but they never did quite touch the inside of my thighs. Pity.

The sound of the front door to Yusuke's penthouse being opened and slammed closed drew both of our attentions. Yusuke didn't rise from the bed, he just waited for the fire demon to make his way to them.

Before the door could be opened, before Hiei even so much as jiggled the handle, Yusuke said, "He agreed, you know."

"Wait, what?" Struggling to sit up, my jaw gaped open, I must have heard wrong. Hiei didn't vote to have me freed, and I knew there were extenuating circumstances, and he would have been happier with me more permanently in Yusuke's service...but surely he wouldn't have agreed to Yusuke's idea in light of all this. Why would he?

The unabashed look of shock on my face wasn't well-received by Hiei, especially being the first thing he saw when he entered the room.

"I see she didn't take it well." The comment was aimed at Yusuke, but Hiei's eyes never strayed from mine.

Scoffing, the shock faded to the background as another emotion took its place. Pure self-loathing laced with incredulity that either one could want me after everything I'd done. "I already told Yusuke that this wouldn't work unless everyone knew exactly how they felt. I won't do this just because you think it will garner you a chance with Yusuke—" then I turned to the man in question, "And shame on you for putting that on the table to begin with."

Yusuke held his hands up, "Wait, wait! You've gotta hear us out first."

My hands shook in my lap, and nothing was covering me to shield my apparent stress. My blood rushed too fast in my veins, and it was hard to keep my breathing under control. This would always be a struggle—the need, the constant craving for...something.

I didn't want to hear them out. I was ashamed of how my voice trembled. "You don't love me, you can't."

Somehow, it was directed at them both, but it was Hiei who took it the most personally. "That is not for you to decide. Last time I checked, you were not a mind reader nor a hypnotist, so there is no way for you to know that with certainty."

The feeling of my aura pulling a slow draw off my skin was both foreign and familiar. I reveled in it for a moment, even as Hiei took a cautious step forward, clearly to protect Yusuke. As if the heir of Raizen needed such a thing. It would be insulting if I didn't understand Hiei's real feelings for the king.

But the iridescent shimmer wasn't meant to harm.

My Majik, or youki as most demons called it, did not have a color. It was pearlescent and shimmered like snow crystals on a breeze. The feeling of it was just as chilling.

It left my body and coated the air around the three of us—soft...effortless.

"Ettie?"

Hiei's soft groan after Yusuke's tentative calling of my name nearly put me in the ground. Even still, I couldn't reign it back in, my emotions were raw and sharp, and the last time I used my energy, I was still on the drugs. It has been so long since I was able to feel so much at once, and my majiks were reacting.

There was no harmful intent. If anything, it was more telling of how I felt than words would ever express.

A second aura joined my own. I opened my eyes without ever realizing I'd closed them, to see Hiei leaning against Yusuke's bedroom wall with smoldering eyes and golden youki making the red of them look like molten liquid gold. My iridescent power made his sparkle like precious metals, and when Yusuke's joined, it was almost overwhelming. The energy he exuded could power a city—the three of us combined could sustain Sarayashiki for years.

"Do you feel it?" Hiei's voice, soft purr as it was, sounded like a crack of thunder between their auras.

It made me concentrate on what they were putting quite literally into the air—their feelings, their aches, their fears.

"Yes," I breathed between parted lips, that I licked to moisten and got a certain satisfaction when I saw Yusuke's eyes follow the movement.

We let the youki slowly dissipate, and I felt cold as it left, a feeling of anxiousness coming over me again as the room went silent. They were in agreement that much was obvious, and we all held a form of affection for each other...not to mention the physical aspect of things. I think we could all agree we found each other attractive.

But could this actually work?

Demons taking multiple partners weren't uncommon. What was, was the cohesive unit aspect of it. Demons took numerous lovers, they might even impregnate multiple females just to continue the bloodline as thoroughly as possible. Kings and Queens took concubines, the more, the merrier.

But this would be a first for me.

So I gave them the only answer I could. "Let's take it slow. Test the waters. We shouldn't...get serious, not just yet."

Yusuke didn't look satisfied with my answer, but Hiei nodded in agreement. Uncrossing his arms and pushing off from the wall, he approached me. When he was in my personal space, looking down on me sitting among Yusuke's plush bedding and caring very little for my nakedness, he stuck his hand out. It was an offer of a truce, one that would hopefully last this time.

I took his hand without hesitation, my grip firm and sure. We didn't shake merely sat there with our palms connected, a lifeline of energy spreading between us. The feeling was so familiar my youki didn't even try to reject it, it merely sought out more of that tentative touch, the lick of flame just behind Hiei's eyes.

When we separated, Yusuke gave me a kind smile and slapped a hand onto Hiei's shoulder. "We'll let you get some rest, huh?"

The last thing I wanted to be was left alone right now. I didn't voice it, because I could see Yusuke had something else on his mind and didn't want me overhearing.

Not the most exceptional start of our little tryst.

The boys leave, and I'm left to myself. I crawl under Yusuke's comforter, wrapping the softness around me and fighting a grin because he enjoyed such lush bedding. It was the most comfortable place I'd slept in a very long time, and I soon caught my eyelids drooping as warmth bundled me up and hugged me tightly.

. . .

Sometime later, I awoke to see the sun setting against a backdrop of carnage and sat up in Yusuke's bed, shuffling so I could wrap the blankets around my shoulders. I wasn't sure what woke me, the room was empty except for a single tray with a covered dish left on the desk on the far side of Yusuke's bedroom.

The smell of food was unmistakable, and my stomach twisted unpleasantly.

Hungry or not, I knew I needed the nourishment, so I drag myself from the bed, comforter and all. Plopping down in the spinning desk chair, I settle in and begin to eat. It's delicious, a spread of hearty foods with savory flavors. I might not have been hungry a second ago, but the taste whets my appetite enough that I plow through the meal, leaving nothing but specks behind.

The sound of the door opening, although silent on its hinges, alerted me to someone's presence. Their youki was hidden, which instantly made me suspicious.

The sun had dipped down past the horizon, and the person at the door moved in like a shadow, stopping when they noticed the bed was empty. Their head turned to stare at me, and the eyes were a dead giveaway.

"Why with the stealth?" I asked him, taking the final sips of a light bowl of broth included with the meal.

He didn't say anything, and I felt myself become nervous. "Hiei?"

"I didn't want to disturb you."

It was a cop-out—a blatant one.

"So you snuck in here like a ghost to do what?"

I made it sound like his presence was unwanted, but he was acting strange, and I didn't like it. Why was it always so hard to get a straight answer from him?

"I wanted to make sure you hadn't slept yourself into a coma," he finally snapped before turning back towards the door.

I leaped from my perch, reaching out and grabbing him by the hand. I spun us around, so I was now standing in front of the door, which I proceeded to kick shut and close off his only exit (at least the only one that didn't have a thirty-story drop below it). He stood stunned, staring down at our clasped hands with his face screwed up in a grimace.

"You keep sending mixed signals," I snarled. "Did you really decide on your own this is what you want—this thing between the three of us—or did Yusuke coerce you into it?"

Hiei wrenched his hand free, almost violent, and stared me down hard. "Do you think I'm so desperate that I would agree to an arrangement I didn't truly want to be part of?"

I held my hands up, exasperated, and stared at him in disbelief. "Then stop! Stop acting so cold and macho and just—just fucking talk to me—!"

The sentence was stolen from me, swallowed up in the inner corners of Hiei's mouth and the tip of his tongue. It slipped between my teeth, taking my breath too, and making my knees feel like jelly. Hiei's kisses were aggressive, full of heat and spice and teeth. They made me boil, unlike Yusuke's, which created a slower simmer that quickly became overwhelming. Hiei was just overwhelming right out of the gate.

The kiss went on for quite sometime before he leaned back, his head resting against mine so he could glare at me some more. "I don't want to talk."

"You can't just keep brushing me off—"

He leaned back in to shut me up, lips sealing over mine and making me smolder. He was doing a damn good job making me forget what I was so angry about.

"I can do this now," he said between kisses, as if to himself. I soon found myself sprawled across Yusuke's bed, still nude as the day I was born, the wetness between my legs I had no doubt Hiei could smell.

He began to kiss and nip down the side of my neck, the crest of my shoulders...to wrap a sinful tongue around a single nipple, I nearly shattered. Too much, too fast, but I didn't want to stop. I wasn't sure how we got here (well, I'm sure the kissing played a huge factor), only that it was a long time coming, and denying him now would hurt us both.

I thought of Yusuke, of maybe asking if Hiei would like him to join, but even as I thought it, I turned to look at the door to spot the king there, arms across his chest, and a wicked grin on his face.

Yusuke noticed me, and the look he gave me was predatory.

He wanted to watch, to show he held no jealousy, that Hiei was just as welcome to form the bonds Hiei needed, how he needed them.

With that in mind, I reached up to wrap my arms around the fire demon and lost myself alongside him.

. . .

A/N: Hope this extra-long chapter made up for the super long hiatus. Sorry, no explicit hanky panky this time. I'm honestly on the fence writing at all because I'm terrible at sex scenes lol. But I also didn't want to start off their unique relationship with straight-up sex (although it's implied it happened, they could have just snuggled in bed all night, the world will never know muhaha).