Disclaimer – I don't own Yu yu hakusho. End of story.

If only, if only –

She drank it mostly out of courtesy to him, to make him feel better even though she had always preferred cold drinks. He sat on the opposite end of the couch from her, watching as if she were the most interesting specimen in the world. Bemused, she fluffed her hair out until it covered her face completely and shielded her from him. She chose not to speak and continued sipping slowly.

Yusuke seemed a bit uncomfortable as well, probably because of his friends unfailing adoration for this insignificant little girl who had only been following them for a short time. He stole a glance at the sour demon sitting on the window ledge, glaring out at the world. Something about him seemed particularly irritated today.

"So Yukina, how do you like it here?" Kuwabara asked in an attempt to break the silence. The young, pale ice demon forced a smile for him.

"It will take some getting used to" She said, in a soft voice. Almost as if she were afraid. As she should be, Yusuke supposed, because Kuwabara had a tendency to be very eccentric.

"Maybe we could go out tomorrow?" Kuwabara asked her. Yusuke watched Hiei clench his fist and grit his teeth. Yukina was still his sister and he had an obligation to protect her, even if it might have spawned from a bit more than that. Like his undying dislike of Kuwabara. "I could show you more of the town" He suggested. Keiko picked at her fingernails idly trying to ignore the two talking and completely annoy Yusuke at the same time. She was doing a very swell job at it, as well.

Yukina forced another uncomfortable smile "Maybe" She said, using her tea as a distraction. She wasn't used to being around people and especially having someone so enamored with her. All she wanted was to find her brother, whom she had no idea was sitting mere feet from her. And she never would, if it were left up to him.

Kuwabara continued to smile despite her shooting him down. Yusuke suppressed a chuckled and glanced at his clock. "Well this has been fun and all but I need to get home." He said. He didn't really 'need' to get anyway, but he was tired of haunting this place. He glanced at Keiko but didn't think she would follow him. To his immense surprise though, she stood up and waved goodbye to the others as well, looping her arm in his and dragging him down the street.

He hated the lazy days when there was no one to fight and nothing to do, and he thought about starting trouble just for the hell of it. Of course, from the look on Keiko's face he figured she would be distraction enough for him tonight.

Back at Kuwabara's house Hiei was contemplating why he agreed to hang out with Yusuke at all but then he recalled he was only here to protect his sister from Kuwabara's unwarranted advances. He glanced at Kurama and Botan who were talking quietly in the corner and then back at Kuwabara who was practically drooling over Hiei's sister. Something was going to have to be done about him, immediately.

"Maybe I shall leave as well" Hiei said, unable to contain his annoyance for much longer. If Kuwabara reached for Yukina one more time Hiei would personally kill him.

Yukina, who always looked at him as if she had a hint of an idea about their very complex relationship stood as well and cocked her head to the side. She had been switching houses, first staying with Yusuke then Kurama and finally Kuwabara himself, considering she had no human money and nowhere to go. Hiei gritted his teeth. She couldn't possibly be thinking what he thought she was, could she?

"Isn't it your turn to take her?" Kurama spoke, answering Hiei's unvoiced fear. He turned, very slowly towards Kurama in order to glare at him. Kurama, un-swayed by Hiei's anger, merely smirked. Hiei mouthed 'you had better sleep with one eye open, wolf boy' at Kurama before turning towards Yukina. She didn't say anything, but watched him expectantly.

On one hand he didn't want to hurt her feelings, and considering she was the only person on this earth that would EVER make Hiei regret anything, he would probably allow her to stay with him but…on the other hand the mansion he had purchased was not necessarily suitable for anyone rather than a fire demon with a black heart. She continued to watch him expectantly and he thought about a reasonable excuse for her not to come over. Hiei had thought she was afraid of him, for moons sake!

He sighed, in his mind of course, so he wouldn't offend her "My mansion is a bit messy" He began, hoping she rather stayed with Kuwabara for another night, even though the thought drove him insane.

Yukina smiled truthfully "I don't mind, Yusuke tells me it is very impressive" She said, speaking of Hiei's neo-gothic Victorian mansion he had purchased when he first arrived in this world. There was no way out of it and Hiei was going to have to comply with the agreement made when Yukina first joined them.

He seethed but there was nothing he could do, and he immensely enjoyed the horrified look on Kuwabara's face. "Fine, let's go" He said, a bit more roughly than was necessary but he wanted to get to the mansion and get away from her as quickly as he could manage without incident.

He wasn't sure why he refused to tell her she was his sister, partly because he wasn't sure if he would scare her and maybe, somewhere very deep, it was because he had been searching for her for so long now this seemed too bittersweet. Could he just out and tell her 'hey Yukina, I am your long lost brother?' It couldn't have been so easy.

They walked along the deserted road towards the end of the town, in a ritzier neighborhood. Hiei thought the air was a bit awkward but Yukina, for the most part, enjoyed keeping to herself. She didn't mind Hiei's silence even though he intimidated her a bit. She wondered why he was always so angry.

It didn't take long to arrive at the mansion and Hiei didn't take long to ditch Yukina once they had arrived, pausing only to explain to her that there was only one room suitable for sleeping and that was his own, then he briskly showed her which room he was referring to and then left her standing in front of his room with the black walls, black sheets and lack of proper bedroom furniture.

He hoped that she wouldn't feel too put out by the sparseness of his room but Hiei hardly had time for sleep that wasn't done in a tree or something similar. He himself headed downstairs and sat in the large bay window to think. Having his sister so close and yet so completely unaware of who he was made his heart ache. Hiei was a fire demon, she was an ice demon, an ice demon whom Kuwabara was in love with so, how would it benefit him at all should he tell her who he is?

It had been too many years, too many years filled with death, bloodshed and battles. Too many years for his fire demon heart to turn to ice, making it impossible for him to love even his sister, the sister whom he had searched for all these years. His anger flared again. Thinking about Kuwabara attempting to take her away infuriated him immensely and he suddenly felt very satisfied in his decision to allow her to infiltrate his home.

He sighed, audibly this time. Kurama had put him in this awkward situation on purpose, hadn't he? He would pay dearly for this. Hiei swore that on his life. It took him a couple of hours of seething before he allowed himself to drift off to sleep and by the time he woke up the sun was glaring at him through the window and seeping unmercifully into his black clothing. Had he been human he supposed that he would have been uncomfortable but he enjoyed the burning heat.

It took him a minute to notice the fragile girl with silver/blue hair staring at him from the other end of the room, and when he did he almost, in a very un-cool fashion, fell off the bay window. He didn't say her name because it stuck in his throat so instead he asked, very calmly "What are you doing?"

She was just staring at him with large eyes and an almost skeptical expression. "I have never seen you let your guard down, I thought it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity" She said. If she hadn't looked so completely serious he might have thought she were joking.

He couldn't comment. Was she just messing with him, or was she just over aware? He blinked a few times, trying to ignore the shock that accompanied the truth of her statement. "Do you want some food or something?" He asked in a quick thinking attempt to avoid the subject of his tense nature.

She smiled "Please I didn't want to be rude by raiding your fridge" She said. Why did she keep giving him that look? The smile which was so innocent and yet so knowing that he could hardly ignore it. Or was it more like adoration for him? He hoped it was none and that she was just kind natured.

"There isn't much to raid, if you want food we have to go get it" He said. He wished, the minute the word 'we' left his mouth that he could take it back. It was too normal, something brothers and sisters would do. He wanted nothing more than to push her away and pretend he had never met her but…it seemed to be too late. He was already attached.

She was frowning at him and he figured it was because Yusuke hadn't yet explained to her how to make human cash yet (of course Hiei preferred to steal it, himself) but figured Yukina would rather earn her money. "Maybe we could have breakfast with Kuwabara?" She asked, knowing that Kuwabara would be happy to see her, and happy to feed her.

Hiei frowned as well "Not if I can help it," He said, noticing that, like him, her nose wrinkled up when she was annoyed or uncomfortable. He switched his expression to a scowl instead. She gave him a quizzical expression and he decided explaining wouldn't hurt "I don't like Kuwabara" He stated, simply.

Yukina giggled slightly "He doesn't like you much, either, from what he has told me" She said. Then she lightly touched her stomach "I'm starving" she said, glancing up at him. He sighed.

"Let' go then" He said, leading her out the door and towards a local food joint. Truth be told he knew nothing of her likes, dislikes or anything of the sort. "Yukina, I…" He trailed off. The words 'You're my sister' stuck in his throat and he chocked them back. This wasn't the time to let nostalgia get the better of him.

"What is it?" she asked, peering at him with her dark colored eyes with an almost red tint, so similar to his own.

"Never mind, what do you want?" He asked, referring to food. She drug him around for a while in order to look at shops before she settled with one an ordered food ironically close to his particular tastes. He frowned again. One of these days she was going to notice the similarities between them, and he didn't want to be so close when she did. She was looking for her brother as well, after all. He figured it should have clicked by now.

After they ate he figured that dropping her on Kuwabara would be the smart thing to do, so he headed off in the direction of his house. He wondered what exactly Kuwabara saw in Yukina, he had already made his contempt for demons very clear on a number of occasions so falling for an ice demon seemed a little ironic. But Hiei didn't expect more than something completely ridiculous from Kuwabara.

He wondered if it would bother Yukina, should he bring Kuwabara up and ask of her relationship with him but decided to ask anyway, mainly out of curiosity. "Does Kuwabara like you?" He asked, bluntly. He had never been one for making conversation. She blushed, which he took as a bad sign.

"I think he does but…as a human I don't…know how to reciprocate." She said, glancing at him. He found himself blushing under the heat of the look she was giving him. She didn't say anymore and he figured that was the end of it but he couldn't help asking another question.

"If he were a demon, would you?" He asked, then added "Know…how to…reciprocate, that is" He said, pausing awkwardly in between words and trying to think how to more innocently breech the subject. She paused as well, which was just another similarity he noticed between them.

She shrugged "I don't know, hypothetical questions are hard to answer. I cannot see him as a demon" She said, with a slight chuckle. Hiei could imagine it as well, an increase in Kuwabara's normal loser level and chuckled with Yukina.

"I suppose I can't either" He agreed. They had slowed their pace considerable, both dragging their feet. He felt very comfortable around her, like he could be open and not worry. He enjoyed it immensely and regretted that he was about to let her go.

He changed the subject, figuring that now was as good a time as any to ask "You said you were looking for you brother here, right?" He began. She glanced at him but figured he had more so she didn't interrupt. "What do you think he is like?" He finished.

She stopped in the middle of the road. "I…I don't know. I can't imagine" She said, her voice cracking. Did it really hurt her so much? "I don't remember him at all but…he is all I have left of my family. I just want…to meet him. Even if it is only for a second, or even if he doesn't know who I am I just…" She trailed off and continued walking, briskly this time. "Kuwabara thinks I should stop searching for him, because he said he could be my family and save me the trouble but…he has no way of understanding. His sister lives with him" she said, bitterly.

It pained Hiei to know that he could so easily remedy Yukina's pain but, how was he expected to tell her now? She would probably just hate him for lying to her. And he had to admit that he was a little afraid, as well. "That isn't fair of him to ask that of you" Hiei said "But at the same time, you shouldn't miss out on your life for your brother. He may not even be worth it" The words still stuck in the back of his throat and he wished this was easier.

"I know that but" She stopped talking because they had arrived at Kuwabara's house and he had come bouncing out, boasting about how happy he was that Hiei didn't kill her. He reached out to embrace her, but she shied away, making him falter.

"What's wrong?" He asked, immediately glaring at Hiei and thinking the worst. Hiei snarled at him as a warning to mind his business but the fight that had been brewing for such a long time between the two of them was interrupted by Yukina's sudden sobbing.

She covered her eyes and cried no doubt over the brother who was standing inches from her and suffering a broken heart. Kuwabara jumped to her aid almost immediately and began comforting her while Hiei could do nothing more than watch.

He reached forward, slowly, because he had never come in contact with another person without a murderous intent. He reached past Kuwabara who was patting her and attempting to comfort her and touched her face, his hand burning from the contact. It was a simple gesture, the only piece of comfort he could offer her. "Yukina" He said her name once more, because it sounded so good dripping off of his tongue rather than Kuwabara's.

Kuwabara glared at him and hissed "I think you have done enough" He said. But Yukina's skin burned so cold it was hot and Kuwabara was forced to release her from his half-hug where as the burning bothered Hiei little.

"I want you to tell me something, Yukina" He said, keeping his hand pressed firmly against the side of her face. She glanced at him, tears still flowing freely down her cheeks and nodded slightly. "Would you hate me if I told you the truth?" He asked. He couldn't keep it from her forever, and he refused to allow her to cry over someone like him. He paused, panicking and quickly reevaluated his words. He couldn't tell her, not now. She would hate him. "What if I offered to help you find him, your brother that is" He offered. She stopped her audible sobbing in order to stare at him, stare into eyes with a red tint so similar to her own.

She made a slight chocking noise and then in an instant of confusion, threw herself upon him. She didn't know If he could help her but at the moment she needed some kind of comfort Kuwabara couldn't give her. She dug her fingers into his back and sobbed harder until her whole body was shaking. Kuwabara stared at the both of them, unable to comment, unable to think. Why was he being so helpful and why was she hugging him!

Hiei kept hold of Yukina, still feeling both out of place and comfortable all at the same time. He wasn't sure she believed him but at the moment but Yukina needed something to hope for. He would convince her that what he spoke was the truth but…

For now he wasn't willing to let her go.