It could very well get her killed, what she was doing. At the very least, it would make a certain someone absolutely furious.

But with the little doll-like girl sleeping so peacefully, snow white cheeks pillowed on thin hands, it was very easy to imagine Hiei's guaranteed explosion and just laugh.

Well, for Mukuro, it was easy to imagine just about anything Hiei did and laugh…

In fact, that's what she was doing right now: imagining the look on Hiei's face if he were to walk right into this room and see his boss treating his baby sister like an extra-cuddly doll. And between the flushed face, the twitching eye and the clenching fist, she was having a hell of a time trying not to laugh hysterically.

But the lady's attempts to stifle her giggles were failing miserably, and eventually, Yukina woke up.

"Mukuro-sama?" she asked sleepily. Yukina was endlessly formal and respectful. Even now, when the combined efforts of the two women succeeded in finally tricking Hiei to reveal his darkest secret, the girl called him "Hiei-san." Mukuro suspected that it bothered Hiei that she addressed him so impersonally (they were twins), but she could never get a definite reading on the situation.

It bothered her, though, that Yukina didn't see fit to drop the formal title. But then again, she reminded herself, she called her closest friend "Kazuma-san" up until the day he died.

"What is it, dear?"

"What are you laughing about?" The room was dark, and Mukuro could barely make out Yukina's eyes. Just enough light filtered in for the demon lady to see the ice maiden's head titled ever so slightly to the side, her long, wavy mat of green hair slipping over her shoulder.

"What would happen if Hiei walked in right now," she answered honestly. "What do you think he'd do?"

"Close the door and ignore it," she answered matter-of-factly. "Then open it up again and ask what on earth is going on."

"I thought he'd explode, see, and perhaps burn the entire place down."

"He'd wait for an answer first," Yukina giggled. "He's temperamental, not unreasonable."

Mukuro raised an eyebrow. "Are you so sure of that?"

"It's true," Yukina exclaimed. "It really is, Mukuro-sama, he's not that bad."

"If you say so, my dear," replied Mukuro. She pulled the small maiden toward her, wrapping her up in a bear hug, and smiling at the soft sigh. Yukina was just about the size of a large doll. And much more cuddly—she hugged back.

Yup. Hiei was definitely going to kill her.

Oh, well. Let him try.

"What makes you think he wouldn't want to kill me, anyway?" Yukina said suddenly, pulling back. "He's rather protective of you, too. Like an elder sister."

"You're blood," she said simply. "He takes that just as seriously as you do."

The ice maiden nodded and smiled. "But still, I would like to think he would approve. He respects you very much…" she trailed off.

And Mukuro got the message Yukina would never even think, but instinctively knew: If Hiei didn't approve, everything was off. To Yukina, her love was not her own. It was her brother's, and only to be distributed at his discretion. He had been deprived of it for so long! She could go around behind his back without feeling guilty—rather, liking the excitement of sharing such a special secret—but directly defy him to his face?

Never.

And to Mukuro's great amusement, Hiei was exactly the same way. If he ever, heaven forbid, actually liked someone at all, and Yukina didn't, he would immediately cut all contact with the one who had offended his beloved sister. Yukina alone had the power of life and death over everyone the fire demon met: she could order someone cruelly murdered or she could grant clemency to the person Hiei hated most. If Yukina said it, it must be done, in Hiei's eyes.

Mukuro chuckled a little. Hiei and Yukina were still much like children in her eye, and their story, as it unfolded each day, was incredibly engaging. Particularly the antics of the pretty little ice maiden. She had a mission: she was going to be loved, by golly, if it killed her.

Between a dead mother, an absentee father, a standoffish brother and a depressed guardian, Yukina was still very unsure of what it mean to love and to be loved. The Kuwabara family, who took her in as one of their own during their lives, had given her a taste of that, but it had taken the little maiden so long to understand…

Her standoffish brother, as much as he adored his twin, just could not be brought to show it. He did not know how, he didn't really want to know how, all he ever wanted to be able to keep an eye on her. And to be thrust into a situation where she knew who he was completely baffled him. And Hiei dealt with things that confused him by a) killing them or b) pretending they didn't exist. Since he could never kill the one creature for which he felt life worth living that left pretending she (or at least the problem she had tossed in his lap) didn't exist.

And so, after her efforts were unconsciously, yet viciously fought, Yukina finally let sympathetic Mukuro in on her plight. Mukuro, perfectly aware of what a stubborn idiot Hiei could be and having somewhat similar problems dealing with the little monster, had assured her that Hiei did adore, really, she had been into his mind and she knew.

But knowing you were loved and being openly loved are two very different things, especially to Yukina.

One thing had led to another, and here they were. Yukina, the adorable little doll of a girl and Mukuro, the firm but fair lord who had been a pretty doll in her youth. The idea not to tell Hiei had been gradual but mutually agreed on. He was in the dark, if only because it made Yukina feel better, since Mukuro didn't really care.

Yukina sighed and leaned her head down on Mukuro's shoulder. Mukuro stroked her fluffy green hair soothingly. "You know everything will work out, however it is going to."

"Yes, Mukuro-sama," the ice maiden agreed. "But wouldn't it be nice, just once, if things worked out the way I wanted them to? With Hiei-san and you and I, without complications? Maybe with secrets, because they're fun, but not lies?"

Mukuro was about to answer when suddenly a bright long beam of light invaded the dark room. After a brief second, the light disappeared with a banging sound—the door being slammed. Yukina bolted up, nervously smoothing out the wrinkles in her nightgown.

Again, though, the opening door defeated the darkness, and a shocked, somewhat confused Hiei demanded, "What on earth is going on here?"

Mukuro snickered to herself. Maybe Yukina would get her wish now.