Aria of Adventure

Chapter 9

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Chapter 9: Infected

Still before the knocking came, Ame knew exactly who it was that approached her room. The soft tread in the hallways was unmistakably Botan's; she could even hear the ferry girl hadn't bothered to take off her shoes and the kimono she was wearing made her steps short, but swift and agitated. Right now, she was about sixty feet away, though her frantic pace ensured that number decreased rapidly. Ame had been able to sense people's reiki before, but her transformation had made the powers she had possessed earlier seem terribly feeble. Even though she had not yet tried out her new abilities, she did realise how much they would help her along her path to the Dark Tournament. However, that knowledge did not wash away the fear inside her heart that she would lose every bit of her humanity if she remained in this form much longer. Ame didn't even know how to turn back to normal and, after her team mates had taken her to Koenma to explain what had happened, she realised the Spirit Leader did not either. He simply gazed upon her in absolute wonder, asking her if she knew of any reason why her parents had chosen to reign her powers through such a strong yet undetectable incantation. It was then that Ame shamefully had to confess how little she had been told; she only knew the charm around her neck had been an heirloom in their family and now it was broken. Perhaps there was even a chance her parents had not know about the pendant's true function in the first place.
"Still, I don't think the reason you've managed to transform is entirely because you took off the necklace," were his words, after he had mulled over his thought for some time, "After all, it was you who broke it with your outburst of reiki. I haven't seen such a bundling of energy since we employed Yusuke."
Thinking about that one line made her feel at least a bit better. Being compared to her team captain, who was human but nevertheless immensely powerful, was all the consolation she could fall back on. If he had told Ame she reminded him of Hiei, she would have broken down in desperate sobbing. There was no denying that, though he was certainly honourable, the Black Shadow was the least humane of her team members. Her own views on her situation were complex and conflicting; she had always been proud to have her parent's youkai blood in her veins, but now that she had become something so purely demonic she feared and detested herself.
Ame wondered what would happen next; Yusuke was probably itching to try her out, as if she were one of the latest toys with special new features he could play with. Of course, there was no denying that her powers needed to be tested. Most likely, she'd have to face Kurama or Hiei in some sort of challenge again and she could only hope there would be no laps to run this time.

"For the time being, we'll somehow keep you under surveillance. This turn of events is quite splendid indeed!"
Quite splendid! Of course he'd say that; Koenma wasn't the one who'd need to get used to this new body. So far it looked like nothing major had changed on the outside, even if she perceived it as such. Her claws, her eyes, her hair... Nothing but an improvement of her former self; then why did she feel as if her whole being had been poured into the body of a beast?
"Ame, can I come in?" Botan's voice followed the second rapping on her bedroom door. In a mere instant, Ame examined the energy emitting from the ferry girl and pictured her stance like there was no barrier between them. Her pose was faintly irregular, as if she were holding something small and light in her left hand. She was leaning towards the door, perhaps trying to catch a sound through it, with her right hand resting on the knob. So many details she could perceive without even opening the door; why would she actually need to come in?
Then again, ever since she left her own place, she had no more right to forbid anyone from entering her private room. After all, everything around her was now in Koenma's possession -- even she herself had been officially 'adopted'. Botan could come in without permission and, indeed, after about five seconds of waiting for a reply that never came, she dared to step foot inside the demon girl's lair. With the new speed she had acquired, Ame closed the door behind Death without anyone seeing her move; she had no idea why she did that, except that she felt like it.
"Oh, my!" Botan exclaimed nervously, turning around to the small girl now standing behind her. "You sure have become fast. You'd give Kurama a run for his money."
"What do you want?" not acknowledging the new presence in the room, Ame flopped herself back on the futon and amused herself with deciphering the spirit energy of the ogres frantically taking care of paperwork downstairs. The more different types of reiki were gathered, the more challenging it became -- a game to occupy her mind while her heart was ill at ease. Meanwhile, Botan took a seat by her desk without uttering another word. It was likely that she had been made curious by Yusuke's descriptions and whatever she was going to give as a reply to the question would be a fa�ade to hide the fact she merely wanted to sneak a peek.
"I brought scissors, if you want me to cut your hair to its normal length," she started, showing the tool in the little light that got through the closed curtains. They might as well have been wide open though; the sun had vanished behind a gathering of clouds, while the mist gliding over the cobblestones leading to the palace made the ground indistinguishable. Ame wanted to disappear and so the weather abode by that desire.
"Can you turn the rest back to normal as well?" Ame asked dryly, toying with the pendent she refused to let go of. Since she left the field that morning, she had done very little except examining the powerful item which Hiei had called a 'piece of junk'. She had never noticed the inscription on the back before, though it was perfectly possible it had only appeared today. However, it was too vague to make out and as such, Ame was faced with yet another riddle adding up to the long list she still needed to solve.
"I... No, I can't," Botan replied; her entire being radiated a faint aura of defeat, as if she had failed to fulfil her mission, whatever that could be. Possibly she was trying to bond, trying to make Ame feel better -- but it was highly unlikely that would be happening soon.
"Then leave," even with all this power she knew she possessed, Ame felt defenceless and she hated herself for that. The girl knew she should have been out training already, rejoicing about this strength that would help her win and bring back her brother, but her self-loathing caused her to be lethargic. All she wanted now was to be left alone to wallow in her pity and the thought of such an attitude made her sick of herself. A vicious circle of this teenage anxiety augmented by demonic powers; something for which she had not the resistance to break through.
"Please, Ame," the attempt sounded as if the speaker realised it was futile, "I want to help."
"Then go away. I don't care where you go, as long as you get lost."
"You're not being nice," was it annoyance, perhaps, that caused a slight shift in her energy, Ame wondered. She turned around to look at the ferry girl and saw as little alteration in her expression as she usually saw in Hiei's. Though they could both claim they were entirely different from each other on every ground, there was no denying that their polished ability to hide their thoughts and feelings was a trait the Grim Reaper and the Black Shadow shared.
"I'm a demon, right? I'm not supposed to be nice," Ame tried to curl up her lips into a smile, but it felt as if her muscles would not obey. Her mouth simply formed a straight line that gave away neither her distress nor her fear.
"Kurama is nice and he's a demon," unable to come up with a better response, Botan observed the pair of scissors she was holding, running her finger over the sharpened edges. The glimmer of the metal reminded Ame of that shuriken she had planned on retrieving before, now still laying there in the field. Maybe if she tried throwing them again this time, she would not miss any goals and Yusuke would have to stop calling her a kid.
"He's polite," this time she did manage to smile, "There's a difference."
"You're being ungrateful. Everyone here has done nothing but try to be your friend," Botan's voice had never sounded so sweet and innocent. Perhaps, however, the essence of her words was to be blamed for that.
"Only Kuwabara has done that," Ame almost felt sorry for what she was going to say, for she grieved it was the actual truth, "Yusuke, on the other hand, has drugged me because I couldn't perform. Kurama hardly says anything at all. And then there is Hiei, who seems to be happiest whenever he can torture me."
"Hiei helped you reach your full potential," Death replied, though she didn't sound like she was convinced of her own words. Ame noticed how grey her hair looked in the colourless light and for some reason thought of Botan as something more human than before.
"Oh please. If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong," the demon girl laughed sourly at her own wit. Perhaps it was true that because of Hiei she was in this state; that it was something to be grateful for was a different thing altogether. What are powers good for if you are too ashamed and afraid to use them?
"At least let me cut your hair," she smiled, unaffected by Ame's bitterness, "It will get in the way of your fighting otherwise. You do still want to enter the Tournament to save your brother, right?"
"Of course!" the demon girl exclaimed, "What a stupid question. After all this, do you really think I'd still back out?"
For a while, the girls just stared at each other; one too tired and bottled up to speak any more and the other uncertain as to what to say. Ame wondered how the others could bear having this amount of reiki stored in their bodies without exploding. It felt as if she would erupt soon if she did not part with all this energy caused by her whirlpool of emotions. Finally, Botan got up to put her scissors to use and ushered an uncontrollably trembling Ame to sit at her desk. With one strong snip, the bottom half of the braid Ame had made before fell to the ground. The demon girl closed her eyes and pictured the scissors hacking away her problems. Every inch her hair grew shorter made her feel more like a human again -- even if she had never truly been one. Then again, perhaps it was wrong for her to long for humanity.
"After a while, you'll learn how to turn back to normal, you know," the sharp, almost metronomic sounds of the scissor's clipping put a beat under Botan's words. "It takes some time."
"I'm just scared," Ame admitted quietly.
"I know. A tough act always hides something," the ferry girl sniggered audibly, "Just look at Hiei."
"He still scares the hell out of you though," she smirked, getting up when Botan had finished. It felt like it was shorter than before her change, but Ame didn't mind. Maybe she wouldn't even have minded if Botan had decided to shave her head completely.
"Well, some actors go very far in their character development!" Botan laughed and Ame couldn't help but join in. It was hard to imagine Hiei was simply putting up an act, but when she thought about it, it seemed perfectly logical. If he were really as emotionless as he portrayed himself, he would never have had the strength to fight the way he did. Yusuke was even more powerful than Hiei, if only because he used his emotions as fuel during fights. There was no doubt Urameshi would have the upper hand no matter what he did, as long as he stayed human. She thought about that for a while, not noticing the silence which had fallen.
"What was the real reason you came, Botan? I doubt you were that keen on cutting my hair," she asked, taking off her shirt to shake off some locks. She would have to clean her room later if she didn't want all her clothes to make her itch. However, her skin remained irritated when she was looking around her room for a new top.
"I wanted to see if you were alright," Death had averted her gaze to the floor, not sure if Ame minded her still being there while she changed clothes.
"And you were curious about how I looked?" for some reason, Ame couldn't help but rub her back frantically. She desperately needed a shower.
"A little, yes."
"Horrible, isn't it?" she stopped her scratching and looked at Botan for an answer. Her nails had left red scrapes on her skin, but they soon disappeared from sight when it healed itself.
"You really don't look that different," Botan said honestly, "Only your eyes are lighter."
"They're empty," it came out gruff and curt, though she did not feel that way about it. She felt like she had somehow lost her spirit; the eyes are the mirrors of the soul after all.
"Are you kidding me?" the blue-haired girl looked like she wanted to laugh at the matter, but deemed it too serious, "I've never seen your eyes filled with this much pain before."
Outside, birds had started chanting to the last dripping of rain left on the leafs. The sun warmed the ground under their feet again, making the mist disappear on the grass. Ame had the strong urge to open her window and let in the bright rays, but she did not. She simply stood in the formless shadows, hiding her smile.
"You wanna keep part of the braid I cut?" Botan asked, holding it up. It was fairly long and Ame was glad she'd gotten rid of it.
"No, thanks," she shrugged the matter off and turned around in search for a shirt again, "And, Botan?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
The ferry girl smiled warmly, "Don't mention it."
She brushed off her kimono and walked over to the door. When she glanced over at Ame, she noticed the black mark which started at her shoulder and branched out until it disappeared under her breast. Not sure whether Ame was aware of this or not, Botan did not mention the lightening-shape and changed the subject.
"You know, now that you're like this, there's really nothing left for you to learn," she straightened her white obi absent-mindedly, "At least not from those guys. Koenma might even send you on a mission to gain real experience."
"He'd send me on a mission like this?" Ame pulled a top over her head, ignoring the itching and assuming it would soon leave, "I don't even know how everything works yet."
"You sound like you just grew a new limb over night. I'm sure you'll be fine," there was a pensive expression on her face now, "I remember Koenma simply threw Yusuke into being a Spirit Detective. He hand-picked the most difficult missions for him. Somehow he always managed to make it out alive."
"I'm sure he was lucky to have Kuwabara around a few times though," Ame was surprised at the Spirit Leader's strategy and considered that she might have been very lucky receiving such training.
"True; they're a great team," the ferry girl said in reply, "Yusuke, Kazuma, Kurama and Hiei. You fit right in."
"Right. Now you can leave," Ame opened the door for her, "Before you get even cornier."
Winking innocently, Botan left the room, scissors still in hand, but with a more satisfied expression than the one she entered with. One way or another, she had managed to do what she'd come to do -- and it wasn't trimming Ame's hair.

The cut-off locks now in the trash can and her room cleaner than it had ever been, Ame dared to look at herself in the mirror. Yes, her eyes had changed, but their expression had not. They had simply paled until the irises appeared translucent and the pupils abnormally large. She took off her shirt and tried to look at her back; as she had suspected, there was a large mark there now. That bolt of lightening looked exactly like the one her father had had on his chest. He had once shown it to Tomasu, telling him how one day he would receive such a mark too. She could not remember if that was positive or negative, but at least she did not have a bad feeling about it. However, she was unsure as to why it had been her and not her brother who was stuck with it. Maybe her parents just never thought she could awaken like this.
Sighing, she returned to her desk and grabbed the shirt she had tossed aside before. With a strong yank at the collar, she ripped off the back and pulled it over her head again. Tying a thin obi around her waist to keep the rest in place, she returned to the bathroom and looked at her reflection once more. Tomorrow she would proudly wear this and show the others she had no more fear -- or else may lightening strike her down.
"How sad. You're still a human, only in a demon's body," Hiei had entered her room without giving any notice, though she had sensed him before, "Going from miserable to pleased in half an hour. Typical ningen-behaviour."
"I'm glad I think like a human," Ame smiled and pointed her thumb to her back so he would see the pattern, "Though this full-fledged demon thing is starting to grow on me. Free tattoos are always a plus."
"Tch," he grumbled, "Back to your cocky self as well, I see. Nothing has changed."
"Yes, there has," the girl finished putting her hair back up in a ponytail.and walked up to him. "And I owe it to you, I suppose. Tomorrow I will treat you the same as always and I can only hope you'll do it too. But right now, I should thank you."
Hiei's eyebrows went up in wonder. Ame couldn't blame him; she could hardly believe she was saying this herself, "You acted like a complete bitch today, but apparently that was what I needed to hear."
He grunted. She cleared her throat. The atmosphere was slightly uncomfortable, the way it had been when they first met or perhaps even more intense.
"You have a weird way of thanking people," he finally said, looking at the space right above Ame's head.
"I think you're underestimating the awkwardness of this situation," the girl didn't try to meet his eye either. "What I'm trying to say is... Thanks. For making me understand what's really important."
"I wasn't doing it for you or anything," Hiei muttered, "If you screw up, I have to pick up the pieces and it was getting boring training you."
"Yeah, I know," Ame lied. She wasn't sure if what the Black Shadow was saying was true, but it didn't really matter either way. Why he did it was of no concern to her, as long as the result stayed the same. "But since you're the one to blame for this... I will need your help."
Staring at her claws silently, she wondered how she had to continue her speech. She had been trying to clean her own blood from under them for a while before she had given up. The frantic scrubbing had kept her mind off the real issue, at least for several minutes, but the brownish stains were still there.
"I'll keep an eye on you," Hiei said gruffly, cutting off her search for the right words. "That was my job to begin with."
He took a deep breath, ignoring the girl's curious stare. "It's a powerful feeling, all this energy, but you'll learn. Eventually."
For the first time, she truly trusted Hiei as he said this. "You know, this is the longest talk we've ever had without swearing."
"You called be a bitch before though."
"That's just telling it how it is," Ame grinned. To her surprise, Hiei grinned too.
"This conversation never happened," he wiped his face clean of all sentiment and made for the window through which he came.
"If anyone asks, I'll tell them you were out stealing candy from small children," she replied, not sure if she wanted this short moment of peace to end already. But, even before she finished thinking this, he had jumped out -- left to who knows where.
She remained standing in front of the window a little while longer, looking outside and wondering where he could have gone. Wondering what he meant when he had said that keeping an eye on her was his job.

Chapter 8

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Chapter 8: Breaking the Habit

"Why do you hate demons that much?"

The question seemed to have come out of nowhere and at first Ame, out of fear she'd be seen talking to herself and thought a fool, didn't answer. She found herself in a dark haze, as if her mind and body had been separated by a force outside her understanding -- everything around her was elusive and she was alone. For a moment, she pondered about the issue before her rather than the peculiar state she found herself in. Even if she had had the slightest clue as to whom was asking such a question, she still wouldn't have been able to respond to it for she did not quite know herself. She could not remember her parents warning her about youkai; after all, they themselves were demons, as were their son and daughter. Then again, she couldn't remember much at all. So why then did she hate -- or was it fear? -- them so much?
"Ame! Are you deaf?" this time it was her captain's voice shouting out to her, though it had quite clearly been someone else's before. "I told you to throw these shuriken to the goal that Kuwabara is holding. You need to concentrate, because if you miss he'll get hurt. Understood?"
"Hai, I got it," the girl murmured, now staring down at the reflection of the clouds in the polished throwing stars. They were unsharpened and, if they were to do any damage at all, had to be hurled with a precise velocity and power. Keeping in mind that she had taken a liking to Kazuma Kuwabara, she also had to concentrate on actually hitting the moving target instead of the guy that was holding it. Every day, her training became tougher and more calculated -- she learnt how to use several different weapons, as well as which were to be used against what sort of opponent. Kurama showed her how to use a whip and made sure her mind was tuned to a strategic way of combat. From Kuwabara, she learnt how to fight barehanded in a disciplined manner without rushing into violent and thoughtless punching -- he taught her that every move she made had to have a reason, for otherwise she would confuse and tire herself with unnecessary limb-flinging. It was up to Yusuke to help improve her use of Spirit Energy and aim, and as such she had been given these four-pointed shuriken. Hiei, so far, had taught her nothing -- except that she should think of nothing.
"Okay, Kuwabara! You can move whenever you're ready," Urameshi shouted across the field in which they were training today. The sound of the wind rushing in the tall grass, the drum of the others' footsteps as they paced on the dry earth, their breathing that was irregular and loud... Ame seemed to be attuned to everything happening in her surroundings; it felt as if she had been reborn again and was faced with a whole new world unlike the one she had known before. Concentrating became difficult and her goals obsolete, but so far this newfound power had made sure she improved. No, even if she forgot about her ultimate goal in the process, she would win that Tournament.
"Kid! Oy, Ame!" she got prodded by the team leader; a sign that she should have been throwing the stars already. When she finally did, all but one hit the centre of the bull's-eye and Ame couldn't help but feel good about herself.
"Stop calling me 'kid'!" she snorted, going over to her friend to see if he was okay. Though aiming hadn't been an issue, she hadn't taken the time to consider her throwing strength and, while Kuwabara had stood far away from her, there was a slight chance he might have gotten hurt. "I'm as old as you are, only smaller!"
"You're also less experienced. You might have killed some weak demons before, but believe me when I say you ain't seen nothing yet. I will keep calling you kid until you perfectly fulfil every assignment I give you. That last shuriken missed its goal; in an actual battle that could decide whether you live or die," he preached in a loud voice; there was no doubt Yusuke was more stern than Ame had ever imagined.
"I've heard that speech before, Yusuke. I'm working on it."
"You seemed to be spacing out from the start. What the devil were you thinking about?"
"I don't suppose that's any of your business."
"If it might cost me my life during the Dark Tournament, like hell it isn't any of my business," he retorted, now holding on to Ame's arm forcefully. "Are you still not serious about this?"
"Urameshi, this is getting old," Kazuma stepped in, keeping a close eye on the demon girl who was on the verge of either crying or killing. "Her brother's life is at stake here. She's got more reason to fight seriously than any of us. Hell, she's more focussed than you were in your first Tournament."
"Tch," Yusuke loosened his grip. Too proud to say anything apologetic, he simply walked away and counted on the fact everyone would act normal again once they reached the living quarters. "We should probably take a break. You can stay here and practise some more if you want to."
"I'll go look for the other shuriken and give it another go," came the half-hearted reply, knowing that she hadn't the spirit to go against her captain. After all, what he was saying wasn't all false; she did feel as if, somehow, she wasn't giving it her all yet.
Kurama, who had said very little throughout the entire day, followed the others silently as if in deep thought and Ame was now left alone with Hiei's shadow looming over her every move. She didn't mind his company any more; it had been quite a long time since the hybrid demon had actually spoken to her and even longer since she had given up on striking a conversation with him. Ultimately, he was nothing more to her than the shadow he was nicknamed after.
"You never answered my question."
It was the same voice that before had thrown her into the abyss that was her wandering mind; the voice that enquired after an issue on which she pondered endlessly.
"So it was you after all," Ame said out loud, not sure whether she was hearing him inside her head or not. It did not surprise her that it had been Hiei, though she couldn't understand why he asked a question to which the answer seemed so blatantly clear to the outside world. Perhaps he knew that, to her, things were not that simple.
"Why do you hate your own kind?" his lips stirred, but only slightly. Since she never quite paid attention to his features, she hadn't noticed how calculated his motions were, down to the delicacy of his mouth and the arches of his brow. Reading his feelings was impossible -- or impossibly hard.
"My own kind?" she whispered, staring down at her callous hands. Being a young woman, she sometimes wished those hands were more graceful and untainted by the blood of demons, the blood of 'her own kind'. That was never going to happen; she took a strange pleasure in taking the lives of these monsters that were so like herself. They killed and slaughtered impartially, but with an unending lust -- and so would she, to protect the people they targeted. "I like to think that I am not a mindless beast."
There came no answer. It was unlikely that Hiei had been insulted, not after the countless times she had already said such things. Nevertheless, the silence was unbroken.
"I figured you had all read my file by now. I'm sure you could deduce my hatred from those simple facts Koenma wrote down," Ame went on, uncomfortable with Hiei's lack of response. How was it possible for someone to make her feel so confused, whether he decided to speak or remain silent?
"Koenma wouldn't let us. At least not everything. I suppose he left out the good parts," though Ame suspected him to be so, he did not sound the least bit curious. She wished she could get a hold of what went on in his head instead of having to try reading the nothingness between the lines.
"Then what did you read?"
"We got some vague descriptions of your powers, which, obviously, wasn't much."
"You're a real comedian, Hiei. I'll hand you that," she couldn't even be bothered to feel hurt by his comments any more; they had grown on her much like Hiei himself had. "Nevertheless, it's very odd that information was restricted. But that also means that this isn't something you necessarily need to know."
"I'm asking because I'm curious."
"Then why don't you use that Jagan eye of yours and read my mind?" she asked, feeling as if his probing around in her private thoughts would be less of a torture than attempting in vain to express herself.
"I'm telepathic, not a mind reader," he somehow sounded exasperated, even if that didn't show. It was aggravating how expressionless his face stayed no matter what -- even more so because his features were handsome in a chilling way. When that thought crossed her mind, she remembered why she preferred their interactions to remain non-verbal.
"Sounds the same to me," she said, looking away from him. The smell of dry grass and hay tingled her heightened senses when a breath of wind came their way. Hiei's black cloak found itself being tugged by it, or so she could hear.
"They're two completely different things," he appeared in front of her faster than she could see, looking down on her with red eyes and yet without contempt, "You've evaded my question again."
"Oh, please, Hiei. I'm not supposed to believe you're this stupid, right?" though his gaze was not demeaning, she couldn't bear meeting it. It was almost as if she feared she would find sympathy in his countenance; sympathy that she longed for, but did not want.
"Tell me, regardless of what you think of me," his reply was more surprising than anything she could have imagined -- calm, almost empathic and, as such, dreadfully daunting.
"My parents were killed by demons. My brother, for god knows what reason, was taken from me by demons," it was the answer that seemed most logical to herself and to the world. Perhaps it was not the complete truth, but so far it was the only truth she was certain of. "My entire life has been under their control. I hate them for that."
"But you are a demon," the black shadow standing in front of her said it as if no one had informed her of that little fact before. He sounded so na�ve in his simplicity, though she knew Hiei doubtlessly knew more of life than she could ever learn from books. For a moment, she remained silent, unable to admit her pathetic self-loathing.
"Then obviously I must hate myself. I'm afraid of what I could do," even before the words escaped her mouth, she realised how ludicrous and weak she sounded. What could possibly be gained from a fighter who does not accept her powers, even if she acquired some skills?
"This is ridiculous. You are ridiculous! How can you become stronger if you ignore that part of yourself?" for the first time since Ame met him, Hiei appeared truly angered by her attitude. She had always assumed there was a constant bond of annoyance between them, but now his bared teeth and piercing glare proved his rage. It was impossible to ignore how deeply insulted he looked. "You haven't been listening to me at all! If you ever want to get into the Tournament, you'll have to give in to your darker side."
"And what if I can't control it, huh?" she spat at him defensively. "Can you vouch for me? Will you excecute me if I go on a killing rampage in Ningen-kai?"
"You'll never learn to control anything if you haven't been faced with it in the first place," knowing Ame was aware of what he kept hidden there, Hiei held up the palm of his hand that was tightly wrapped in a bandage in front of her face. The Kokuryuuha, which needed his right arm as sacrifice every time it was summoned, was nearly impossible to tame -- at least that was how the story was told. This power, known as the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, could consume the holder when not controlled and yet Hiei had mastered it and fearlessly employed it. Torn between hopefulness and inferiority, Ame decided to give the demon before her the pleasure of hearing her admit she failed.
"You sure are a fine talker. You don't often open your mouth, but when you do... " she sighed and braced herself for the dent in her ego that was to come, "The truth is, I've tried. It's no use; something is suppressing me, suppressing my reiki."
"So, you're giving up then?" he pulled her towards him, making sure she couldn't but look him in the eyes, "Because I can tell you already that if you stay like this you'll die before the first round is over."
"There must be other ways-" Ame started, trying to lift her hands, but failing under his forceful grip. He was right: she wasn't strong enough, she needed to own up to her nature.
"There aren't! Do you really care this little about your brother?"
It was as if the whole world had stopped. Nothing around her moved or made a sound. The faint shimmer of light in Hiei's eyes was the only thing she could still see in the rage that was slowly building inside her after those words were uttered.
"How dare you!" she bellowed, though the words in her frenzy were unintelligible and high-pitched. However, the demon did not let go, nor did he give any token of regretting his words. They were a slap in her face and every syllable had been intentional, aimed for the kill.
"Well, that must be the case, if you aren't willing to give it your all," Hiei merely continued, determined to accomplish something, though it was unclear what, "All this time I thought you were just weak, but it all comes down to the fact that you don't care."
"Shut up! Stop it!" Ame ripped herself away from him, covering her ears as she fell to her knees. Holding back tears of anger and helplessness, her eyes remained closed tightly as if she could keep out the world and their judgement that way. In this bewildering hurricane of emotions she did not feel how her own nails dug into her flesh and blood reddened her fingertips. And while her surroundings had disappeared for her, she herself did not vanish. Under a greying heaven the faint blue glow of her necklace encircled her, making Hiei step back and the other team members return rapidly. As they watched, the light beam grew until it formed a beacon aimed at the sky and the image of the girl inside it became too unclear to distinguish. Almost as suddenly as it had come, the radiance then disappeared as if it had never been there to begin with.

The first thing Ame noticed when she dared to open her eyes was the necklace her parents had given her, laying in the dirt in front of her. It had broken off, one way or another, and the eyes of the dragon inside the pendant still shimmered brightly red. Distinctly she felt how someone pulled her up and then let out a gasp. Looking down at her hands now, she saw ruddy claws that seemed more demon-like than ever, unnatural. The strands of hair that fell down in her face vaguely indicated to her that her ponytail had gotten loose; when she wiped them away, she realised that in fact her hair had grown until it reached her knees. Unsure of what to do, Kuwabara was the one who guided her to the river that was near their training field. She washed her hands, unable to look at herself though her face had remained unchanged. The only thing that was different were her eyes, now pale and cold as ice. Later, she would recall thinking them empty and soulless; eyes of a devil. No one spoke, or at least no one was heard by Ame. It was possible that a heated debate on this sudden transformation was raging and the girl herself simply did not lend her ear for it.
"So, that was it," were the first words that got through to her completely; it was Hiei's voice again, "I should have known there was a restraining spell on this piece of junk."
When Ame turned around, she noticed him examining the pendant in a bored way as if nothing really extraordinary had happened with it. She could hardly believe his complex attitude and was unable to contain herself; "Give it back."
With new speed and strength, she ripped the jewel away from his hands. She clenched it tightly, as if she could direct all her anger and anxiety to it by doing so, until she thought herself balanced enough to look the others in the face. "I've turned into a monster."
"You're a demon, Ame. That doesn't make you a monster. This is who you are, you should live with it," with those words Hiei walked away and left Ame to the others to deal with. The shuriken still left in the field glistened blandly when the sun came through the clouds again, as if it wanted to be found; but it remained forgotten in the grass.

Chapter 7

Fri, 30 Jun 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Chapter 7: Need You Like a Drug

Drowsily, Ame opened her eyes to find her vision unclear. For the first time she had woken up from a dreamless sleep and was glad to find her heart beating evenly as ever. With most of the pain in her body finally withdrawn she rolled over, not quite in the mood to get up already. Looking around, she saw the door had been opened widely, though the rest of her room was seemingly untouched.

"What the...?" the girl mumbled and rubbed her eyes in confusion. Next to her pillow lay something very orange, blue and tan. Ame came to the conclusion that the blurry face -- that belonged to an equally blurry body -- was indeed Kuwabara's.
"Oh great, I died and went to Hell..." moaning, she hid her face in the covers. When she glanced over them again she still saw her team mate sleeping with his head on her bed � she was not dreaming after all. A small darker spot on her covers showed that he had been drooling slightly. She grumpily poked his head a little to move him. Snoring, he slipped off the futon and onto the floor where he continued napping peacefully. Unbelievable.
"Good morning, dear!" the demon girl exclaimed in his ear, "Did you sleep well?"
Kazuma opened his eyes to meet Ame's angry face; she was obviously not happy with him crashing in her room. Before she could even catapult her ammunition of questions at him, he had already jumped up and darted outside � unfortunately running full force into the door frame with his shoulder. Ame blinked her eyes a couple of times to makes sure she had seen everything correctly. Before she could even come to a conclusion however, a nasty headache put a stop to her thinking process. She held her head in her hands and tried not to listen to the smallest sounds all around her. The buzzing of her clock had never annoyed her this much before. In the bathroom the slow rhythm of a leaking tap made her wish for a hammer to smash it.
"She's awake!" Ame heard Kuwabara's voice echo through the halls and eventually through her head. Her senses were stuck in a state of hyper-sensitivity that hurt her inside-out. She could feel her heart beat through her temples; she wanted it to stop... As usual, she was left without a clue about what was going on around and about her.
"I never quite noticed," Yusuke uttered as he almost fell over one of her wandering books, "how much this place looks like war has broken out."
"What is going on? Why was Kuwabara sleeping in my room? Why do I have such a headache?" Ame barely took time to take a breath between all her questions and looked at each of the four arriving boys in turn, "Why are you all looking at me like I did five cartwheels in a row?"
"Well, Yusuke gave you-!"
"Koenma ordered me to-!"
"And you reacted very-!"
Though Hiei didn't bother with her at all and Kurama looked like he was still weighing his words, the other two had burst into a waterfall of explanations at the same time. It would have been a miracle if anyone had understood them, but Ame in her condition couldn't even bother listening for three seconds. A muffled snort came from the black shadow while he observed; he seemed to enjoy himself most whenever Ame was having some troubles, especially when those troubles were called Urameshi and Kuwabara. Impatiently, Ame put her thumb and forefinger to her mouth and whistled loudly, stopping the rattling right away and not a moment too soon. Her head was pounding and she felt weaker than ever.
"Do me a favour and just..." she sighed and tried to pay no attention to the imaginary loudness in her voice, "Let Kurama do the talking."
The boy took a step forward and was about to start explaining, but was cut off by the hybrid demon sitting on the windowsill.
"We weren't able to wake you up after your last training; you have slept for over 48 hours."
It didn't take long before he turned his attention back outside, but Ame kept staring at Hiei with big eyes for a long time after he had stopped talking.
"Well, that's not normal..." she stated the obvious slowly, pulling up her covers and shivering even though it was quite warm; she had a bad feeling about this. "I've slept 24 hours before, but this is just insane... I'm not turning into a vampire, right?"
She sniggered nervously, hoping it came over as a joke. However, she had such little clue about anything she was able to believe anything.
"Kuwabara was so kind to open the curtains this morning, so I have a feeling you don't have to worry about that," Yusuke grinned, but something about his air confused the demon girl; it was as if everyone was hiding something from her, as if they knew something she didn't and yet ought to... Feeling slightly out of her element knowing her team mates had guarded her like a sick child, Ame started fiddling with her pendant. Ever since she had decided to fight for her brother such strange things had been happening that not even her amulet could calm her nerves.
"Ame, stop staring in front of yourself like that," her captain barked impatiently, most likely thinking of all the time that could be spent on training which he was losing, "Have you even been listening to me? Maybe we should send you to the psychiatric ward..."
"Yusuke, chill," Kuwabara straightened his back and pointed a blaming finger at his friend, "Did you ever stop to think that maybe Ame was so exhausted from your training that we couldn't wake her up?"
"Oh, come on!" Yusuke cried and jumped up, insulted, "That's impossible! The kid was almost in a bloody coma! Not even I can make someone work hard enough to get them in a coma... Not without beating them up first, at least."
"Captain... Could you, please �" Ame whimpered a bit hoarse and received the scattered attention again, "Keep your voice down?"
"Oh, kuso..." he muttered, not apologizing but falling into complete silence. Kazuma had clearly struck a chord by holding him responsible for whatever condition the girl had slipped into. Grunting, Hiei left the tense room and was outside with one jump off the windowsill. The space looked as if he hadn't even been there and all that was left were three boys who appeared to not know how to say what they needed to say.
"I never thought I'd say it, but I wish Hiei was here again," she stated the moment he was gone, making the others look at her with a confused twitch around their eyebrows, "Normally he is the one making things edgy and then you guys always manage to lighten everything up again."
"Don't pay attention to Hiei," Kurama assured, "He's just slow at warming up to people."
"I don't mind his attitude," Ame said, "It's you who aren't able to give me answers and rather look at each other like you made an attempt to murder me."
"Actually..." Yusuke started, ignoring the angry look from Kuwabara, "It might really be my mistake."
"How then?"
"I wasn't very pleased with your results and I thought we'd never get you prepared before the Dark Tournament in time..." he confessed and looked down at the junk on the floor, "So Koenma opted to put a certain type of steroids in your food. I should have objected... We didn't even know what kind of effect they'd have on you."
A long pause followed in which Kuwabara, against his nature, glared at the back of Yusuke's head.
"You know, if you had asked me I would have tried it your way too," Ame stared at him after the period of absolute silence, "You are the captain and I will do anything to get better."
"Besides," she sensed Urameshi's guilt weighed heavily on his shoulders, "isn't it quite illogical for pep pills to put me into a deep sleep?"
"We are still testing them and they seem to have a different effect on everyone," he shook his head and made his hand into a fist angrily, "It wasn't worth taking the risk."
"How long have I been taking those drugs?" she asked, not knowing whether she should feel cross with her captain or disappointed that she wasn't good enough without any chemical aid. By now, her eyes had adjusted to her surroundings. It was almost as if her ability to see had tripled, yet the light hurt her eyes more than it usually did.
"We only gave you one treatment... I don't think it has any effect left now. You're clean," the boy shrugged almost a bit thwarted, "It's not something you're supposed to take on a regular basis."
"Well then," she stated simply; her curtains rustled quietly and she could pick up every movement, "I won't be taking those pills any more. What's the big deal?"
"You hardly take anything seriously, do you?" the drapes fell in place again; the black shadow was barely visible in the shades next to them. Why he had returned she didn't know, but the immediately resumed snapping gave her the feeling he had not even left the room in the first place. The girl had no clue why he seemed so determined to break her and at times like these she wished she were verbally stronger.
"Glad you're here to join us again," she tried to ignore his words. Ame did not agree with the demon one bit; he obviously had no clue how determined she was about succeeding in her training. "Let me fill you in, in a way you will understand it."
Crossing his arms and leaning against the wall lethargically, Hiei dared her to continue.
"Pills bad. Ame no more taking pills. Ame healthy again," she spoke slowly and venomously, hoping her words got to him one way or the other, "What else am I supposed to do?"
He grunted, "And what about your training?"
"Clearly, those drugs weren't really helping there," the young woman kept sneering. Not pleased with how the situation was turning, Yusuke and Kuwabara repeatedly shot telling glances at each other; this was not going to end well.
"You really think you can do it on your own, do you? Without any help?" he asked her sceptically. Each word he uttered was starting to get to Ame more and more.
"Of course not," she put pressure on each word to try and reinforce her statement, "Why else do you think I'm here? I need guidance. No steroids, no drugs or - in your case - a horrible personality."
Hiei narrowed his eyes. Though Ame felt she was walking on thin ice, she was too stubborn to look away from the fight and continued shooting daggers with her stare, as did he.
"Why did you even come back here?" the girl asked, sick and tired of his attitude, "Or did you miss me already?"
"You need to start training again," he coolly stated, "You've lost too much time already."
"You're finally making sense," Ame turned her back on him and looked at her trainer questioningly, "What are we going to do today?"
"Nothing, until you put on some decent clothes," he grinned, referring to the enormous t-shirt she was wearing. Ame put her head under her blanket again; she didn't recognize the pants or top at all. Energetically, the girl jumped up and tried to dart to her bathroom. However, the moment her toes touched the floor her rubbery legs failed to function; all her limbs tingled slightly. Before she would hit the only place on the ground that had no rubbish to break her fall, Hiei snagged her by the wide green shirt and helped her back to her feet. Although, it was clear that he had rather dropped her.
"Think before you act, onna," he was laughing at her, without showing any expression. Ame had started to understand that flash in his red eyes; it was the same every time she failed. It was the same every time she convinced herself she would become better than him.
"Why don't you practice what you preach then, oni?" she retorted, regaining the feeling in her legs and prying her nightclothes from his tightly closed fingers. From that moment on she told herself she would show the world, and especially Hiei, what she was made of.

***

"You're doing a great job!" Yusuke fired the umpteenth shot at Ame, hoping she would be able to dodge in time. It almost seemed as if her speed had increased a little, but the detective shrugged it off as wishful thinking.
"I just hope I'll be able to keep doing a good job... which won't happen if you hit me with one of those!" to her own surprise, Ame managed to back flip her way out of a dangerous series of bullets. While she landed on one knee, scraping her hand and leg in the meantime, the others nodded in agreement � there was still some hope left after all. Ame had ceased to impress them earlier that day when she had conjured a shield of thunder before their eyes, but they all had to admit that their newest member was still improving gradually. Hiei remained sceptical as ever, as did Ame for that matter.

If no one had been happy about her progress or natural abilities, why had they even wanted to have her in their team in the first place?
The question had bothered Ame ever since her trainers informed her about the chemicals, which was now thirty-six hours ago. There was no doubt her "legal guardian" kept something hidden for her, even though she didn't have enough imagination to come up with a what or why.
When finally Yusuke had decided he had tortured and tested his apprentice long enough for that day, she was left alone on the training field with only her soggy towel to talk to. Doubting whether or not she would return to the living quarters already, she gazed at the west where the sun was slowly starting to set. Ame knew she would make her team worried if she didn't return before dark, but she couldn't help but feel drawn to the woods nearby. She bit her lip and sauntered to the edge of the forest before stepping deeper and deeper into the darkness that came with it. Not exactly knowing where she was heading, it was almost as if something was guiding her through the zigzagging labyrinth of trees and bushes. When the flora grew too thick to let her continue, the demon girl climbed into a solid pine with branches as thick as her arms. Though one wouldn't normally take her for the kind of girl to be amazed by nature's beauty, her mouth stood agape when she had finally climbed high enough to look over most of the other trees. The view was absolutely stunning; different shades of deep-purple and red weaved itself through each other as if they were waves of paint, stroked upon the sky canvas by a maniac artist. All she could do, was mutter a hushed "wow..."

That was all she could do indeed; Ame didn't even notice the presence of two youkai around her. It was amazing how something as natural as a day's end can capture you to the extent of not picking up the stench of a demon. It was only lucky for her one of them posed no threat, for it was merely Hiei who had followed her. He didn't know why, but he had started to take a liking to Ame and her stubborn spunk -- even though it was that same quality he loathed in Kuwabara. Nevertheless, there was no way he would ever show anyone his amicable feelings and all he was prepared to do was watch over his friends in silence. His crimson eyes had softened slightly, but that was only a fa�ade. All of his senses were strung, perhaps even more so than when he was in combat. Something in the atmosphere of the forest made him uneasy, though he could not pinpoint what it was that bothered him.

The second was a man, rather than a boy. With his features hidden by a dark-green cloak and his reiki masked, he didn't stand out in the forest-scene. A few of his golden locks peeked out from under his hood, but he did not brush them away for that powerful youkai guarding Ame would surely notice his movements. Judging by his small posture and bandaged arm, it looked like the girl had befriended a traitor to demons; Hiei of the Evil Eye. Impressive.
From the shadows, he watched Ame intensely, not knowing how to handle a situation for the first time in his long life. A frown adorned his handsome face as he thought about his nemesis. Seto had failed and betrayed him, completely misunderstanding the prophecy that had been handed down to their clan of demons for generations.
It was the first time in centuries that the Takana family had born two children instead of just one son. He could not take care of it as he usually would for he did not know the effect it would have. Tomasu would do no harm for now, he had noticed � though he still posed a threat. If he were to die and the responsibility would pass on to Ame... No, he couldn't think of that; who knew what things could happen if for the first time the gift and curse fell into the hands of a woman?
His only hope was that Ame would never be able to tap into even half of her potential and that Tomasu remained in chains. He turned, his cape swishing behind him, and headed north. Ame would have to die during the tournament, as would her brother.

Chapter 6

Wed, 31 May 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Chapter 6: Ghost of You

"Okay, are you ready?"

"Hai!"
"Shoot!"
Like she had done countless times before, Ame released a lightening-shaped arrow and managed to hit the Frisbee's edge, causing it to cease its original course. The red plastic disc fell in an awkward trail downwards, until it landed a bit further and got lost in a muddle of leafs. Kicking away a rock from the ring as if it was to blame for her misfire she frowned and cursed until she had no more swearwords left to mutter.
In the two days that had followed her bird-killing incident, the girl had trained non-stop with Hiei watching her back reluctantly while the others attended school in the other world. A lot of the power that had been suppressed by her own inability to control her feelings had been unleashed and she was proud of herself that she could master some of her energy at last. It had taken her a lot of work and, though she still needed to get better at aiming and focussing, her colleagues were somewhat satisfied with the visible improvement she had been showing. But that didn't mean she had to be.
"Try that again!" Yusuke yelled from the sidelines, ready to throw another discus into the air, "It's not supposed to fall down in one piece. You need to hit it in the middle and blow it up, otherwise a lot more birds will get killed."
"Gomen!" she rubbed her wrists and palms, which were starting to get irritated by the excessive use of her powers, and wondered whether Spiderman had these sort of troubles too, "I'll try to do better next time, but I'm not used to shooting this much in one day."
"You'll have to," the captain looked over to her and tried to ignore the tired aura Ame's whole body radiated. He knew as much as anybody how hard she now worked to prove herself to Koenma, but he would take it as a personal failure if she wasn't at her best by the time the Dark Tournament started. The way she was doing right now, the teen wouldn't last a minute in the ring.
"Urameshi!" the tallest redhead shouted over to his friend with a discontented sneer in his tone, "Give the girl a break, man! If she's too tired to concentrate, accidents are bound to happen."
"It's okay, Kuwabara," Ame waved off her fatigue dismissively and got ready to fire again, "If I can blow the next one up like I'm supposed to I'm pretty sure Yusuke will grant me some rest. Right, captain?"
With furrowed brows he nodded and agreed to the deal she just offered, nevertheless unenthusiastically. For a while he stared at the girl who was tiredly trying to find the perfect balance to aim. With a bit of luck, she would get better after the break instead of slacking, like he would have done. Then again, he reminded himself, Ame was not like him. The demon girl had much more to lose.
"Ready? Fire!"
Her eyes narrowed, she focussed and released another arrow from her hand. It was only the third time that day she managed to blow the plastic flying object to tiny pieces. Satisfied with her result she hopped off the platform and walked to the nearest tree, not even waiting for Yusuke's approval. From afar, it looked as if she collapsed, but when her team-mates rushed over and checked up on her Ame was already vast asleep.

Aoki had been on her mind a lot these last days, as she grew closer to her new friends here in Reikai. Team Urameshi reminded her so much of the friendship she had once won and lost that her spirits often sunk deeper than ever, though they were brushed off as mood swings. Not a day went by when she didn't wonder about why Aoki had decided to befriend her and how he had been able to see right through her attitude, as if he had known everything about her beforehand. How had it been possible for someone to be so much alike and so different at the same time. With mixed feelings that were bitter nor sweet, Ame thought about how he had managed to gain her trust so easily, and the time they had spend together as two outcasts. And the injustice of how he had been taken away from her not long after. After her parents had been killed and her brother had disappeared, fate had broken her once more by making her only friend vanish.
Why?

"So, I only have one question," Kuwabara pricked what looked like a piece of bread on his fork and stirred it around in the usual blue goop, "What made you able to finally fire that bolt last week?"
"I cleared my head and was able to listen for a change," Ame grinned, trying not to stare at her food. Though it tasted great again and was healthy enough according to Botan, she had not yet gotten used to the look of it and sometimes felt a sickening twist in her stomach when she swallowed. "I got some good advice."
"Do you have any ideas as to what your other powers are?" Kurama asked, now more eager to join in the conversation, which had not managed to catch his interest much before. As always, he was deeply inquisitive and yet subtle, withdrawn. Ame couldn't figure him out, but as long as he remained distant she would too. What she had seen at the previous Ankoku Bujutsukai had told enough about the powers of this fox demon -- though she found herself always eager to learn more when it came to fighting.
"Well, I already know I'm connected to some weather stuff, but I don't have full control over that yet. I'm pretty sure there are other things I'm able to do as well, I just don't know them," the demon girl scratched her chin absent-mindedly and downed a spoonful of blueberry gloop. She hadn't stopped to think of it as much until now, but there had to be more to her than sword-wielding and a bit of spirit energy � or at least that's what she wished.
"Why are you so sure about that?" Hiei posed sceptically and with mildly raised eyebrows. Out of the four boys, he was the most suspicious and showed that he had the littlest faith in Ame's potential. So far the girl couldn't care less about what he thought and said when the others were around; he had helped her before and that was enough for her to trust him now.
"My parents," she started with difficulty when she had swallowed her fourth mouthful, "They were very powerful and though I don't remember as much about them any more - "
"They died, didn't they?" the fire demon cut her short bluntly, "Trust only yourself and your own capabilities."
If a knob to shift spirits from cheery to tense had existed, it would have been safe to assume that Hiei had found it and turned it completely around. The sudden silence that crept over the table was high-strung and Ame decided gaping at her food wasn't as nauseating any more.
"So, yeah, I watched Universal Soldier again on television the other night. Man, that guy can fight! I believe he was European champion something once," Kuwabara tried to undo the Jaganeshi's damage, but there came no reply from the others. Sticking out his tongue to Hiei's turned back he shoved away his bowl and tried to come up with another subject to break the unbearable tension. If Ame had ever heard of any good action movies that could have concerned Kazuma, she would have helped him out in a heartbeat.
Yusuke cleared his throat, "If you've finished eating, we can go out training again."
Ame shrugged to point out it didn't matter to her. Still quite tired, she nonetheless agreed to the upcoming stroke of exhaustion the training would bring; there were many things she would rather do and many places she would rather be than sitting in the canteen that moment. "What are we going to do anyway?"
"Oh, you're going to love this..." he grinned mysteriously.

"Is this... your idea..." Ame panted as she wiped the sweat off her forehead, "of fun?!"
"Come on! You're not tired already, are you?" her trainer called out to her in a slightly sadistic voice; he seemed to be enjoying himself enormously with exhausting the girl and watching her struggle to keep running. Perhaps he was taking revenge on her for nearly breaking his foot on her first unofficial day in Spirit World. "Just a couple more laps and you'll be done for the day!'
"How many?" she dragged her feet over the gravel, making a lot of effort to keep up her pace, "I don't even... know... what good... this'll bring!"
"Less talk, more running!" Yusuke grinned so broadly she could see it from yards away, "You need to do two more laps to train your stamina and we'll close this day off with a little race against Hiei."
Much against her will, she stumbled her way to the finish � her one hundred and fiftieth lap -- where she threw herself on the ground and tried to catch her breath with a great deal of difficulty. Ame had never realised how awful her physical condition was until now; she had always been quite able to outshine humans and keep up with low-level demons. This, however, was torture for her.
"Ame, get up!" Urameshi barked at her, nudging her with his foot, "Now you have to run one more lap."
"What?!" she shot up instantly, feeling a stabbing pain in her side as she did, "Why?!"
"Do you have any idea how bad it is to stop running immediately?" he asked her sternly, helping her up to her grand frustration, "You always need to run a bit further to slow down. Then you need to stretch, otherwise your body will feel like hell tomorrow."
"If you just let my sit down now, I promise I won't whine about the pain tomorrow," Ame begged, as she thought nothing could feel worse than the ache she felt now, "Please?"
The look on the captain's face was stern and the demon girl realised she had to listen; it felt like she had been sent to an army under supervision of the cruellest officer. Biting away her discomfort, she shuffled ahead at a snail's pace before she was finally granted to stretch and rest. How was it possible for a punk such as Urameshi to be such a strict coach?
"Now, are you ready to race Hiei?" he asked her, offering a bottle of water which she gladly accepted, "You definitely need to work on your speed."
"N-nani? I thought you were kidding about that!" Ame exclaimed, shocked, "There is no way I can keep up with him! Certainly not like this..."
"Which is why we must work on it. I need to see how much you still need to improve, so I'll need to compare you to Hiei."
"You'll get a bad result when I'm this tired, even if you'd compare me to Kuwabara," she muttered, sipping the bottle of water grumpily. Ame had never expected her training to be so tough; Tomasu always made it sound so easy.
"The girl's got a point," the said redhead told his friend, looking down on him a little, "You're really being a slave driver at the moment."
"She'll still have to do it. She'll go through a lot more pain at the Tournament if she isn't properly trained," he turned his back on Kazuma and Ame, going through his pockets to find his chronometer, "Hiei, are you ready."
While there came no reply, the fact the hybrid-demon was standing on the field relaxed as always was a good enough answer. Kuwabara patted Ame on the back and took his usual place far away from the possible danger zone, watching how the girl walked over to the race already lost.
"On my whistle, you can start," the captain stared at his clock, "Three... Two... One..."
The whistle sounded, the race begun... and Hiei had already disappeared, leaving Ame behind in a cloud of dust. Grumbling, she quickened her pace knowing that if she couldn't win from him her pride wouldn't let her lose ungracefully. From what she saw now and what she remembered from the last tournament, the fire demon was holding back his full speed much like he had done the day she had fought at the warehouse. Ame tried to empty her head again, but her pace remained the same; she couldn't go any faster.
"Forget what you've been told," she heard somewhere, though she wasn't sure whether it was coming from Kurama or Yusuke, "Focus on your inner demon. That's where your strength is."
Completely clueless, she tried to understand what they could have meant by that. She squeezed her eyes together, running so hard the force she needed for it made her cry of exhaustion. Forgetting everything she had been told; how was that possible? Ame could only try her best. Running harder than she ever had before, she finished half a minute after Hiei, falling over he own feet when she did.
"Could have been better," Yusuke stated unimpressed; he didn't even offer a hand to help her up, "Just for your information, I know better trained demons who finish minutes after Hiei. Don't worry about it."
"Are you alright?" Kurama towered above her, looking at her worriedly through his green eyes, "Do you need any help?"
"No, I'm fine," she stayed down where she had fallen, breathing in and out heavily. The dust she inhaled prickled her throat. "You just go to wherever you need to be and I'll find my way to Koenma's on my own."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive," she closed her eyes and felt like she was going to vomit; something she didn't want to do with witnesses around, "It's all good."
It took a minute before Ame couldn't hear their footsteps on the gravel any more. Three minutes before she could get back up. Five before she gave up on keeping her lunch inside her stomach, realising why they had been feeding her basically liquid food.
"You didn't listen to me," thought Hiei to himself, standing in the shades of the court, forced to watch over her from a distance as she stumbled back to her room, "Then you'll just have to do without my advise from now on."

Where am I?
Ame raised herself and looked around in utter bewilderment. Judging by the familiar-looking grungy streets and the ominous twilight, she found herself in the alley next to where her apartment used to be. Feeling anxious she got up from the pavement and started wandering through the streets of her old neighbourhood. She rubbed her arms vigorously, trying in vain to get warmer. After spending such a long time in Koenma's world, she now saw how bland the Ningen-kai she had always taken for granted really was. There were no human beings walking the streets; no cat, no dog, not a single sign of life. In every house, the lights had been turned off and it seemed as if everyone was still vast asleep. The only thing casting shadows on the ground was the dimmed light of the lantern pole she was standing next to.
How did I get here?
The second question arose just as easily as the first one. She had no memory of going back, nor did she recall ever wishing to do so. Had someone sent her here for a mission and had she forgotten all about it? It seemed very unlikely, even Ame had to admit that.
"Ame..."
The girl twisted around, as if to expect the self-satisfied image of Hiei standing somewhere beside her like a black shadow. There was nothing to be seen, only the wind hauling a plastic bag over the streets. Not daring to turn her back on anything, her eyes shot to all directions while her nerves were more high-strung than ever. A cold hand grabbed her wrist; an event proceeded by a high pitched screech that echoed through the entire block. Yanking her arm away, Ame could now see who had seemed to bring her here. Her eyes grew wide as she looked at him in angst; it couldn't be...
"Aoki-kun?" she tried to whisper, in a voice that shivered audibly from the cold glow coming from him, "Is that really you?"
It did not answer, but Ame distinguished in spite of the darkness surrounding her the familiar features of her old friend. The apparition she saw bore the square jaws and round nose of Aoki. His messy black and red dyed hair seemed to have remained untouched since the last day she had seen him. This could not have been an illusion; this was too real...
His stare pierced through her; his eyes had changed to something hollow and sinister. It made him look empty, soulless, nothing like the friend she had known before. The colour of his usually bronzed complexion had weakened to a pallor that only death could bring to a man. A glimpse of the teeth in his grinning mouth showed a yellowish shade that had not been there in her memories. Gradually, Ame became conscious of the truth.
"Ame..." he uttered again, reaching out to her with his freezing death-touched hand. Water filled the girl's eyes when she heard how even his voice had not altered, "Come with me... Join me..."
"I'll go wherever you go..." she heard herself say, though she could not believe she meant it as well. He looked so real. He moved like Aoki. He talked like Aoki. Couldn't there be a chance, if only it was a tiny one, that he had come back? Slowly, her hand melted into his and the coldness of his touch slithered around her arm like a reptile. Her legs were shaking below her; it felt so cold... so cold...
Her lungs rapidly filled with cold air, as if she were inhaling ice instead of oxygen. She couldn't keep herself straight any longer. No, this wasn't right... He was gone; she had to let go. There were people depending on her in the land of the living. She pulled back her fingers quicker than she had entwined them with Aoki's.
"Nande...?"
Ame shook her head to his question and backed away from him, before turning around and walking away to where she remembered she could find a portal. She had to find a way to get back before she would be missed. Though she had heard the high hissing of a thrown shuriken, she had not stopped in her steps or tried to dodge; friends didn't attack from behind the last time she checked. And yet, a razor-sharp pain went through her body when she felt the tip slice through her flesh.
For a while she swayed from right to left rhythmically until she sank to her knees in the middle of the road, when another throwing star hit her in the neck. She looked back, her arm raised, and for once took the time to aim. When she finally gathered the courage to shoot, the arrow hit him full in the chest. With grief Ame witnessed the light illuminating his body before it vanished as if it had never been there.

She grabbed the edges of her mattress when she woke up in a panic again and tried to soak in the reality of the room around her. Through the half-open curtains she could see the sun had been up for a long time already. The few strands of ivy that had been dangling in front of her window gave away she was still in Reikai. The nightmare that had awoken her slipped through her memory rapidly and it didn't take long before she had forgotten everything about it. It had just been another horrible dream, whatever it had been about. Carefully, she rubbed her neck, wondering why it ached so badly. When she stared at her fingers in the beam of light that had fallen over her bed, she saw that they seemed ruddy of bloody. However, when she blinked, they were still as pale and clean as always...
Ame couldn't understand how, with all the advice from Yusuke, she still felt this sore over her entire body. She even felt it in muscles she didn't knew existed.
Knowing that today would be just as tiresome as the day before, the girl was even more reluctant than usual to get up and out of her bed. With a few more hours left before the others would arrive to work her half to death, she found training the ache off a better idea than simply waiting for it to get worse. Gnashing her teeth, difficultly convincing herself her body was immune to pain, Ame began running laps around the arena and comforted herself with the idea of getting good enough and then never having to do it again.
If only the same theory counted for her dreams...

Chapter 5

Sun, 30 Apr 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Chapter 5: Thunderstruck

"Don't you think it's a bit... strange?" Ame asked her captain as they arrived in the living quarters. The room was round and large, though it only looked that way because there was barely anything in it. Placed upon the shabbiest of cupboards the girl had ever seen was en even tinier telly that showed the seven o'clock news. Right next to it there was one of many bean-bag chairs that looked like it had served as a punching bag before. The three couches still seemed as good as new. It wasn't at all cosy; on the contrary. The empty white walls reminded her a lot of a hospital, but it was at least better and cleaner than her own dump.

"Strange?" Yusuke echoed, obviously not paying as much attention to the conversation as to the news broadcast, "What is?"
"Well, that thing attacking exactly where we were..." she couldn't think of a better word than "thing" to describe the horrid creature she had seen. Ame had heard of these beings before; she was almost certain there was a necromancer running loose in Human World. "It was as if it knew we were going to end up there, even though it wasn't planned."
"Why would that be strange?" he dumped himself on one of the cushions that lay randomly on the ground, which made the space at least a little more inviting. A loud groaning, which would have sounded painful to Ame were it not that she had seen the pleased smile on Yusuke's face, escaped his mouth, "When you become a Spirit Detective you just have to get used to the fact you are a target for demon attacks as well. It's part of the job-description. Koenma just fails to mention it every time we have a new one joining."
"But what if I get attacked while I'm alone?" Ame asked worriedly. She wasn't a bad fighter, but there were so many things she still had to learn and so many demons that were far out of her league. As an addition to that she couldn't even control her own powers or Spirit Energy yet. "I can fight with my sword, but you guys took it away and I-"
"That's why I said you should train," he cut her off in mid-rattle and threw her a brand-less soda can, "You have a little less than three weeks, but you'll make it if you let us help you."
"What is this?" the youkai posed her umpteenth question. With every reason to; Ame was very suspicious about the drinks she got pushed in her hands.
"Just drink it and relax. Koenma is letting you stay home from school to train, you lucky bastard," he muttered the last part, "There will be enough time to worry and even more time for questions tomorrow."
"Who's going to train me?" she couldn't stop once her curiosity got the better of her, "What am I going to learn?"
Yusuke groaned again, "Ame, could you do me a favour?"
"Sure."
"Never miss a good chance to shut up."
"Alright," the girl grinned sheepishly, "Yusuke?"
"Yeah?"
"Just one more question, err... sir?"
"Shoot," he sighed and took a long sip of his own can, sinking deeper into the pillows.
"Where are the others?"
"Now there's a good one..." her captain sat up straighter, "Maybe they went to the canteen for some snacks?"
"Or maybe they got attacked by one of those zombie-things again."
"Now, don't go expecting the worst right away..."
"Yeah, listen to your captain," Kazuma came in, his arms loaded with shiny bags full of sweets, "We ran into Botan. She said we deserved some treats."
He nodded his head towards the rearguard where Hiei and Kurama were pelted with brightly-wrapped candy as well, "It took us a little longer, because Hiei tried to kill her."
"She could have been a zombie," the Black Shadow stated dryly.
"Right..." Kuwabara threw a bag of crisps to the Detective, who spilled most of the orange liquid he was drinking on his uniform because of this, "Oopsie."
"Great job, Kuwa," Yusuke grumbled, taking off the wet vest, "Now I can take a shower again... You'd better do the same, Ame. You smell like death."
"My thank you, sir," Ame said, sniffing herself, "So thoughtful of you to point that out."
"You aren't really going to call Urameshi over there "sir" all the time, right?" the redhead snorted, "He really doesn't have that high a position, you know."
"But what am I supposed to call him then?" she asked looking at each boy in turn, "It would be a lot easier if I could just address you all the same."
"Why would you want to do that?" Kurama, who had stayed silent throughout the whole chatter, dumped his load on the ugliest of the couches, forming a pile that covered most of the mustard-yellow cushions. Looking down on the black and white tile floors she ran through all the possible answers that would sound smart. The truth was Ame firmly believed addressing them impersonally would stop her from getting close to them too soon, hoping she would not endanger them this way. In reality however, something inside her had already accepted them as friends.
"It's just a gut feeling of mine," she stretched herself and sat down on the floor for a moment to rest, "And I always trust my gut feeling."
"Almost cost you your life when you were fighting Seto," said Yusuke, placing himself not too far away from her and the others.
"And it saved yours when we were fighting the zombie thing," Ame retorted as she snatched a crisp from one of the many open bags, "I could have fought Seto too, if I had had my swords with me..."
"But the fact is, you hadn't," the older red-head chimed in, his voice reassuringly calm, "And you need a lot of training before you can beat a demon like Yuy on your own."
"I know," she sighed, "And I'll do anything to get as good as you guys."
"Really?" Yusuke smirked hopefully.
"Almost anything," she poked him, "So, no, you're not getting in the shower with me."
"Aww..." he pouted, but the girl only grinned at the sight and left to where she remembered her room was.

Ame couldn't recall a moment her hair hadn't been damp or wet since her arrival in the palace, be it of sweat or rain. Twirling a soft towel around her head, she hopped on the couch next to a (for a change) gel-less Urameshi, who was fighting with Kuwabara over the remote control. It didn't take too long before they rolled onto the ground, where the wrestling for the almighty toy continued without anyone actually paying attention to the thing itself.
"Don't you guys ever get along?" she wondered, bending over to pick up the control a metre away from the struggle, "I thought you were best friends."
Kazuma found a way on top, pressing down his mate by the face; his other hand had gotten lost somewhere in the criss-cross of limbs, "Of course we're friends! Can't you see?"
Shaking her head, she tried to figure out how the telly worked; she hadn't had one at her place and her parents had never approved of such "random entertainment". Ame wondered as she zapped through the channels whether or not the humans had already found Seto's body and if they ever would. Even though she knew plenty about Koenma and his way of handling things, she had no clue how he dealt with the evidence his detectives left behind. Because she never waited around too long to see she wasn't even sure demons actually left traces behind after passing. Two women pulling each other's hair, one trying desperately to scratch out her opponent's eyes with her polished nails in the process, grabbed Ame's attention instead.
"See, this doesn't look like friendship to me," she pointed to the screen, "Now does it?"
"Oooh, Jerry Springer!" Yusuke pushed off his pal and placed himself straight in front of the TV, "I love that show!"
Screaming and shrieking the blonde woman pulled down the shirt of her black-haired rival, bearing an uncensored breast; "Why am I not surprised?"
"Boys will be boys," smiled Kurama, looking away from the small box, "They're always like this, but they're real softies. Better get used to it."
"I figured something like that..." she claimed the entire couch for herself, "So I guess I'll adapt."
"Hey, that's my seat!" Yusuke jumped up and nudged Ame's legs, "Where did your respect for the captain and all go?"
"Over the hills and far away?" she grinned, "Besides, Kuwabara is the one who really took over your spot."
"Sweet, they don't even censor that!"
"What, what?!"
"You are too late, my friend."
Sniggering, Ame closed her eyes for a while. Things had passed by mighty quickly, she thought. Technically, this was her fourth night at the palace and she already had lost track of all the events that had happened the last few days. It wasn't that her life � or at least the two previous years � had ever been boring, but this was just insane. Normally she would have crossed a weak demon or two every month or so, but at the moment she was actually living amongst them. It was hard to even believe they let her in so quickly. She had helped to defeat one of the people who had made her life a living hell, found her brother to then lose him again and fought the living dead... all in a couple of days?
Was this how the life of a spirit detective was supposed to be?
She loved it already.
"Are you asleep, kiddo?" the team captain grunted, turning down the volume of the final fight of the show. There had only been one couple left � most likely the woman used to be a man, judging by her appearance � and it had been time for Jerry to close off while dodging flying chairs thrown by the guests. In reply, a staccato whirr escaped Ame unintentionally in discontent.
"I'm not a kiddo..." Ame murmured, dozing off further than she already had. Realising she was still half-lying/half-sitting in the couch, she opened one eye to see the very last flash of the television-show.
"And until next time, take care of yourself and each oth �"
"Yeah, yeah. Bye, Jerry," Yusuke grunted while giving the telly a good whack to turn it off, "I say it's time to sleep."
"Here?" she looked around; there were no blankets in sight and, even though it was still reasonably pleasant at the time, it wouldn't remain warm through the night.
"Hai," he hit Kazuma over the head with a pillow, "Right here."
"None of you sleep in the nude, right?" Ame became doubtful about the splendour of her original idea, "Because that is the last thing I want to see."
"No... Do you?"
"Don't sound so hopeful, Kuwabara," she set herself somewhere in the corner, far away from the rest. Even though she was still rather frightened by the mere idea of the zombie-like creature, she didn't exactly feel like joining an almost all-boy slumber party any longer. Though she was sure Hiei wouldn't have had the slightest problem with sleeping alone, he too occupied one corner of the room and seemed to have fallen asleep instantly. Hopefully, that would be just as easy for her, because tomorrow she'd finally start her training.

***

"Why don't you ever tell us anything about yourself?" Kuwabara conjured his spirit sword with such ease it made Ame mad at herself. How was it possible a demon such as herself � though inexperienced � was not able to do anything but wave around a sword clumsily? No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't form anything with her reiki and she could see her trainers were not pleased. Few thunderclouds trooped above the grounds, as usual when she was being tutored.
"Because there's no time for that. We need to train," she replied, "I'll tell you whatever you want to know after the Tournament."
"I'm starting to think we shouldn't focus on spirit weapons with you..." Yusuke mumbled, trying to remember all the wisdoms Genkai had passed on to him � clearly, he was having a hard time, "Have you ever wondered what you could do with that weather? It seems to adapt to you, doesn't it?"
"I've tried, but my parents didn't want me to unleash my power... They were afraid of something," she shrugged and hoped it would pardon her weakness, "Besides, Tomasu has been restrained his entire life and he managed just fine even as a detective."
"But he never entered the Dark Tournament, did he?" Ame had never thought Urameshi to be such a strict and precise coach, "You wanted to be as strong as us, so you have to train like us."
"Hey, Yusuke..." Ame snapped her fingers, remembering how her brother had once been able to conjure thunder, "Can I try something?"
"Sure..." he sighed and sat down tiredly, "We've been training for four days already and you still haven't been able to show us any of your powers. We might as well try it your way."
"Great!" she became cheerier instantly and ran towards a lazy-looking Hiei, "Could you show me where my weapons are?"
"I can't do that," he answered briskly and without any other undertone than annoyance, "I thought you had become smarter than that by now."
"And I thought you had grown sick of standing here, doing nothing all day long by now," she replied angrily, crossing her arms and looking him into the eye as if to dare him, "Unless you want to spend another week here, watching me accomplish nothing?"
"I'll be right back."
Ame grinned; only a week had been needed to know exactly which buttons to push when dealing with the Jaganeshi. Apparently, he was not a very patient person. Waiting for her weapons, whichever Hiei felt like bringing along, she sat cross-legged in the gravel of the court. Out of all the places she had had to fight on, this underground was one of the most difficult she had encountered so far. The pebbles of red grinded bricks slowed down whichever moves she decided to make, causing her to be in no way equal to Urameshi with his well-trained street-style and spirit-energy. Hopefully, her idea would work, though she didn't feel quite as confident about anything any more.
A tattered, old sword was thrown before her. Blinking her eyes a couple of times, Ame looked up from the ancient-looking wood around the blade to the demon in black, "This isn't my sword."
"And the sun isn't green," he replied monotonously, "Words are useless when you're only stating the obvious."
"How am I supposed to fight with this, wise-guy?" she pointed a sharp claw at him, "I'm used to my own stuff."
"Why don't you try it first?" Kurama picked up the item as the girl half-heartedly got up. Though she had rather fought with her own katana, she saw no use in sulking either and decided to act more mature than she truly was. Taking over the weapon, she was aware of how extremely light it was and how perfectly the hilt fell in the palm of her hand. In many ways it felt the same as her own, though the missing guard would make it hard for her to unsheathe it properly. When she took it from the saya, which was still vaguely decorated with a list of kanji-symbols, she noticed the cutting edge was on the side that curved inward.
"You gave me a sakabato?" her eyes became wide, "I can't fight with a reverse-blade sword!"
"Tough luck for you," Hiei shrugged, hopping into the thick crown of leafs of his tree again, "You need to focus on your spirit-energy now, not on your general fighting skills. This is just to make sure you don't hurt anyone. Not that you could."
Ame hissed rather serpent-like and showed him her balled fist, "I'll show you how much I can hurt you, you little..."
"Get over here, kiddo," Yusuke diverted her anger towards himself before she could chop off Hiei's big head, "Show me what you had in mind with that sword."
With a metallic click, she fully sheathed the sword again and clambered up the arena, ignoring the wooden crate used as a step that Kazuma had dragged out. The redhead shrugged and placed it a bit further for him to sit on. Dusting off a few grains of grinded stone from his light tunic, Kurama placed himself at the sidelines exactly between the two opponents.
"Hajime!" Ame vaguely heard the start sign coming from his mouth, but forgot to take advantage of Yusuke's slow start as she was thinking about too many things at once. Barely in time, she stepped aside to dodge one of the captain's well-aimed attacks; the orb of light smashed a thick tree branch to smithereens. The repressed anger of before gave her such a sudden boost of strength and spirit, she could feel herself thoughtlessly charge at Yusuke and forgot about bundling her spirit energy. As she tried to withdraw her sakabato and slash at her opponent in the process, she too late realized this was the wrong kind of sword to use for battojutsu, as the blunt side of the blade scraped against its scabbard. Ame's plan of drawing and striking swiftly and in one single motion failed miserably, giving Urameshi another chance to shoot his rei gun. Clumsily, she hopped from one foot onto the other to avoid damage until, eventually, she stumbled off the arena.
"Matte!" Kurama yelled, stopping the fight in the girl's place.
"Ame, are you okay?" the spirit detective followed her example, though with more poise, and landed on his feet next to the fallen girl. Too bushed and disheartened to protest, she grabbed the boy's hand and allowed him to pull her up. Her failure almost made her cry; why couldn't she do anything right?
"Ame?" he repeated her name, but she kept staring at her shoes solemnly and firmly as if they would run away without her. Swallowing back her emotions, she shrugged off the dirt and worried comments, and jumped back on the platform.
"I'm fine. Let's fight," she mumbled, having troubles with putting away her sword. Cross with herself, she threw away the saya in a bush and held the weapon itself in both hands. With strict eyes, she stared at the polished steel until a faint and barely noticeable white spark travelled from the hilt to the tip, "I will focus on spirit before power this time or I will drink a thousand needles."
"I will keep you to that promise," Yusuke took his place in front of her again, "You could have injured me pretty badly if Hiei hadn't given you a reverse blade."
"Sumimasen," Ame mouthed apologetically, not in the mood for raising her voice.
"Don't be so angry," the demon girl heard Hiei's voice, but didn't realise where it came from. He was still sitting somewhere between the leafs and there couldn't have been any way for him to bring across the message that clear. Recalling the powers of his jagan, she continued to listen carefully to the advise he was giving, "If you lose yourself to your emotions during fights, you will lose the fight as well."
"Are you ready?" Kazuma had taken over the role of referee by the time Ame was done with making strange faces over Hiei's words. His voice sounded rather pleasant in a way. "Fight!"
Unlike the previous time, Ame was prepared for the attack and managed to sway her sword around like a baseball bat. Now, it was Yusuke's turn to dodge his own spirit gun. Trying to think quickly and focus all at once, she wanted to send her ki to her weapon, but did not succeed -- something which she had gotten used to.
"KUSO!" she ran across the borders of the arena, away from the series of shotgun-orbs. Feeling how mad she once more became, Ame stopped in her pace; the gravel under her soles made her slide a bit further than she had wanted to end. She stared at her captain, who had no problems keeping up with her but who did not attack nonetheless. Breathing in and out deeply, she became calm and her ability to think more clearly rose. There was no reason to be heated, for Hiei was right about losing control during fights, even if she didn't want to admit his wisdom. A murder of crows threw black specks of shadow across the ground, but there was no one who looked at the birds when they passed over. She nodded; Yusuke sent out another sequence of spirit energy to her. As rapidly as she could, she spun her blade around until it made a safe barrier in front of her; a couple of small bullets of yellow light drove her back. Grunting, but satisfied with her inventiveness, Urameshi gave up on his strategy and shot one forceful spirit gun at the girl. Ame took a step back, but did not give up on her original plan when she finally saw how electricity was starting to generate around the blunted side of her blade. With what almost sounded like a battle cry - but which was actually just a roar of frustration - the demon pointed the tip of her sakabato at her opponent and released a clash of lightening. If she hadn't become so overconfident, her captain would have been hit straight in the chest. However, now her attack merely went over his shoulder and Ame cursed herself for not aiming.
"That was wicked!" Kuwabara shouted, giving two thumbs up while the detective was still recovering from the surprise. Yusuke blinked and looked to where the attack had gone. A black bird had fallen down not far from the ring, dead; for once, the captain was very happy his student had missed indeed.

Chapter 4

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Chapter 4: Living Dead Girl

"My goodness!" Botan exclaimed when she arrived in the hallway, Hiei still close on her heels, "You look horrible!"

"Thanks for the compliment," the demon girl whispered weakly, sweating and pale of blood loss; the cut had been worse than she had thought. Even after ten long minutes of helpless waiting, the bleeding had not ceased and the red liquid could not be held by the cloth any longer. Thin rivers of blood seeped over her arm and chest; the pain slashed through her when Botan lightly touched the wound. She felt like a rag doll, hardly able to lift a finger.

"Take the cloth away, so I can see it," the reaper tried to pry Ame's fingers away, "Oh, good gracious... That doesn't look too good."

"Less talk, just do something about it," Hiei stared at the gaping wound; clearly he hadn't thought it was this serious either.

"Okay, okay," she reached inside her obi and fished out a dark brown bottle, "Now, hold still..."

"What are you planning on doing with that?" Ame sputtered, backing up against the wall as much as she could when she saw the disinfectant-soaked tissue come closer to her neck, "I thought you had healing powers!"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Then why do you need that smelly thing?" she stammered, eyeing the cloth suspiciously as another bead of sweat rolled down; salt in the wound.

"I'm not taking any risks with you," the spirit of death replied vaguely, "Besides, it would take too much energy for me to heal you like that. Now, sit still!"

Carefully, she took the handkerchief away. With a surgical precision she dabbed the injury, held the gash closed and taped it together with thin white strips of sticking plasters. Like an angry cat, Ame hissed every time the reaper touched her even though she could feel the pain taking off little by little.

"There we go..." Botan wiped off her hands on the towel covering her now slightly bloody kimono. Packing up the first-aid kit, she ushered Hiei to help Ame up, "Now you need a shower, food and some rest."

"What time is it?" the demon girl needed all her energy to make her legs obey and had no power to spare to lift her wristwatch-arm; she did her best not to lean on Hiei too much. "I need to go to school... I'll get kicked out!"

"I'm pretty sure Koenma-sama will handle that," Botan smiled, "After all, he is you legal guardian at the moment."

"Legal guar..." Ame started, her voice trailing off, "Hey, hold on! What's going on here? What do you mean?!"

"Ah, yes... You're not informed yet," she giggled nervously, "Doesn't matter, you'll find out soon enough. Let's just say, Koenma-sama likes to handle thingies like this very quickly."

"Why am I always the last one to be informed about stuff?" the girl wheezed, feeling her knees shake, "This is absolutely ridi-"

"Ah-ah-ah," the reaper niggled and, with a fairly jumpy gesture, nudged the Jaganeshi, "Please take her to her room, Hiei."

"But-"

"Would you rather have me put you in the sick bay so H-" she started, but changed her mind about that phrase extremely quickly when she saw Hiei's red eyes shooting her a telling look, "the nurse, I mean, can give you a sponge bath?"

Ame opened her mouth to give a witty response, now that she finally had one up her sleeve, but Botan granted her no chance to protest, "I didn't think so. Now, go to your room and take a shower. I'm pretty sure that you'll heal very quickly. I'm surprised you didn't already, with your demon blood. You should really eat something you know. And put on a different shirt. You can borrow one of mine if you want--"

"Get me out of here," the girl whispered to her support, wondering how someone could rattle like that without stopping to take a breath, "Before she puts me in something pink and fluffy."

"My thought exactly..." he muttered, guiding Ame away while Botan kept chattering to herself, not noticing her listeners were leaving, "Don't expect a ride though."

"Are you insane?" Ame grunted, "I do have some pride you know..."

"Really? Hadn't noticed..."

"Oh shut up," she said, focussing on the ground and the fact her feet --and not her face-- were supposed to hit it. Amused for the second time that day, he smirked, though Ame did not notice this time. Maybe that was for the best, for she found nothing funny about this situation.

"Thanks," she stumbled to the door, her limbs still heavy. A bit of colour had already returned to her face, but the few unstable steps she had to take to reach her room showed she was still rather feeble.

"You look like you still need help," the youkai stated, not as much worried, but triumphant.

"I'm fine," Ame closed her fingers around the doorknob; she was not going to give Hiei the satisfaction of having to call Botan again, "Just fine, I don't need your help."

"Oh, really?" he crossed his arms and watched in rather cruel glee how the girl had to close her eyes to stop the hall from spinning, "Then why are you about to go into the detectives room?"

Sneakily glancing up, she noticed the sticker on the door: "Urameshi Yusuke, Spirit Detective/Team Captain." How could she not have noticed that?

"Now, do I need to assume you can't read," the Jaganeshi sneered, "Or am I right about you needing help?"

"I... Hey, you took me here!" the teen scratched around the border of her band-aid, hoping she looked confident enough, "Perhaps you're the one who needs help, huh?"

Without changing anything in his expression, he stepped aside and nodded his head towards the brand new label on the door against which he had been leaning.

"Oh... Like that, eh," Ame cleared her throat and stared at the "Takana Ame, Team Member" sign, feeling a strange sort of pride. She had never imagined to see her name printed on a door like that, as if she were of any importance.

"Think before you speak," he declared coldly, "Or I'll need to believe my first thoughts about you were right."

"Oh, yeah?" she huffed, crossing the hall quickly so she could hold on to her own door, "Then tell me your thoughts if you dare, Jaganeshi."

"Tch, you'll get along perfectly with carrot-top and that loud-mouthed buffoon," he turned around and walked away hard-heartedly, "And the rest is, as you stated so diplomatically before, for me to know and for you to stay up at night boohooing, because you'll never find out."

If she had had more blood left after the meeting with her brother, it would have boiled. She turned the handle and grumbled, "At least those two are fun to be around... sort of. Can't be said of you, you dim-witted cross-bred mongrel."

Whispering that last bit, hoping Hiei had not heard, Ame went inside her room to flop herself on the unmade futon. From what she had gathered, the youkai was pretty touchy about his past and it was best if everyone kept quiet about it. No one knew for sure when he would turn into his full demon form -- a very powerful state in which he turned green and became covered with eyes -- and the things he could do then... Ame rather didn't think about that.

The newest member of Team Urameshi recovered fast; faster than anyone had expected. Though her demonic genetics and Botan's indisputable first aid ran away with most of the credit, Ame's drive to prove herself to her new friends had helped restore her health within a day; a long day in which the normally very active teen had been pushed back into bed multiple times by various ferry girls, who did not believe her when she claimed to be completely healed.

The girl hadn't heard much from Hiei or the others, save for Kuwabara and Botan who had popped in their heads for a second. Ame didn't really complain; she wasn't too sure of herself and socializing with new people sounded only a little more appealing than jumping off a cliff.

On her third day in Spirit World, she was released from her dreary cage, both physically and mentally. Now that she had recovered and several healers had examined her, Ame was allowed to walk around freely in the palace. Also, she received some good news concerning Tomasu, who was luckily still well and oblivious about what his other self had done. Though she could not check up on him, she had started a slow process of trust building towards Koenma and didn't ask questions about his guardianship over her.

With no idea as to what to do with her time, Ame had decided not to disappoint any one any longer and had felt the strange need to do something as a part of her training that day. However, a twenty seconds-lasting rapping on her door disturbed Ame in her studying.

"Ame? Are you still alive or did Hiei kill you?" Kuwabara asked through the thin wood; she could hear Yusuke yell ("Leave the kid alone, idiot!") behind him. Snatching a sock off of her desk lamp and putting it in-between the pages 12 and 15 (someone had ripped several papers from the book before she had bargained it on a jumble sale), she threw the "Self-Defence for Dummies" on her futon.

"I'm fine!" Ame wasn't sure whether to unlock her door for them or not, "What do you want?"

"Erm... Do you mind if I come in? This is a bit awkward. I'm not used to talking to doors."

"No, this pervert is more comfortable with talking to girls' breasts," a clever reply came from Yusuke, making Ame let out a soft chuckle; these people were pretty cool.

"No, you can't. I'm naked!" she lied through the keyhole, still not wanting to come out. The demon girl had heard too much of these people to let a short conversation slacken her guard.

"Really?" Urameshi sounded enthusiastic and audibly pushed Kazuma aside, "Where are you standing?"

"Right next to the door, you idiot. I'm not stupid," the girl snorted, "What's the matter?"

"Oh... kuso."

"How quickly can you get dressed?", Kuwabara continued casually as he kicked his captain away from the door, "We're having lunch in the canteen in a couple of minutes and I want to go back before Yusuke has eaten it all."

"I'll be there right away," Ame said after a short while, wondering if she should go with them now and be sure to actually reach the cafeteria, or give herself some more time to prepare for the "social activities".

"One..." she took a deep breath, "Two... Three. Let's do it."

If it hadn't been for the large green characters above the double doors, Ame would have passed the nearly empty refectory ten times more than she already had. With a sucking noise, the doors opened when she pulled the handles forcefully and she saw Yusuke and Kuwabara already stuffing their faces with food. Not saying a word, she placed herself a bit away from the rest and instantly got a plate thrown before her as if it had dropped out of thin air. Blinking her eyes a couple of times in surprise, she poked the bluish gloop with the spoon that had clattered down next to her hand a second after the dish. Her face said more than a thousand words that moment.

"You've come to the wrong place if you wanted a five-star meal, kid," Urameshi said promptly, flinging his spoon in the empty bowl, and burped satisfied, "It looks like crap, smells like crap and normally I'd say it tastes like crap, too... But it really doesn't."

Cautiously, Ame stayed silent and scooped some of the goo up; Yusuke hadn't lied about the looks and scent, so maybe it did taste decent. To her great astonishment, it tasted better than anything she had ever had before in her life, excluding her mother's cooking as far as she could remember.

"Cat got your tongue?" the detective kept urging her to speak. Swallowing the cream, which started tasting more and more like apple-pie with every mouthful she took, Ame smiled nervously at them and parted her lips to speak. Lacking anything to say, she snapped her jaws shut again and stared at her plate.

"Tough crowd..." he muttered, leaning his chair on two legs while taking a sip from his tea, "You like the crap they've given you?"

She nodded.

"Okay," he sighed, "I guess you're one of those quiet types then... I thought you'd be a lot more talkative from what I've seen at school, but it seems like we've got bad judgement. Right, guys?"

No one spoke and an awkward silence followed. Kurama coughed. Kuwabara scratched his nose. Hiei just sat there, staring at everyone. The bowls vanished.

"Hey, what happened to the plates?" Ame exclaimed, staring at the place where her food had been before she took a dive under the table to check if it had perhaps fallen through, "I wasn't finished with that!"

"It speaks!" Yusuke joked, "Sing Hallelujah!"

"Erm, Ame?" the oldest boy, Kurama, started in his smooth voice, "They're not under there, you know..."

With a head as bright as a stoplight she sat up straight again and let out a quiet snigger, "I'm sorry... I'm not used to this much hocus-pocus in my life."

"That wasn't really magic," the redhead explained, smiling warmly, "It's just a complicated form of physics that makes the plates dissolve the moment there is no more food left. You see-"

"Physics is magic to me..." the girl muttered, not interested in all the complicated formulas the boy was most likely going to sum up. The others laughed. They thought that was funny? Maybe they really weren't so bad after all.

"I'm Takana Ame," she introduced herself with a bow, "But, you knew all of that already, of course..."

"Still good to hear it out of your mouth instead of out of Koenma's..." Yusuke snorted, "You know all of us, I assume?"

"Yep," Ame beamed proudly, "Urameshi Yusuke, Kuwabara Kazuma, Shuichi Minamino and Hiei. Koenma's best Spirit Detectives and members of team Urameshi."

"You've done your homework," the team captain said, nodding approvingly.

"You can call me Kurama, Ame," Shuichi smiled again; it made Ame nervous. Was it normal to smile that much? The only person she knew who did that, too, was Botan. And that was not the best person to be compared to.

"I know that," she stared at the boy intensely, "I know almost everything about you guys."

"Is that so?" Hiei asked her, not as much joining the conversation as questioning her on his own.

"Uhu," she uttered, "The important stuff at least... I've wanted to join you guys ever since I've seen you fight after -- after Tomasu became a Spirit Detective."

Folding her hands, she started staring in front of her again, wishing she hadn't brought that up. Everyone but Kuwabara turned their heads away and tried to come up with a different topic; it almost seemed like Koenma had ordered them not to talk about Ame's brother. For a long while, he just sat there and stared at his new team mate until his gaze started to irritate her.

"Yeah, keep staring, Kuwabara. I might do a trick," she almost sneered at the poor bloke.

"I'm sorry," Kazuma muttered, "So, Urameshi, when are we going to train this one?"

"I guess we can start right away..." he took a look at his watch and sighed, "Or maybe tomorrow... I'm sure my mother's not at home, but I think it's safer to check it out. Keiko will be worried too."

"Anything's fine with me," the tallest redhead shrugged, "It's not like Shizuru really cares about what I do..."

What a peculiar bloke, Ame thought; doesn't he know that he should be glad to have family left at all? She studied him more closely; Kazuma was quite muscular, with lean but well-developed arms and wide shoulders. Wondering whether or not a simple human could ever stand up to him, she let her eyes scan the others as well.

This would become her new family.

Everybody except Hiei had gone, off to their homes and families, and Ame was left alone in her room again. The night weaved an indigo web over the clouds until the silvery moon and stars stood out. For the second time forgetting about the martial arts book, she stared outside and wondered if Tomasu could see it too.

When she still lived alone she could do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted, but now she realised all of that was over. However, she wasn't sure if she minded all that much. She felt like she belonged somewhere again; a feeling that had been long lost.

The scent of wet grass seeped through her half-open window like perfume. Not thinking about the consequences, Ame opened the window further and crawled out, her legs swaying over the sill. As she looked down, she found out it wasn't all that high. Perhaps she could take her chance and jump down...

She lowered herself; the ground came closer. It felt like a safe height to drop herself, and so she did. Landing in the soft wet earth, she too late questioned how to get back upstairs, but the view took her away from those problems shortly after. In fact, she forgot about all of her problems.

It started raining: little drops made circles on the smooth surface of the water in the pond until they became heavier and soaked her clothes. She knew the weather often changed when she was unable to control her emotions and, just like the climate, the demon girl did not know how to behave in this new place. Her parents had often spoken of everything in Reikai, but she wasn't sure if she would ever fit between the demons.

Another lightening bolt lit the area around her, accompanied with a clash of thunder.

Blankly, she stared at the floor from which she came and heaved herself up. If she wanted to be able to train tomorrow, she would have to catch some sleep. Slipping away every once in a while Ame crawled back up.

"I hope this is the end of the nightmare," she sighed, dropping her head on her pillow. Ame became encircled with the damp strands of her hair as she sunk away in the cushion. She had considered getting it cut more than once or twice, but it had never happened. Though it almost reached to her tail bone now and it became very difficult to fight with, the fact she reminded herself of her mother like this kept her from cutting it.
Everyone was gone now, replaced even as Koenma was now her 'foster parent', but she would give anything to go back to how it used to be. Who was she kidding, saying she didn't care about her parents, her brother or what happened?

Was it Ame's fault? All the ones Ame loved or cared about had suffered. Seto Yuy and Heero Tsuzuki had killed her parents -- she firmly believed that -- and her brother had been tortured to get to her. And then, there was Aoki... he, too, had died.

"Maybe I truly am cursed..." the demon rolled on her side. It was the last thing on her mind before she fell asleep.

She was standing in the middle of a clearing; there was only void space, nothingness, emptiness. Nothing else mattered besides the oblivion. Rain started trickling down again, turning into a downpour.

"Not again!" she groaned, wondering how she had ended up in this place. Ame tried to move, but she could only stand there, numb. "What is happening?!"

The scenery around her slowly changed; a circle of fire flared up from the sand, licking her outstretched fingers. Her feelings returned, she felt herself grow warmer.

Slowly, the sun rose; a red ball of light, burning her skin and taking away the rain. Under her bare feet, the grains became hot. She realised the clearing was nothing more than a desert, a wilderness that would be the end of her.

"Get me out of here!" Ame howled, dropping to her knees, but the sun laughed at her, mocking her cries, "Why are you doing this to me?!"

Outside the ring of flames, two marionettes appeared out of nowhere. Her cheeks wet from tears, she stared at them as they dangled lifelessly from the strings. They started dancing; one was small, the other tall. The invisible puppeteer turned them around and showed their faces. With a pained expression, Ame noticed the dolls represented herself and her brother. They hugged when the master of puppets showed himself; Seto Yuy. Cackling he slashed through the strings with his blade. The marionettes caught fire and slowly burnt to ashes.

This had to be a dream, she told herself, watching how the image of Seto faded away. But why could she not wake?

A breeze blew away the ashes when they mingled with the sand, putting the fire out. Like a cobra, a film-strip wound itself around her. Within the black and white snapshots, she could see herself and her family acting like any other. It was a bitter-sweet movie, the girl thought sadly as the strip kept twirling around her. As the band closed in on her, taking most of her breath away, Ame let out one last cry... until it was over.

The demon girl woke up, bathing in cold sweat and panting heavily. Her eyes stung from tears as she covered them with her clammy hands. Still a little shaky, Ame pushed away her covers, afraid of falling asleep again, and glanced at her watch. It was six o'clock; a reasonable time to get up. She was rather eager to open up the curtains and let the light fill her room. The darkness resembled the one in her dream too much.

So, this was not the end of her nightmare; Ame shivered and huddled up in a ball in the corner of the room. This was only the beginning.

If anyone had told Ame at the start of the term that people would talk about her even more than they already did, she wouldn't have believed them. Nevertheless, this was the case when she returned on Friday from three days of retreat. Of course it didn't help that the mysterious new students, whom the girls found ever so handsome, had started to hang out with her during breaks. The teachers, however, treated her no different and kept doing their very best to remove the blemish on their school that was Ame Takana.

The day crawled forward; another thing that had, unfortunately, stayed the same despite the many changes Ame's life. Before the last bell rang, Ame had already packed her stuff four minutes faster than ever before.

Hiei did not go to school with them any more now that she had joined the team, but no one really minded. One could not exactly call the hybrid-demon pleasant company and even Ayame, a very languid ferry girl, would be seen as a ray of sunshine compared to him. However, for some reason, he still had to tail the gang at all times. During classes, Ame often found him wandering the grounds or sitting on a rooftop when she looked outside, but she didn't dare ask the Spirit Leader for an explanation. Who knew what the answer could be?

As they walked back to one of the many portals hidden in Human World, the girl remained a little behind. She felt no need to talk to anybody or to get to know them. After all, she did know almost everything about them already.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Kuzama asked in that piercing voice of his, but Ame just shook her head. She needed a lot of time to adjust to the people around her; all the nasty experiences her naivety had brought her had made her quite a paranoid person.

According to her sources, the closest portal should be somewhere under a rock in a forest, but Yusuke appeared to be leading her elsewhere. Somewhere in a narrow alley in the less-safe suburbs around the school, a portico was hidden behind one of many garbage cans. Without saying a word, Ame jumped in.

After the butterflies had died and she landed on solid land again, she noticed she hadn't been transported to Reikai at all. Instead, she ended up by a lake.

"This isn't Spirit World. This looks like Ningen-kai..." Ame murmured to herself, before she felt someone pick her up. She kicked and screamed as if her life depended on it; anything to make Yusuke drop her.

"Let's see if we can lighten up that damn attitude of yours," he just snickered, and threw her in the lake with some difficulty. The water splashed around, making his clothes wet as well. Gasping for air, Ame came back to surface.

"Wait until I get my hands on you, Yusuke Ura-" she stared angrily, treading water to stay up. However, the girl didn't get the chance to say more or finish her phrase, for something pulled her back down. Immersed in the unclear water, Ame opened her eyes to be confronted with a ethereal face grinning wickedly at her. Few bubbles escaped her mouth and rose up when she opened it to scream. Struggling she noticed a white hand, which was wrapped tightly around her ankle, was keeping her from swimming back up.

Another hand appeared in the water, close to what she assumed was the surface. After grabbing it quickly she pulled herself up, until she was able to breathe again. She coughed up as much water as possible, but some had already found its way to her lungs. Thankful, she squeezed the hand that was still in hers, but Hiei hastily pulled it back.

Ame looked down at her feet and couldn't help but to shriek; she had not imagined the ghostly features under the water after all. With its thin fingers still firmly around Ame's shoe, the corpse-like creature lay next to her on the grass. Panting, she looked at it in pure horror as Kuwabara let out a cry of revulsion when he saw the nearly rotting body.

"D-do you need help?" Kazuma stammered, looking at Ame who was trying to pry the fingers off her ankle, trembling.

"There's a bloody dead person practically glued to my foot! What the hell do you think?" she yelled at him. The hand let go; finally. Ame swiftly pulled up her legs and hugged her knees, rocking back and forth to mask her uncontrollable shaking. Yusuke looked away from the corpse in disgust, but that was nothing compared to poor Kuwabara, who had disappeared in the bushes and was retching audibly. The other two appeared to remain unmoved by the unexpected rise of the dead; Kurama was even examining the body.

Another yell echoed through the valley, this time coming from the far-too-curious redhead. Once more everyone's eyes were drawn to the corpse, which had opened its eyes abruptly and had stood up. It deformed its rotten face to the sickening grin Ame had seen before.

Hastily she scrambled up and shot behind the Jaganeshi; this was not the time to think about pride. She didn't care who was going to protect her, as long as someone did and she lived to tell the tale. Out of nowhere, Kurama conjured his rose-whip and Ame let out a relieved sigh. The green-eyed boy was very skilled with this weapon... at least so she thought. No matter how many times he slashed, the fox-demon could not cause any harm to what used to be a living man or woman.

"I think you need something with Spirit Energy to kill it," Ame thought out loud, backing up as the rest did, too, "Something like Yusuke's Spirit Gun."

"I can't!" the teen said, taking yet another step backwards to the portal, "Yesterday's mission took all my energy!"

"What about Kazuma?" the young woman asked, keeping her eyes on the battle as Shuichi tried to keep the corpse back, "He's got a sword!"

"He used all his reiki yesterday, too..." he panicked slightly; he hadn't been faced with anything like this before, obviously. No one had, "Can't we just escape through the portal?"

"No," the girl said quickly, already in her role of Detective, "It might come after us and terrorise Ningen-kai. How about-"

"I can't control my dragon, not for this..." Hiei grunted before the question was asked, clicking his katana out of it's scabbard, "Why don't you try something, know-it-all?"

"But, I can't control my Spirit Energy like that! Never tried before..." Ame admitted ashamed.

"Then keep your wise words to yourself," the Black Shadow attacked, but his weapon, too, had no effect. Perhaps it was the right time to try it now, the demon-girl thought fearfully while her colleagues tried to fight and she could do nothing but watch. She tried to focus, but the fear took away her abilities. Why couldn't it be a cute little bunny instead?!

A thin crackle of energy itched in her palms, but she could not concentrate long enough to make it into anything that would be effective.

"Spirit Gun!" Yusuke yelled, in vain, "KUSO!"

"Urameshi!" the teenager shouted for her captain, "Get over here, I've got an idea!"

"This had better be good..."

While the others continued fighting - Kuwabara getting most of the injuries without his Spirit Sword - Ame explained her plan to the boy as fast and calm as she could. Losing no time, the Detective aimed at the creature, "Hold on tight to my shoulders, Takana."

"Kurama, Hiei!" a ball of light formed around his fingers, "Kuwabara, get out of the way!"

Again, he called out for his Rei Gun. Though Ame seriously doubted she had seen it correctly, it was as if the corpse looked at the approaching sphere of energy in terror before it got engulfed by it. Bathing in the bright light, it took a few last desperate steps in their direction before it fell to its knees. One final time, it let out a cry before it dissolved into pure nothingness.

"Everyone who wants to leave this place now, say 'aye'!" Ame spurted to the portico as fast as her body would let her, previous to the loud outburst of "ayes" that followed.

"There's a Necromancer at work," Ame told her superior and guardian. Again clasping her legs and hiding her face behind her knees, she was sitting in the darkest corner of the room. She had been faced with many demons -- many stronger than today's enemy -- but the terrifying image of the corpse and the knowledge that even the Spirit Detectives sometimes still had trouble defeating its foes had given her the shocker of a life-time.

Kurama had been telling the whole story, but all Ame wanted was to forget about it as quickly as possible. That would be necessary if she ever wanted to sleep again. Yusuke had a slightly green shade that matched his vest; it would have looked comical if the girl wasn't so sure she had the same expression and colour. Like so many times before the only one indifferent to the situation was the Black Shadow standing in a different corner. Was he really this intrepid and fearless, or was it all just a fa�ade?

"Maybe it's for the best if Ame stayed inside until Summer-break. She can stay at home for the week that is still left. It's not like she'll miss anything and I don't think she would mind," Koenma suggested. Happy to hear that good new, she stood up and bowed deeply and gratefully.

"Thank you, Koenma-sama," Ame turned to her team-mates, slightly flushed, "You guys, this is a really embarrassing question, but could somebody stay with me in my room tonight? I don't think I would get a lot of sleep alone..."

"I don't think any of us will get a lot of sleep," Kurama replied softly, not giving away whether he was scared or just disgusted. Ame doubted he was as taken aback as he claimed however. "So why don't we all sleep in one room?"

"That sounds like a good idea to me. It gives you a chance to erm... bond," the Spirit Ruler agreed, "Nothing better than a sleepover after defeating a zombie for team spirit. Or was that after a zombie-movie..."

For a moment, it became quiet while everyone stared at the junior-leader blankly.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat, "Very well, I will inform your family in Ningen-kai. I'm sure they won't mind. You're dismissed."

"Alright, guys," Yusuke spoke to the others when they were outside the office, "You all go to the living quarters. I need to discuss something with the newbie."

Ame looked down at her sneakers, listening to how the sound of footsteps died out. Her captain was most likely going to punish her for not being able to conjure Spirit Energy, she thought. After all, that was one of the first things you should be able to do.

"Well, Takana..." he started, his arms crossed as he looked down at her. She couldn't see it, since her shoes were still more interesting than Urameshi's unmistakable glower, but she could feel it. "We'll have to work on that Spirit Weapon of yours, won't we?"

"I'm sorry... I should have been able to beat it. I'll work on it, I promise!"

"Hey, easy there..." Yusuke held out his hand, waiting for her to shake it, "I just wanted to congratulate you."

"Huh?" the young demon looked up surprised, "But why? I almost screwed up big time!"

"Are you kidding?" he asked, grinning, "You did a great job. I hadn't thought of transporting energy like that by the lake..."

"I read about it somewhere..." Ame smiled awkwardly, "I erm..."

"I'll report this to the toddler," he tried to slick back his hair again, but the water had messed up the gel completely, "You'll be a great Detective one day."

Restoring his attitude to cool and casual, he started to walk away, "You want to wander through the halls alone here?"

Ame shook her head vigorously.

"Then follow me."

"Yes, sir!"

He laughed, "That's more like it!"

Chapter 3

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Chapter 3: Blood On My Hands

The light of the watery sun shimmered through a crack between the curtains, causing the slightly snoring demon to rise. Throwing her pillow at the window, she glanced at the humming alarm-clock; it appeared to have been mended in a rather sloppy manner, though she had no recollection of doing such a thing. In fact, she had little recollection of anything happening during the last week at all.
"I hate mornings," she muttered under her breath. Coughing and shivering involuntarily, she stomped her sheets away. It was only 5 o'clock in the morning, even too early for mister Takahashi to hammer the girl out of bed, and Ame wondered what could have possibly stirred her.
Normally, she would still be sleeping, but there was something different, something wrong... Ame shrugged it of and looked around her room, not entirely sure what she was planning to do on such an ungodly hour. Like most teenagers she had become nocturnal and, now that the sun was rising again, she felt the strong urge to crawl back under her covers for the remains of the day. However, sleeping without being bothered by certain things or people, she thought bitterly, was just not a wish that would be granted for her.

Ignoring the mysterious throbbing pain in the back of her head, she took a closer look at the drowsy reflection that stared back at her in the mirror. She quickly pulled a shirt over her head and hurried out of the bathroom; she might as well go to school and perhaps score some food along the way.

"Shimatta, where is that stupid book...?" Ame mumbled to herself, lying flat on her belly to ransack the floor behind her futon.
"Looking for this?" an even, but amused voice asked. Ame raised her head so quickly in surprise, it bashed against the cold steel bottom of the table next to her sleeping place.
"Kuso, that stupid thing!" she yelped while clutching her now even more hurting head; it felt as if someone had just whacked her skull with a sledge hammer. Cursing and swearing in a most unladylike manner, she glared at the place where the sound had come from. Leaning against the doorpost was Hiei, holding a tattered book in his hands casually. A pleased and tremendously cocky smirk seemed to be the only facial expression he could manage. Her eyes widened and she started to shout at him in horror.
"Nande kuso?! Why are you here?!"
With an expression that showed she was thinking or in great pain, most likely both, her hand reached for the bump in the back of her head; the wheels started turning until at last the girl's jaw dropped. She rushed over to the window and opened the curtains with a fierce yank. When the sun had stopped stinging her eyes, Ame noticed with an unpleasant shock that this wasn't the normal view she had from her bedroom window.
There were no grungy roads below, no broken street lights or cars chugging through the street; this was Enma's outstretched garden Ame was looking at. Her fingers clasped the thick fabric tightly as she was having a hard time restraining her anger. Trying not to pull them down with ridge and all, Ame closed the curtains again and pinched herself. With only one eye opened in an almost desperate flicker of optimism, she peeked outside again; Enma's garden was still there.
Out of all the times the Spirit Leader had tried to get his chubby little fingers on Ame for who knows what reason, this one surpassed them all. Meanwhile Hiei had stopped showing any interest and all that was to be read on his face now was a look of mild boredom, as if he had expected more entertainment than a small girl in a state of catatonia could give. Finally, she snapped.
"Oh, you'd better sleep with all your three eyes open tonight!" Ame hissed venomously, her eyes narrowed into slits behind which a dangerous flame seemed to burn. The black shadow in front of her, however, was not the least affected by her behaviour. In fact, it appeared as if everyone in Spirit World had been execting her mood swings. Growling, she reached for her tanto, but realised she hadn't thought of putting it in her belt that morning. What was even worse, when she looked around, Ame saw that all the weapons she kept safely on their displays had disappeared.
"Where are my swords?" the girl took a deep breath and tried to come over as serene as possible. This would take years off her life, she thought, feeling how her blood pressure rose dramatically.
"They have been confiscated," the hybrid demon stated simply and, as if he read her mind, added, "Koenma has locked away your brother as well."
"N-nani?" she stuttered, feeling how all the hope she had cherished for a normal life faded away, "Why?!"
"You will have to discuss that with Koenma," he replied in a voice that pointed out he simply did not care, "I'm not the right person to inform you on this."
"Could you bring me to him?" Ame felt so small, as if a curse had shrunken her to the size of an ant and she was looking up to a human who could squash her, "Please?"
Giving a small nod, he started marching and led her through the many halls and corridors of Enma's castle. On the outside, it looked a lot like the palace of the Japanese emperor in Ningen-kai, but the inside was just a large labyrinth in which even the smartest demon could get lost. Not minding the awkward silent-treatment Hiei was so kind to give her, Ame attempted to memorize the route for the millionth time to stop her mind from drifting to her brother, but it was clearly impossible. Left, right, right, middle-fork, right, left, Koenma-sama's office. Finally.
Once again, they reached the same huge doors Ame had seen yesterday and, when she opened them without knocking, she saw Koenma sitting behind his desk reading through some papers and tramping a stamp on them forcefully. He had apparently stamped "DENIED" in bright red ink on all the documents lying in a neat stack next to him. There was no time for her to think about such things though, as Koenma interrupted her thoughts by stomping another paper with a loud thump.
"I was expecting you, Ame," he said, without looking up, and put a green clover with the word "GRANTED" in it on a file that seemed to come from Botan, "You could have knocked, though. It's impolite to storm in like this."
"G-gomen nasai," she apologized, looking down with stern eyes that didn't give away the emotional hurricane she tried to suppress, "What do you mean with that?"
"That I am, believe it or not, the ruler of Spirit World and I demand resp-"
"Why were you expecting me, Koenma?" Ame rephrased, cutting him off impatiently.
"Oh, that. Yes," the brown-haired teen took his pacifier out of his mouth and put it next to his stamps, "You left so quickly with your brother yesterday I didn't get the chance to explain about Tomasu."
"Then tell me now!" she shouted suddenly. Her already sharp and long nails looked threatening as her hands contorted into claws; few sparks of electricity escaped her palms. Preventing her from ripping Koenma to pieces, Hiei held Ame by her elbow. Glaring, she shook his hand away and tried to relax her fingers.
"I will, if you calm down," King Enma's son answered evenly and with the most mature air he could master. It was hard to believe that the man sitting in front of her now had still been a little toddler with huge brown eyes the other day. Why he preferred that shape over this one was a mystery, but Ame did not dare ask him about it. What she needed now, were answers to other, more important questions.
"I'm sorry, sir," she mumbled, feeling herself shrink once again. There was hardly anything left from the attitude she had given everyone before, "It won't happen again."
"Good," he sighed, picking up one of the stamps and putting it in his mouth, realising too late that his pacifier had lain besides it and he was sucking ink, "Oh, shimatta...!"
"You see," he grabbed a paper tissue from one of his drawers and wiped off his mouth and tongue, "The thing is, the moment you left, Botan came in with an interesting piece of information..."
Ame made a face; why couldn't he just go on?
"We believe your brother has been possessed," Koenma folded his hands and smiled sadly, his lips still vaguely green, "Either that, or..."
"Or what?" the demon girl backed away, as if she could escape the situation by doing so. Hiei didn't even notice when she stepped on his foot; he, too, was listening carefully.
"Or it's something worse," he finished rather weakly, "We're still examining him."
"But..." Ame started, "Who would... who could possess Tomasu?"
"Well, when Seto Yuy was killed yesterday, his spirit left his body. However," the boy continued his explanation, "Botan informed us yesterday that none of the ferry girls brought his spirit to Rei-kai. So, either he didn't have a soul or..."
"...he lives on in my brother?" the girl stood there with such shock her pupils had shrunken into minuscule dots floating in a sea of dark blue. Without Ame realising, Hiei had put his hand on her shoulder for support, seeing as she was wobbling slightly; everything spun so fast in her head.
"Is there no way we can get the spirit out of Tomasu's body?" she asked hopefully, begging she wouldn't faint. Koenma shook his head, this time shoving the right thing in his mouth. Vaguely she recalled her brother mentioning something about the Spirit Leader storing his reiki in that pacifier, though she had no clue why she had to think of that now.
"Not without killing him, I'm afraid."
"Then there is no other way. I will enter the Ankoku Bujutsukai, Koenma-sama," Ame declared suddenly, surprising both boys, "And I will make sure we win. I already know what to wish for."
"You've got the basics down," the Jr. Leader replied after a short pause, "But you need a lot of training."
"I will train every day, if needed, sir," she told him, determined.
"Then I gladly welcome you to the team, Ame," he plucked another tissue from the box and wiped his mouth again, "I hope your victory will still be in time to save him."
"I..." the lass started, but closed her mouth and bowed, finding she had nothing to say, "Thank you, Koenma-sama."
Koenma nodded as Ame said this, immediately calling for George to bring in toothpaste and a brush, "We will have to put your brother away for a while. You do understand that, right?"
"Hai," she was looking at the ground again, hoping to find something interesting on the white tiles, "C-can I see him?"
"It might be a bit dangerous," Koenma gargled and spit out greenish foam into a bucket the ogre was holding, "We can never be sure how he will react to your presence."
"I'm willing to take the risk."
"Alright then..." he opened his mouth and checked in the mirror if there still was some ink colouring his teeth. Grumbling, George left the office with all the equipment when Koenma gave him a short nod. "I guess that, with the necessary accompaniment, it will be no problem for you to visit him from time to time."
"Arigatou," she thanked him gloomily and more than ready to leave and sulk in her own misery by staring at one of the grey walls of her room, "Can I leave now...?"
"Yes, yes," he waved his hand, "You just go take a rest so you can train and go to school tomorrow."
Ame nodded and left the room in murky silence with Hiei by her side. Though she had almost enjoyed the silence before, now it only pressed on her shoulders as if she was burdened with the weight of the world.
"Do you have any siblings, Hiei?" she asked, digging her hands inside her pockets, not knowing what else do to with them. Reluctant to explain about his history or his sister, the youkai just shook his head and decided the ceiling was more interesting than a conversation with Ame.
"So..." she tried to converse with him again, "Is there some sort of kitchen in the living quarters?"
No response.
"Okay... You don't have to talk," she mumbled, rubbing her faintly purring belly, "Just taking me there would do, too."
Ame didn't know whether Hiei would lead her to a canteen of some sort. She didn't even know if the message had actually gotten through. The only thing she could do was follow; the girl was pretty sure she'd get lost trying to find Koenma's office again, even though it was only three turns away.
"There's some food in the cupboards, I'm not sure if carrot head left anything whole in the fridge," Hiei grunted all of a sudden before he placed himself against the wall to stare outside. Ame, who had been looking down the entire way, raised her head and noticed he had, indeed, taken her to a sort of kitchenette.
"Thanks," she said indistinctly, opening the first cabinet within her reach and snatching a paper bag full of almost moulding buns.
With only Hiei to keep her company, the girl felt rather alone as she nibbled her bread roll absent-mindedly. For a long time she did nothing but stare blankly until her eyes became dry and welled up with tears; while she blinked them away quickly, Hiei had left his place next to the window to stand in front of her. By and by, she could feel him gaping at her.
"Would you stop that?" Ame asked tonelessly. Mumbling few incoherent words when Hiei didn't cease staring her, the girl finished her bun and cleaned the table.
"What kind of nonsense are you blabbering, girl?" he asked suspiciously, following Ame around. Undoubtedly, he had been forced by Koenma to keep a close eye on her.
"That's for me to know and for you to stay up at night boohooing because you'll never find out," she replied, not paying attention to the feeble look of irritation on his face. Without the slightest clue as to where she was going she started wandering around the castle.
"Why do you keep following me?"
"I have to baby-sit you," he told her, smirking slightly because he knew it would annoy her, "Koenma's orders."
"This day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" Ame groaned; it would be a miracle if Ame could live through one more hour with the fire demon. All she wanted now was to be alone in her room or spend some time with her brother. Although, perhaps, if she were alone she would think too much about the iniquity of the world.
"Hiei!" an oni ran past them, panting as he held halt next to the Jaganeshi, "We've been looking for you."
"Hn, what's the matter?"
"Tomasu..." Ame's eyes widened as the ogre said this, "He's out. We couldn't stop him. Right now, you're the strongest demon in the palace. We need your help."
Without saying another word, Hiei followed the messenger. He had already taken off the white bandanna covering his Jagan and Ame knew he was searching for his reiki inside the palace; it wouldn't take long for him to find Tomasu, but what would happen after he did?
"I want to come too!" Ame yelled and ran after them, hoping she could keep up. But, soon enough, her 'babysitter' had sped off and she was standing all alone in the hallway. What was she supposed to do now?
The girl didn't know where to go or what to do; the only thing she could think of was stand there and wait for someone to return. However, before she realised something was going on, she felt herself being lifted from the ground with a yank. The blade of her own wakizashi was pressed against her throat firmly and blood started to trickle down, staining her already red shirt. Ame was mindlessly struggling with her feet kicking in the air until she managed to look up long enough to see it was her own brother pinning her to the wall. He looked different; his hair was washed, combed and tied in a neat ponytail, but this sign of civilization didn't take away the maniacal gaze on his face. It showed there was, undeniably, a good reason to lock him up. Even his familiar eyes showed he was possessed.
"Tomasu, it's me! What are you doing?!" Ame managed to shriek at him, making the blade cut her skin even deeper, "Let go of me!"
Without breaking a sweat he tightened his hold on his sister, making sure she could not move a muscle. So this was what happened when his powers were unleashed, Ame thought fearfully; his grip was so strong she didn't even dare breathe.
Hiei rushed towards the sound of her yelling to find Ame frozen with horror and shock while her brother was aiming to kill. Distracted by the black shadow, Tomasu loosened his hold on his sister's body for a split second; enough for her to grab her chance. As she ripped herself away from the grasp, Ame found a way to kick his knees the same way as she had done with Seto. Breathless and dead tired of only doing this, she had to stand back and watch how Hiei knocked her crazed sibling's pressure point in the neck with his katana. The girl was sure he could have done that faster and without her having to attack Tomasu herself, but none of this situation made sense in the first place.
"Sorry, bro," she whispered hoarsely, touching her own neck where the wakizashi had been only a moment ago. Her fingers were quickly covered in blood, but she was more worried about the unconscious body on the floor. "How will we get him back?"
"I'll take him to his cell," Hiei said, throwing her a black cloth, "Hold this to your wound to stop the bleeding. I'll get Botan to heal you."
With a rather grumpy look on his face when he said this, the youkai left with Ame's brother on his back. She slid down the wall and held the handkerchief to her wound as told, soaking it gradually. Feeling sorry she had eaten anything at all, she waited for the Jaganeshi to return with a queasy feeling in her stomach.

Chapter 2

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Chapter 2: Yours to Lose

This was the only chance she would ever get to save her older brother. The worst possible outcomes played and replayed before her eyes. Countless times, the images fell to a thousand pieces, came back together, formed different pictures like a mosaic. If she missed this opportunity, if she failed in her quest, she would most likely never see her brother again. Two years ago, finding him and taking revenge had been her sole reason of being. Now, she had the chance to complete that goal. Maybe she could finally start leading that peaceful and normal life with what remained of her family. Ame would not let the possibility of a happy life, regardless of how small that sparkle of hope was, get ruined by any pitiful demon. No matter how powerful her opponents were, she would prevail... at least she prayed she would.

Careful not to appear suspicious, she ran through the halls until she reached her locker. After pulling it open in such panic she was surprised the entire row was still stuck to the wall behind it, Ame started rumbling through it while cursing her untidy nature. Balls of paper flew everywhere as she looked for some sort of weapon she could use to defend herself with. Soon, they were followed by some Physical Education clothes, some odd-smelling socks and a lunch bag that had probably lain there for months. Finally, she found what she was searching for. Ame put a scarf around her waist and tucked in some shurikens; though she couldn't actually work with those, they looked cool and threatening at least. Mad at herself, she realised the only weapon she owned and could use still lay on its stand at home.
Her tanto, wakizashi and katana were the few artefacts she owned which had belonged to her parents. Together with her necklace, a silver dragon pendant with blue gems, the swords were Ame's most prized possessions. However, there was no time for nostalgia. All she was concentrated on that very moment was getting to the address and finding Tomasu; so concentrated even that she didn't sense the otherwise startling amount of reiki behind her. Ame didn't have the slightest clue that the boys had sneaked out of the busy classroom to spy on her for reasons unknown. Ignoring the weird twist in her stomach, the demon girl sprinted to the school-exit. The Spirit Detectives were so close on her heels she could actually smell them, but it was too late to put a stop to it now.
She was going to finish what Seto had started.
Inside the now empty hallways of the school, a camera buzzed silently. The little red light flickered for a moment as the camcorder followed every one of Ame's moves while she left the building.

Seto was watching all of this, unmoved by her sudden change of character. He was a tall man, probably about six foot three when he was standing. Now, he was just relaxing in his leather stool while he watched the little television that showed Ame. Amused, the man folded the long thin fingers that so suited his entire body; Seto Yuy was so lean and elegant one would believe he was a dancer rather than a fighter at first sight.
"I guess there is still some sensitivity in that icy heart of hers. Don't you think so, Tomasu?" his voice sounded cold and cruel, almost too cold for even a demon.
He was talking to a boy � a filthy and dangerously scrawny fellow of maybe eighteen years old � in a less comfortable-looking wooden chair. For two long years, the young chap had been imprisoned by this man. All this time, he had been told that Ame had become a killer of weak demons, but he never did believe it. He could not comprehend that the little sister he had always had to protect would slay her own kind. It was all just so very confusing for him. He had been locked up for so long he didn't even understand a lot of things the guards spoke of anymore and he was often glad to hear Seto speak in a way he was able to comprehend. No matter how he tried though, the young man couldn't believe that girl he saw running was the cold murderer he had heard so much about.
The boy was completely tied up, with a piece of cloth (an old sock one of Yuy's followers brought in when he was on guard duty) in his mouth, but he was still able to scowl at Seto harshly. Tomasu looked a lot like Ame; he had the same midnight-blue eyes, the same jet-black hair and the same angry expression on his face. He did not even know why he had been emprisoned in the first place, nor did he understand Yuy's murmuring about prophesies and power. However, he did not dare ask anything, for he knew that somewhere along the dark stone hallway, lit by flickering TL-lights, terrible tortures took place. Often, Tomasu heard the lashing of whips, always followed by the constant screaming and moaning of other prisoners. Many had died there; he knew, for he had seen their dead corpses laying there to rot when he first found out the punishment for his inborn brutality.
No one questions Seto Yuy.

Ame noticed Hiei had closed in on her without breaking a sweat. She knew he could have gone a lot faster and stoped her effortlessly if he wanted to, but he didn't. As to why they were around in the first place she had no clue and she started to panic slightly. If the Spirit-Detectives remained here it would make the situation a lot more complicated than it already was.
At long last, she arrived at the address: an old storehouse. Feelings like angst and fear buzzed through her head like a nest of killer-wasps, but she tried only to think of her brother. If there were traps, she would consider them when they happened upon her. However, it seemed as if the building was a trap on its own already. The roof looked like it was about to collapse if another pigeon would join the flock that sat on top and the door was only half hanging on its hinges, dangling slightly.
By now, the entire gang had arrived and were standing behind her. She had never seen the members this closely before. Kuwabara, the tallest of the lot, was looking at the building with raised eyebrows and ruffled through his ginger hair. It was clear he wasn't very confident about all of this. Nervously, the captain of team Urameshi rubbed his neck and glanced at his mates.
"Did Koenma explicitly say we had to stick with her?" Kazuma Kuwabara murmured semi-quietly to his friend, bending through his knees a little since Yusuke was shorter. Apparently, he didn't know what to say and decided to answer with a half-nod half-shrug which made the tallest boy even more confused. Not even wondering why Koenma had ordered them to tail her, Ame took her first steps into the cool shades of the warehouse while the team stayed behind, instead of following closely like Ame thought they would.
In the corner of her eye, Ame saw something moving by the stairs; Seto Yuy. She put herself in a fighting-position, thinking about how stupid she had been to leave her swords at home. Clumsily reaching for the throwing stars, Ame awaited the enemy's first move, as an arrogant and eerie chuckle filled the storehouse.
"I see you have finally arrived Miss Takana," the voice said in a heartless tone, "I was wondering if you still had the courage to show up."
"You're the right person to speak about courage," Ame snorted sarcastically, more mumbling to herself than to anyone else. The soft clink of metal against stone subdued her voice when Ame took a step forward and hit a stray iron bar on the floor with her foot.
"Show yourself, coward! And where is my brother?!" she yelled back at him, feeling the anger bubble dangerously fast. He had insulted her severely by doubting her bravery; Ame was the kind of girl who would jump off a cliff when someone said "I bet you don't dare" and her ego was not used to these kind of comments. Then again, she didn't really have any real talents or powers about which she could be snobbish either since she wasn't an exquisite fighter. Therefore it was no surprise she was starting to feel nervous and threatened by his self-esteem and confidence. It was as if he had nothing to lose, nothing to be afraid of. Mad at herself, she tried to get a grip on her lost self-assurance. She might not be the strongest fighter, but the spirit and gift was there somewhere. If she had been able to slay C-class demons before, she would also be able to defeat Seto now. It would take her a lot of trouble, but she would triumph. After all, she had her own motives: an eye for an eye.
"What kind of spineless weakling are you to hide in the shadows using my brother for a shield?!" Ame shouted, imidiately afterwards wondering if she had done the right thing by uttering those thoughts. Anger was a good power boost, but would it be possible he'd get unfocused because of that?
"If you want to, I can slit your brother's throat right now. It would save me a lot of effort," he hissed, ticked off by that comment. Ame would have smacked herself if she hadn't known the Spirit Detectives were somewhere in the dark where Seto could not see them. Ever since she had seen them fight, she wanted to show the team what she was able to do. But, the way it was going right now, she felt quite small and scared of what was going to happen to her during the fight.
Though she needed to twitch her ears to hear it, the whooshing of a cape sounded above her. Just in time, Ame grabbed the metal bar on the ground to block his blade inches away from her face.
The battle had begun.

While dodging Seto's attacks, Ame backed away to the wall behind her, not even trying to strike him herself. Her shirt stuck to her torso as if she had been fighting for hours, but the truth was that she was exhausted already after five mere minutes. This was not going the way Ame had expected it to at all. A bit fearful, she watched the red and orange embers that sparked every time she was barely fast enough to stop Yuy's sword. Ame had reached the wall and put her back against it, the rod held before her like a sword in a defending position. For the first time with a real haughty smile, Seto Yuy was about to strike her, believing the battle was already won. It was true that he wasn't an easy opponent, but he had made one mistake: he underestimated her. Quicker than she thought she could, Ame used his moment of too early gloat and dodged his blade barely. Giving a crouched kick behind his knees, she made him collapse from the blow. The sword clattered as it flew from his hands. Before he was able to pick it up again, the girl had grabbed it in a swift movement and put it against the owner's neck.
"G-give up?" she panted, her hands shaking and legs barely still able to keep her standing. Knowing she was about to kill another person, Ame tried her best not to retch. Somehow she had the feeling her sense of right and wrong had become awfully askew due time.
"No," Seto spit on the concrete floor while his sharp strong nails seemed to dig into it, "I'm not like your pitiful parents!"
Throwing a handful of the thick dust that lay on the ground in Ame's face, he had been given the opportunity to scramble up. The young demon let out a cry of irritation while she tried not to fall. When her weapons slipped from her sweaty hands, she crumpled and tried to rub the dirt from her eyes; she couldn't even see where she was going any more. Backing away, Ame lost her balance on the same round metal bar which had helped her before, causing her to slip and fall.
"You should have heard them scream," Seto grumbled through clenched teeth after a while, obviously fractious by the fact she had overpowered him for even a couple of seconds. The sword had found its way back to his hands while the demon girl still squirmed on the ground. When her vision finally cleared, the youkai was standing at her feet, as if he was waiting for her to stand up or say something.
"They squealed like pigs when Tsuzuki and I slaughtered them," he continued, letting his thumb trace the blade he was admiring absent-mindedly. Knowing he was daring her, Ame stayed down and tried to shut out his now bombastic voice. "And now you're lying there, too cowardly to get up and fight me, just like them. At least they were together when they died. You, on the other hand are all alo-"
"SPIRIT GUN!" the loud voice of Yusuke Urameshi sounded from a dark corner. If Ame had been able to look up at them, she would have seen the orb of light illuminate the four boys for a moment before it swept Yuy from his feet.
A bit dazzled, the girl stood up and ran to his motionless body to poke it.
"I'm sorry, but that guy talked too much," the laid-back team captain murmured when Ame turned to him with her jaw dropped, "Whaaaat? Didn't you want him dead then?"
"Well, this didn't quite go as I pl-" she started until someone yelled her name somewhere above her. Quickly, she looked up to see her brother bound to a chair on the first floor. For the past minutes, he had been gnawing through the sock, trying to spit it out, and was finally able to call out for his sister. Tomasu looked dreadful. It appeared as if he hadn't seen the light of day in those two years. Most likely, he hadn't.
His used-to-be short tidy hair was now long, messed up and peaked to all sides. A premature goatee stood out on his chin and matched his thick, quite bushy, eyebrows. However, the eyes below them sparkled with glee when he finally saw his baby sister back.
Ame rushed herself up the rickety stairs and, with shaking hands, untied her brother. As he jumped out of the wooden chair; he hugged her so tightly she almost couldn't get any air.

"Hey, lanky!" she said, jumping up the chair to ruffle through his hair, "Do you know long I've been looking for you?!"
"Hey, I'm not lanky!"
"Yes you are! You're way too tall; even taller than me!"
"It's not hard to be taller than you..."
For the first time in two long years, she smiled; not a smirk, but a real smile. Realizing what she was doing Ame straightened her face quickly and so did Tomasu.
"You really can tell they're related," Yusuke said jokingly, making his gaze slip from the giant Tomasu to the tiny Ame. Both of them scowled simultaneously, but Kurama just shook his head.
"Now really isn't the time to celebrate this reunion. This building is as safe as Yusuke with a permanent marker and Kuwabara asleep," the red-haired fox-demon said, glancing to Yusuke, who grinned sheepishly. "Besides, we're here to �"
Knowing what he wanted to ask, she raised her hand to stop him from saying the words.
"I don't know why he sent you � not even sure if I want to know really � because he knows I'll refuse whatever he has to offer after abandoning Tomasu the way he did," she said, crossing her arms in annoyance, "But, I will come with you and tell the almighty Koenma just what I think of him, that stubborn little brat."
Kurama looked at her in surprise for a moment and just nodded his head. Koenma's messenger girl had told him Ame was well-informed about Spirit-World, but he had not expected this from someone who had never even left Ningen-kai.
"Very well," Ame's brother said, "Let's go then."
"There's a portal nearby," Kurama said, leading the way. Outside, not far away from the warehouse, it was remotely hidden by a wooden panel and Ame wouldn't have seen it if she hadn't been paying such close attention. Before she knew it, Ame was standing before the two enormous wooden doors of King Enma's palace. She could see ogres running about to her left, avoiding the large cabinets that held thousands and thousands of files. It looked even more like a human office than how Tomasu described it.
"Ready to meet Koenma?" a slightly shrill voice asked. Ame recognized it as Kazuma Kuwabara's right away. Though he hadn't scored high during the last Dark Tournament, she still admired this man. Deep down, Ame looked up to every fighter who fought for what he believed in and she had heard a lot of good things about Kuwabara in spite of his mediocre results. Ame gave him an indifferent shrug.
They entered a large, rather empty room; the only thing that seemed to furnish the place was a large desk in the middle. In a big chair, almost hidden behind the said desk, sat a little toddler.
"I am the mighty Koenma, ruler of Spirit-World, etcetera etcetera," he said in a bored and very un-babyish voice. Hearing those words from the kid always did the trick and Ame had to try her best not to laugh. "But you, of course, know me already."
"Yo! Wassup, baby-face?" she grinned and pinched his cheeks until they were nice and rosy. Of course, Ame needn't any introductions, though she always found it fun to annoy the little ruler of Spirit World. Because of their sniggering, the gang didn't notice the toddler becoming red with anger.
"Quit it!" he yelled, throwing a minor tantrum and stomping his little feet on the desk infuriated. All stopped immediately when George � Koenma's personal ogre and lackey � stormed in worriedly. Ame only smirked as innocent as she could master. She felt merrier already as she noticed a vein throbbing visibly by his temple while he sucked his pacifier ferociously.
"Ame, I have a preposition for you," he told her, trying to become calm again. By now, George was massaging the toddler's shoulders and the redness slowly drew off. "I have seen you fight and I must say that with the right training you could make a great addition to the team. How would you like to..."
"Join team Urameshi and fight in the upcoming Ankoku Bujutsukai? I'd love to, but... no thanks," Ame cut him off, seeing no need for even more slaughter than usual. Demons had been bothering her and her family for as long as she could remember, but as long as they stayed out of her way... why would she need to look up the danger?
"B-b-but why?!" the toddler stuttered, his dummy teat almost falling out of his mouth as he did. He clung to his hat and looked as if he was about to pull out some plucks of his brown hair in frustration. Ame had the feeling they were quite short on fighters this year; it wasn't normal for Koenma to ask her, a mere beginner, to fight with the team. "My informants told me you would have considered it an honour to join the team only a week ago!"
"The only thing I would have wished for if we had won is standing right beside me," Ame told him, nudging her big brother in the ribs softly, "Besides, I'm not going to fight anymore, not now that I have the chance to lead a normal life. Sort of, at least."
"Like we would need her! She's just a girl!" Yusuke stated puffed-up, ticking the girl off more than just a little. After turning around swiftly, Ame hissed and stomped his toes harder than she actually intended at first � though she didn't regret it. Holding his foot, Urameshi Yusuke jumped back in mild pain while the others were trying hard not to laugh.
"You broke my foot, woman!"
"Chauvinistic idiot," was the only thing she muttered as she turned on her heels, heading for the exit, "Anyway, I'll be leaving now, if that's okay with you. Ciao, Koenma!"
"B-but... Ame!"
Right as Ame was going to open the doors to get out, they were thrown open by a blue-haired girl; the only thing that was more shocking than her vivid locks was the horrid pink kimono she was wearing. For the second time that day, Ame fell on her already aching bum from the blow. Only narrowing her eyes, the young girl ignored the outstretched hand of Kurama and dusted off some non-existent fluffs while getting up. Botan, ever so perky, came over to her to apologize, but Ame didn't pay the slightest attention to her. The few times she had seen this young woman had taught Ame not to get too close to this remarkably cheery spirit of death.
"Koenma-sama! There's something I think you should know..."
While Botan and Koenma were in deep conversation and the gang was distracted by them, Ame grabbed Tomasu by his arm and snuck out in utter silence.
Even though not much had happened in those two years, Ame found herself in endless conversation with her brother. It is true what they say: you don't know what you have until you lose it. All this time without family or friends had made her bitter, even for a teen her age, but now it all seemed to fall into place again. She felt like she needed to do something for Tomasu; something special, something that would show her affection, only without actually saying those awkward words.
"Oi, oaf, hold your tongue for a moment," Ame said when Tomasu was thinking out loud about taking his old job back, "Do you remember the sword set dad gave me when you got your own?"
"Yeah... The swords dad got from his grandpa," her brother started slowly, sniggering afterwards, "I was so jealous of you, I ripped off your doll's head."
"You still need to give me that new doll mum made you promise, by the way," she smirked, but changed that to a warm smile afterwards, "I know your swords got ruined when our house was destroyed, so I want you to have my wakizashi..."
"Are you serious?!" Tomasu's jaw dropped, "But that's your favourite... You love that thing!"
"Yes, but it's the only thing you can work with, smartass," Ame teased, "Now, just accept the offer before I change my mind."
"I-I'm speechless..." the tall boy muttered, petting his goatee awkwardly; his face was locked in utmost happiness.
"Then there truly is a first time for everyth- Tomasu, you're st-trangling me!" she coughed when her brother gave her the second hug that day, "S-seriously man."
"Oops, I'm sorry..." he let go immediately, giving Ame the chance to get some air in her lungs. A bit flushed, the strong, and yet still restrained, demon boy picked up his sister.
"T-that's ok-kay. I don't suppose I was going to use these ribs anyway," she still rattled, rubbing her chest painfully, "I wish I had that kind of strength."
"I'm not sure if it is safe to be this strong..." he suddenly whispered as they pottered into a darker, more secluded hall of the palace.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure..." Tomasu pondered, not able to give a straight answer to Ame's question, "For some reason, I think that there's something wrong with us."
"Where did you get that silly idea?"
"Huh?" he grunted distantly, "Oh, don't mind me... Just some weird things I picked up from Seto's motives."
"Okay..." Ame threw a worried glance over at her brother, who was perspiring an awful lot, "Are you sure you're okay? You look like it's 40 degrees centigrade..."
"No, no... I'm fine," he sniffed himself, "Though I could use a bath."
She laughed, "Well then, let's find the exit here. There's a shower in my place, although I doubt you'll fit in it, lanky."
"Ame?" Tomasu asked distantly as they walked through another of the many halls, "What's the Ankoku Bujutsukai again?"
"Huh?" Ame uttered, "I thought you knew what it was... You always went to watch it."
"Maybe... Maybe Seto did something to my memory..." he said, slightly confused. For a second Ame thought of how she herself had forgotten so many things that had happened before the accident, but decided to keep quiet. "So, what is it?"
"It's the Dark Tournament, some sort of competition where demons need to fight each other. The winning team can make a wish at the end, if they're still alive of course. I watched it last year," the girl stopped in her steps and took a moment to think, "It's pretty sadistic and organized by some stupid, way too rich humans. But, Team Urameshi really was the rightful winner, if you ask me."
"Isn't that boy with the gel in his hair called Urameshi?" Ame's brother questioned her curiously. She couldn't blame him; he had been locked up for so long he didn't know a lot about what had happened in the three worlds.
"That's the team-captain," she answered, grinning slightly, "He has a powerful spirit gun, mind you. They say he can be a real ass though..."

Just when Ame was blabbering incessantly about everything she had learnt, Hiei appeared in front of her. His katana was pointed at her neck, dangerously close to her artery.
"And where do you think you are going?" he asked her, glaring. With a little difficulty, she pushed the blade away and stared into his red eyes, trying her best not to look away; Hiei gave her the creeps.
"Home," Ame replied, making an effort to put in a coldness in her tone that could compete with the one in his, but failing. Walking away again, she, for a moment, thought about how stupid it was to turn your back on the enemy, before everything went black...

Chapter 1

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 20:12:32 GMT

Chapter 1: Something for the Pain

Through the thick forest, which even in the nightshade showed the red leafs crowning above, shadow fast demons were running alongside each other. Dressed in bright kimonos they made no effort to blend in and the red scarves tucked in front of their mouths, which waved wildly behind them, looked like streams of blood trembling on the wind. A clearing came; more youkai entered it from different directions. It was obvious that these creatures had been chasing something... or someone. In the distance, they heard the sound of a snapping branch. Not at all staggered, the group looked up as one; the silhouette of a small girl stood out against the pale moon. She had been herded. In a pathetic attempt to save herself she jumped into the middle of the clearing, where it didn't take long for her many opponents to gain the upper hand. Only one demon withdrew from the fight and merely stood aside, watching with a blank expression. His golden eyes shone brightly as the moonlight was reflected in them. The girl couldn't look away from him while the claws started digging into her flesh.

There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

"NO! Noooooooo..."

...eep. Beep. BEEP.

Her dark blue eyes snapped open when she heard the sound of her alarm clock.

"Ame Takana, if you don't make that thing shut up I will put my fist through this wall!" the subdued voice of her neighbour sounded while he banged the wall ferociously. The frame above the sleeping futon fell down on Ame's head, leaving a small dent, as the man next door kept knocking on the thin walls. Probably with a little help from his walking stick.

This was routine for Ame.
Day after day, mister Takahashi would find some new way to bother her, if he wasn't trudging behind the cats that fooled around in his garbage cans. With a good smack that completely demolished the clock, she made the bleeping stop. Only a few more odd noises escaped the mechanism. Finally, there was silence.

Was she surprised the clock had fallen apart?
No; by now, Ame was quite used to this strength that had dwelt in her since birth. In fact, it was because of that abnormality in her genetic make-up that she was to live alone in this little room next to a quirky neighbour. No one had come looking for her; nobody had wanted her around. Not that she minded though; Ame liked being alone -- like an outcast. At least that's how she saw herself; she was misunderstood.
She had created an emotionless shell for herself, impenetrable for others, and she quite enjoyed it in there. It felt safe. It made things easier.

Sometimes, it even scared herself how bitter she felt inside. A self-proclaimed cold-blooded demon amongst humans.

"She hasn't always been like this," Koenma pointed out, handing a thin file to Yusuke Urameshi, Spirit Detective, "Everything started almost two years ago."

Curious about his next assignment, the boy started leafing through the few pages that were included. There was a picture that showed a smiling young girl of about thirteen years old, standing next to what looked like an older, taller and male version of herself. Proudly, the boy showed off all seven attainable Spirit Detective 'gadgets' to the camera, including the spy glass Yusuke himself had received first.

"The boy next to her is her older brother, Tomasu," the Spirit Leader continued while checking his own file on Ame Takana, which was considerably bigger. However, to that Yusuke paid no attention. "As you can see he was a Reiki Tantei, quite like yourself."

"What happened two years ago?" the boy asked, now studying another photograph that had been included. Though it was unmistakably the same girl, she had altered dramatically. While the dates on the back told him little time had passed between the taking of these pictures, Ame looked as if she had actually aged ten years. Besides the acne on her face she showed little signs of being a teenager at all, though he couldn't vouch for her personality � which, if he were to believe Koenma, was in fact very immature. Her eyes looked as if they had seen a lot of pain, her body as if it had undergone it. He could see scars on whichever body part was left bare, though she did look less fragile than before.

"It's a complicated situation," the son of Great King Enma started, "Her parents died; we don't know how. It could have been an accident, but some suspect a group of rebels killed them since Tomasu was abducted right after."

"Why would anyone kill them?"

"Who knows. Youkai often kill for the fun of it," he replied, shrugging. "They might have been considered traitors, much like Kurama and Hiei. You see, though they were demons, they felt more at home amongst humans and so they lived the part."

"Sometimes I really hate these fucking youkai," Yusuke said disgruntled, "I'd give a lot of money just to kill them myself, if I had any."

"Believe me when I say Ame agrees with your philosophy completely," Koenma smiled faintly behind his pacifier, averting his eyes from the young man in front of him, "Because she is essentially a demon herself, this has resulted in a complex form of self-loathing. She's become quite wild, slaying demons whenever she has the chance and then wallowing in agony because she thinks she is no better than them."

"Nice. Is she powerful?"

"No, not really," came the honest reply, "Though she has a lot of potential, just like her brother. She simply refuses to use any of her special youkai powers. It needs to be drawn out, which is why we've tried to get a hold of her on multiple occasions. She's always refused. I think she might hold a personal grudge against me."

"And that's the only reason why you want her?" the Detective asked sceptically, by now knowing Koenma to be calculated and strategic. Sometimes, he felt like a mere pawn in the Spirit Leader's enormous game of chess for which he didn't know the rules. However, he did also realise that his "superior" would not reveal his plans if there were cruel intentions involved.

"There are several reasons, but this is one of the main ones," he nodded, placing a tall heap of papers between himself and the boy. "We need to keep an eye on her aggression, in case it gets worse. Also, her Spirit Energy is unstable."

Deciding to not ask more questions, Urameshi Yusuke threw the file on top of the stack, which trembled dangerously. "Is there anything else we need to know?"

"No, I don't think so," Koenma pondered, "Though perhaps I should say that she has no friends and will not let you guys get close to her. We don't have the details, but it seems like the few friends she had before her parents' death all died or vanished. She may be hard to handle."

"Don't worry," Yusuke grinned this time, "After all, we've worked with Hiei before."

Groggily, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes and shake one of her latest senseless nightmares out of her head, Ame slumped to the window and opened the thick curtains that blocked out all the sunlight.

"I hate mornings," she grumbled as she walked � or sauntered to be exact � through her now sun-drenched room. Kicking away some wandering books into another pile of mess, Ame picked up some clothes that looked clean enough. Living alone as a teenager meant, of course, that her place was cheap and very basic. An average little bathroom was connected to her living space (quite a luxury to have, indeed!) and there was no kitchen or anything that remotely looked like one. It was all she could afford -- surviving on whatever savings she'd had and working dirty jobs to make ends meet -- but she never called it home. This was merely a place where she would nest until she ceased to be or her brother was somehow found.

The good thing about the location was that it seemed to be a cesspool of demonic activity. Every once in a while, she could sense them -- lurking about, eating souls or feasting on the blood of man -- and her fingers would start to itch to draw her sword. Sometimes they even blended in like she did, but she made no difference between their motives; they were bound to slip up and do harm whatever they were deciding on at that moment. The lower classes never lasted long, but it didn't stop her from enjoying every slaughter.
A few of the people whom she had helped with their 'demonic problems' over the last two years had been more than happy to help her out financially, which was of course a nice bonus.

Youkai... Such weird creatures they were, not to mention troublesome. Killing them often solved the problem. Not to mention it gave her the rush of adrenaline she needed to dull her senses. So many reasons to track them down, and yet her mission was still a private one; almost like a personal vendetta.

No one had ever taken her to Makai or Reikai and for fourteen years she had been raised as any normal human girl -- as much as that was possible with special powers that need to be suppressed and a brother who works for the Spirit Leader. Only after her parents' death did she meet a real demon other than herself or her family for the first time.

Heero Tsuzuki. He had introduced himself shortly with an unnoticeable, gloomy smile itching around the corner of his mouth. It had been a brief encounter indeed, for though he smiled he showed no mercy when he destroyed her home and the remains of her parents, which had lain there for their family to say goodbye to. He had reduced every physical memory of the life she had once had to cinders and ashes. In his amber eyes, Ame could have sworn she saw a hint of regret or sadness, even if it seemed likely she was simply trying to see some humanity in the demon whom had taken away her mother and father.
At least, that was what she assumed had happened, for she was deaf to everybody who would try to explain away her parents' death and make it sound like an accident. Like any normal being, the girl found it much easier to have someone to blame rather than just accept destiny fatalistically.

The day of the fire had been the day she saw her brother, Tomasu, for the very last time.

That had also been the day that the demon girl became overpowered with emotive blindness and the thought came upon her that every demon, regardless of their nature, should be punished for the injustice done to her. Consumed by anger and with her judgement clouded, Ame had vowed to take revenge on Heero and his partner, Seto Yuy, one day and she had spent most of her time training to become the best. However, her own unwillingness to use the powers passed on to her made her realise that avenging them would be a kamikaze-operation.

So far, she could be pleased with ridding her surroundings of demons; making sure the people around her stayed out of harm's way, protecting humans from their own unawareness, and as such guaranteeing her own soul it would never become such a monstrosity. Presumably because of that, Koenma Daioh had tried to grab a hold of her. She liked to think that was the reason, and not the fact she was rampaging through Japan like a Dark Knight seeking personal justice.
The thought of following in her brother's footsteps while he was not around made her shudder. Protecting people was something she did because she felt like it. All the other duties connected to a job as Reiki-Tantei, such as being Koenma's bellboy and tracking down items, were merely ropes that would restrain her from leading a life as a free woman.

After about twenty minutes spent in distant wonder, Ame packed up her books and started her run to school. It was a beautiful day; the sky had an unusual tone of blue and the clouds seemed like they were made out of whipped cream. Too beautiful to go to school!

She wished she could skip class, just for this one day, but she knew her teachers had been serious when they had threatened her with expulsion the last time. That would make Sayuri High the third school she got kicked out of this year. Essentially, sayuri meant something along the lines of "little lily", though Ame could not see how her school could compare itself to that and still keep a straight face. The buildings were old, the grounds reminiscent of a wasteland, and it was a surprise the government hadn't decided to take it down entirely in favour of more cheap living space. It was safe to say that most of the students who went here had little future and would end up in crime one way or another, but Ame had convinced herself she would need a degree if she ever wanted a normal life -- eventually.

Sighing, the girl dragged her feet heavily towards the threatening-looking school gate. Students usually fell silent for a moment when she entered, but Ame couldn't blame them for that. She realised how she must come across -- unfriendly, odd, scarred. It was the same in every new school and it didn't take long getting used to. With everything that usually happened around her, it was simply safer to have people talk about her rather than to her -- though that didn't make it any easier for her personally.

Ignoring them, Ame directly went to her locker to exchange her shoes for slippers -- that was the only type of "uniform" the school required. For the sight of girls wearing the same pleat skirts and boys in navy blazers, you'd have to find an institution uptown where people actually cared about their school's reputation. You wouldn't find that in a school where half the student body was somehow connected to the yakuza.

The bell hadn't rung yet and, miraculously, she arrived in class in time. Ame was greeted by the familiar murmuring and staring from a few people, but she paid not the slightest attention to them and took her seat near the window. At least there she would be able to look at the beautiful day outside rather than listen to theories she didn't care about. She was glad this was the final month at last. These last few weeks of March would only be needed to humiliate her with the bad results she had probably scored on the tests. Though, in reality, nobody really cared about that here. At least she dared to hope it would all go peaceful.
Preoccupied with random thoughts that had nothing to do with school, Ame hadn't noticed the teacher coming in with four new boys. She didn't even look up when he started talking.

"Good morning boys, girls and the living dead!" the professor said beaming, turning to Ame. The class snickered, while she did her best to suppress the visions in which she'd jump up and punch his big crooked nose. "I see you finally enlighten us with your presence!"

She remained silent, merely looking at him laconically from the corner of her eye before shifting her attention back outside. It went against her nature to harm him, though that didn't mean there was no room for wishful thinking. At least she could fantasise for a while and convince herself such remarks actually mattered -- anything to break the monotony.

In that split second of glaring at her teacher, she had taken in the sight of the boys more clearly. Distantly, she figured out who exactly they were; kuso. Because the only available seats were around her, it wasn't a big surprise when the demon girl heard the chairs next to her rumble and scrape over the floor as the new boys sat down.

A red-haired boy with sparkling emerald eyes tapped on her shoulder; Kurama, one of the infamous Spirit Detectives and (just like the other newbies, she noticed) a part of Team Urameshi. Now in his human form, he was far less overwhelming than the kitsune (fox demon) Ame had seen in the last Dark Tournament. He introduced himself and his three friends, though seemingly fully aware that Ame knew their names and reputations well enough. Faking disinterest, she turned her head away and let her mind drift off, wondering if any of the humans could sense the powerful reiki the boys were emitting. The shortest of them was the only one who had said nothing; he was barely taller than her and completely dressed in black, save for the thin white scarf he wore around his head. Hiei, a Jaganeshi at a high demon class. Ame had observed him closely during all his matches and she knew a third eye was hidden under that bandanna. She was glad at least one member of the team had enough common sense to leave her be.

The dull rambling of the teacher continued without anyone really caring. No one paid attention -- it was refutable if even the teacher himself was in any way interested -- and instead occupied themselves the same way Ame did: by studying the four boys. Everyone in this school had a tragic story and it was a standard procedure for new kids to be the subject of speculation and fantasy.
Some students' parents had become bankrupt and could only provide cheap education for their children, but mostly the classes were filled with juvinile criminals who were given a second chance. Few others had lost their loving parents, like Ame, or had run away to live alone because their parents were not so loving at all. So many tragedies to choose from; Ame wondered on which theory they would agree.
Whichever it were, it would still be wrong.

There had to be a reason the Spirit Detectives were here and it had very little to do with poor parents or criminal records. Perhaps they were looking for the source of the high demon activity or -- Ame cringed at the thought -- after her for taking the law in her own hands. Both were very reasonable options and, for the sake of everyone including herself, she hoped it was the first.
Then again, if they were here for the demons, why would they need the cover of high school students? And what a coincidence it would be that they happened to join the same school as she did! Ame had never believed in coincidences and now was not the time to start. The fact she knew Schuichi was a year older and needn't be in her grade only added up to her rapidly growing list of reasons to feel nervous, right after the question as to why anyone would enrol anywhere for the final weeks of the school year.

The boy in front of her was fumbling with his thumbs, as if they were itching for mischief. Because of the extreme amount of gel in his black hair, she could tell it was Yusuke Urameshi; the captain of the team that had won the last Dark Tournament. It wasn't hard to believe he used to be one of those punks she had seen gambling and smoking in dark alleys, even if he was now Koenma's golden boy. Yusuke was the prime example of someone flourishing when given a second chance, to put it in a mildly poetic way. She remembered the lad's name very well, as well as all the information she had gathered about his past. Sure enough, he was not a normal human boy at all; his powers were too grand and rumours spread through Demon World that he was the son of Raizen, one of the three rulers.

Out of all the members of his team, Kuwabara Kazuma was the one for whom she had the greatest respect. He was most definitely human, unlike Yusuke whose nature could be disputed, and he was not the strongest of the foursome -- or the handsomest. However, though he had looked like the weakest link during the entire course of the tournament, he had proven himself to be clever and powerful on several occasions. Ame found his spirit encouraging.

The day dragged itself further at an unbearably slow rate until the bell announced her favourite course: lunch break. Finally, she was able to escape being locked between four musty walls. Carelessly, she climbed her favourite tree somewhere far away from all the superficial chitchat. A low growl escaped her mouth when her foot found no support on the trunk, which had become slippery over last night's rainfall, and she tumbled out of the tree rather inelegantly. With a muted "umph" the girl landed on her rear before she stood up painfully, rubbing the soar spot without shame. Laughter sounded behind her, making her stop muttering curses to herself and turn around not very calmly; the entire Team was standing a little further by the garbage cans where they seemed to be huddling in secrecy. She wasn't used to people mocking her and frankly she did not like it at all. Narrowing her eyes, Ame ran past them while the sky clouded over rapidly. No matter how hard she tried, she could not control the influence she had over the weather and it didn't take long before the first of many raindrops tapped rhythmically on the already dew covered leaves.

What on earth were they up to?

It seemed to take forever for the final day to approach and the mere days stretched themselves to appear like months.
Based on her philosophy that everything felt further out of reach the more she longed for it, Ame tried to remain indifferent as ever. It did not feel like it helped much -- a feeling that was shared with most of the seniors looking forward to the graduation ceremony two weeks away.

The only ones who didn't seem like they were looking forward to spring break were the new boys. Or perhaps it should be specified that they were anxious -- just not about the vacation. Ame would often catch them whispering to each other and, when she passed, the conversation would silence. She couldn't understand how she had been able to hope that they were not there to keep an eye on her. Koenma was definitely up to something and of course his Detectives were to help him with that.

However, as long as they left her alone, she wouldn't allow herself to be bothered by their presence. Especially because today, her second last Tuesday of that school year, started with her favourite class: English. She wasn't very good at the subject itself, but it was one of the few things for which she could bother to be interested.

Ame was also very keen on the teacher, Seiichirou-sensei; she was probably the only one who treated all students alike. She was a very small woman, though taller than Ame, and she always wore wide pants and t-shirts. By all the other students, she was considered a foolish woman and she didn't receive much respect for choosing not to get married. But in Ame's eyes Seiichirou-sensei was the coolest ever.

To her great pleasure, Ame noticed the four boys hadn't taken their seats around her again. In fact, they were not anywhere in sight. The last time she had seen them, they had been whispering vigorously to each other in front of the school gates and it hadn't seemed like they were planning to go in. Although she couldn't pick up their conversation, she felt as if they were talking about something important.
Hushed by the professor running in, the class turned to the blackboard. Soon enough, Seiichirou-sensei spotted Ame sitting by the window and came over hastily.

"Takana-chan," she began with slight worry in her voice, "Someone called for you. They said your brother, Tomasu � "

"What about him?" Ame asked wide-eyed, gripping the desk so tightly she could feel it become sawdust in her hands.

"Now calm down, Ame," the teacher tried to comfort her, "The man on the phone said his name was Seto Yuy. He wants you to come over as soon as possible."

Ame growled hearing that name; she should have known.

"Everything will be alright, but you have to get to this address right away. He said it was an emergency."

Clutching her fists in fury, Ame noticed everyone was staring at her. Seiichirou-sensei handed her a piece of paper with an address scribbled on it.

"May I be excused, sensei?" the girl asked, fumbling with the little yellow post-it in her hands. The professor gave her a nervous smile and nodded. Ame packed her belongings hastily and sprinted to the door, almost running into it.

She had to get there quickly, before it was too late; she could still hear how the teacher tried to silence the class, but she was long gone by the time Seiichirou-sensei had managed to do that.

Before We Start

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 23:00:00 GMT

Intro:

From experience, I know that many people find it hard to follow a story that has Japanese names in it. Especially if you have never seen the show this Fan Fiction is based on, a general introduction might be welcome.
This information comes straight from the Official Yuu Yuu Hakusho Site

Please, don't direct link to these pictures.

Basic Japanese terms:

Makai: Demon World
Ningen-kai: Human World
Rei-kai: Spirit World
Reiki: Spirit Energy
Reiki Tantei: Spirit Detective
Ankoku Bujutsukai : Dark Tournament
Oni: Ogre, demon
Youkai: demon

Hai: Yes
Iie: No
Nani? : What?
(Domo) Arigatou : Thank you
Gomen (Nasai) / Sumimasen : I'm sorry
Sayonara : Good bye, farewell
Hajime : Begin, start
Yamero : Stop it, cut it out
(Chotto) matte : Wait, hold on (a little)

Baka: dickhead, idiot, jackass, monster...
Kuso, Chikuso, Shimatta... : shit, fuck, damn, dammit... (general swearing)

More useful information on Japanese language can be found here.

How the story begins:

It's another typical day for troublemaker Yusuke Urameshi... cutting classes, clashing with teachers, fighting local tough guys. Just when everybody thinks they have the hoodlum figured out, Yusuke suprises even himself by diving in front of a speeding car to save a little boy, getting himself killed in the process! Far from the end of a story, it's the start of an epic saga.

Yusuke gets a second chance at life and becomes a Spirit Detective, charged with tracking evil supernatural beings and preventing them from fulfilling their diabolical plans.

Yusuke teams up with his old rival Kuwabara, the elusive Kurama and the dark and cynical Hiei.

The (First) Dark Tournament:

Life for these teens refuses to settle down, as Spirit World makes a chilling discovery. The Toguro Brothers faked defeat during Yusuke's last case, in an elaborate plan by the trillionaire Sakyo. Now Toguro will hit Yusuke with a terrible threat. Enter a vile competition run by the criminal world, or watch everyone he knows be hunted down and destroyed!
Of course, Team Uramishi prevails.

Meet the Gang and the Others:
(Click on the picture to see their other form)

Urameshi Yusuke

Yusuke Urameshi is the worst student at Sarayashiki Junior High. He gets terrible grades, skips class as often as possible, and has little respect for authority. On top of that, his coarse language and brash, arrogant manner get him into more altercations than he can count. Fortunately for him, he's good at protecting himself.
Really good. In fact, Yusuke has the reputation of being the toughest kid in town. But despite his killer rep, Yusuke is misunderstood. His home life is troubled. He is constantly hounded by his teachers, by his mother, and by fellow students gunning for him... As such, Yusuke is generally pretty miserable. Only after being assigned the job of Spiritual Detective does Yusuke truly begin to find his place in life.

Powers:
Spirit Gun
- Yusuke's Spirit Gun channels his Spirit Energy into one small point�his index finger. But the blast leaves Yusuke so drained of power and energy that he must learn to master this ability if he is to use the Spirit Gun more than once a day.
Spirit Wave
- Instead of channelling spirit energy into one small point, the Spirit Wave uses a person's entire body producing an attack that dwarfs the power released by the Spirit Gun. Yusuke struggled to learn this technique from his teacher, Genkai.
Shotgun
- Very similar to the Spirit Gun, the Shotgun fires a spray of Spirit Gun bullets at once.
Spirit Wave Orb
- The Spirit Wave Orb concentrates the energy of the spirit and the body into the smallest possible space creating a power that could easily destroy an entire city block. Genkai worked for years to perfect the technique, which she passed on to Yusuke.

Kuwabara Kazuma

Kuwabara is Yusuke's chief rival at Sarayashiki Junior High. Like Yusuke, he isn't the greatest student, but he is an excellent fighter. Next to Yusuke he is a formidable adversary. Kuwabara is driven by an unwavering desire to be the best. Adding comic relief to Yu Yu Hakusho, Kuwabara has an affinity for kittens. Kazuma also has a sister, Shizuru.

Powers:
Spirit Sword
- Kuwabara can focus his own spirit energy due to his heightened Spirit Awareness into a solid object like a sword. The first of Kuwabara's special abilities to manifest itself, the Spirit Sword is a weapon with undeniable power.
Spirit Javelin
- The Spirit Javelin is an extension of Kuwabara's powerful Spirit Sword.
Spirit Sword Double
- The same technique as the Spirit Sword, but this time Kuwabara summons two equally powerful swords.

Hiei

Hiei is a fire apparition whose true origins are unknown. He is a master swordsman, and his strength and speed are incredible. However, these are hardly his most fearsome abilities. Typically kept concealed behind a bandanna on his forehead is the Jagan, a mysterious third eye that possesses magical properties. With it he can control weak-minded humans, send telepathic messages, and move objects through telekinesis. Hiei is fiercely independent, and his raw ambition drives him to pursue his own agenda at all times. Although he generally cares little for human life, and views others as mere obstacles in the pursuit of his own goals, Hiei strictly adheres to his own unique code of honour. As such, he helps those who help him, and is fiercely loyal to those who have managed to earn his respect.

Powers:
Dragon of the Darkness Flame
- His most powerful attack, Hiei summons energy from the deepest pits of Spirit World into his arm to create a terrible dragon that destroys everything in its path. Once unleashed Hiei loses control of the beast�which sometimes turns on its master.
Fist of the Mortal Flame
- Similar to the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, the Fist of the Mortal Flame uses Mortal Energy instead of Spirit Energy rendering it much less potent.
Shadow Sword
- The Shadow Sword transforms any human its blade cuts into a zombie-like creature. Only the secret held within the sword can revert the victim to his or her normal self.
Sword of the Darkness Flame
- By harnessing the power of the Darkness Flame into an object outside his body, Hiei is able to create this powerful weapon, which is much more controllable, yet much less powerful than the Dragon of the same name.

Yoko Kurama (a.k.a. Shuichi Minamino)

Not actually a human, Kurama has lived for over 300 years and possesses the wisdom and knowledge one would expect of someone his age. He is generally soft-spoken, almost eerily calm, even in the face of great adversity. But this calm exterior belies Kurama's incredible strength. He is a powerful, ruthless warrior, with wisdom and experience. As such, he is a formidable opponent to all he battles.

Powers:
Rose Whip
- The Rose Whip is a beautiful weapon with a sinister ability. Its thorns can slice through any substance, even stone. The Rose Whip usually has the last word in any battle.
Rose Whiplash
- The powerful Rose Whiplash is an attack using the Rose Whip. Kurama moves the whip so rapidly that most can't see the many deadly slices it makes as it glides through the air.
The Death Tree
- Each branch of this tree has a mouth that produces a substance that melts most anything in mere minutes, though it is said the pain will make every second seem like its own eternity.

Koenma Daioh

Son of King Yama, ruler of the Spirit World, Koenma is left in charge of day to day operations while his father is away on vacation (a chore he despises - too much paperwork). Koenma's youthful appearance is quite deceiving - the little prince is actually over 700 years old! Koenma possesses the wisdom to accompany his years, and can pose a rather commanding figure in spite of his diminutive size. There's only one thing that Koenma fears: making his father angry.

Botan

A messenger of the Spirit World, Botan serves as a guide to newly-departed spirits. She is friendly and often quite chipper, but when it comes to performing her duties she is all business. After Yusuke is assigned the job of Spiritual Detective, Koenma assigns Botan to be his assistant. Her knowledge and experience often prove invaluable to Yusuke during his many adventures.

Powers:
Healing
Ki to generate the oar which she flies on and uses to hit people. She also uses a metal baseball bat to beat on people.

Kayko Yukimura

Kayko is Yusuke's closest (and at times, only) friend. She and Yusuke have known each other since they were little children, and although he would never admit it, she is probably the person that he cares most about in the world. As such, Kayko has a unique ability to talk sense into Yusuke when he is being stubborn or unruly. Kayko is one of the leading students in her school. Intelligent, friendly, and outgoing, she is well-liked and respected by her peers. She is confident, self-assured, and at times a bit head-strong. She is brave in the face of danger, and will not hesitate to put herself at risk in order to help a friend in need.

Genkai

Genkai, aging master of the Reidoha (or Spirit Wave) fighting technique, wishes to pass her knowledge to one worthy pupil before she dies. Yusuke is chosen to be that pupil, and he soon discovers Genkai's training to be the most difficult ordeal of his life. Despite her advanced years, Genkai constantly amazes Yusuke with her ability to perform superhuman feats of strength and agility. Her wit is as finely honed as her technique, and she possesses the wisdom that comes from a life rich with experience. Impossible to intimidate, she stares unflinchingly into the face of danger, ready to meet even the most daunting of challenges.