Welcome to A Lack of Balance! A lovely Hiei story and what not! Guaranteed cuteness, a dynamic story line, with a dash of humor. Please enjoy!

3 kaokitty2!

Turtle trouble

That day was just like any other day, I guess. I woke with the sun, rolled up my sleeping bag. I had to kick my brothers out of their sleeping bags as well because they just can't do it them selves. I'm more responsible than they are and I'm their little sister! We then continued on our way after they finally finished. I swear sometimes this trip feels more like babysitting than teamwork. We consumed dry, tasteless, nutritional traveling snacks for breakfast and then we were walking again.

We often encountered others on the way to the spirit world pick up spot, for it always has to be so far out of the way (it's ridiculous). That day we saw only four. They were resting by the side of the road, lounging beneath a large shady tree. Two were bickering and two we carrying on a conversation as if nothing were amiss.

These were different though. Two, the two bickering of course, were humans but I could feel an immense power coming off of them. My brothers and I masked our energy so as not to arouse suspicion. As with all others, we exchanged pleasantries but kept it short. Nobody was particularly talkative around those parts. I wore a hat those days, which was highly uncomfortable but necessary.

Our path continued, unobstructed for the remainder of the day. We only stopped twice before it was too dark to continue. Then we went to bed.

That day was little different than the rest, like I have said before and yet it marked a turning point; a point when I knew everything was not going to be the way I wanted. What I had seen that day was to be my destiny. I was in for one heck of an adventure!

A disturbance in the trees sent the ground shaking and birds fleeing. Four men fought hard to keep their balance and one fell as a roar resonated around them. They couldn't tell its origins for trees surrounded them and the echoes came from every side.

The one on the ground promptly leapt up, his tall gawky frame easily taller than the others. Atop his head, he had an oddly styled crown of red hair.

"What was that?"

"Shut up," He was savagely answered by another. The man commanding him was by far the shortest there but he held a large authority in his ruby eyes. His hand rested lightly on the hilt of a concealed sword.

At first they were there to meet some people and now it looked like they were to have a fight as well.

"HIYAA!" shouted a foreign voice from a head of them.

"WAHOO!" Shouted another in answer. At the same time, a large turtle came bursting through the trees, heading straight for them. The men had to leap out of the way to avoid being crushed. Then two blurring figures rushed past them.

The men on the ground jumped up and readied their attacks when a lighter yet authoritative voice screamed, "DON'T TOUCH IT!" They watched in total astonishment as a third figure appeared slinging a rope through the air that caught the beast's ankle. Two more ropes caught the turtle monster around the neck and the back leg, securing it in place. "YOU!"

The shorter man turned a surprised expression upon the young girl who had called out to him. Her icy blue eyes held his attention raptly. Before he could take in anymore of her appearance, she tossed the end of the rope to him. "Hold this!" she commanded him. He had no time to argue for she let go and it took all of his strength and concentration to hold the rope steady. She disappeared from his side.

The demon continued to roar angrily, rather put out at not being able to move. By now the other three men had joined in on holding the ropes. All eyes were on the girl with the tan fisherman's hat who was standing in front of the angry turtle.

"OI!" She yelled at it. The turtle turned its angry attention on her and lunged, hoping to catch her unawares and in it's jaws. She jumped up at the last second, "Whoops, too slow!" She suddenly grinned as a large, wooden rod materialized in her hand. "YAAH!" She brought the staff down right between the eyes of the enraged turtle. It screeched in pain as a white light engulfed its body and a black mass materialized in the air above it. The girl landed lightly on the ground.

"THERE!" She went right up into the air again after the mass. Back on the ground a small, terrified turtle struggled to free itself from a pile of ropes but no one paid any attention to it. Their eyes were pealed on a small figure in the air that had thrust her hand out, touching the mass with her palm. "PURIFY!" her palm emitted a purple light that hit the dark thing. Suddenly a black blast ran through the middle of her own energy, hitting her in return and engulfing her entire hand.

The girl screamed and dropped back down on the ground crouched and angry.

"FINE! If that the way you're gonna play then…" in her hand a glass bottle glinted in the sunlight. With out another word she disappeared, running as fast as she could and blurred, into the trees. A tan fisherman's hat fluttered to the ground and landed with a soft flump! at the feet of all the standing men. A stunned silence fell over the remaining group of men.

"Right! I'm Iro! How are you?" one of the turtle vanquishers piped up amidst the stunned silence. As for an answer none came.

"I am Iwa, Iro's brother," The both untied the matching red bandanas that had covered the tops of their heads.

"Hn. Cat demons," muttered the short, irate fire demon.

The men were not tall, by all standards. They were obviously twins with matching pale blue eyes that were slit like a cat and silky black ears on top of their heads; their hair was a similar deep black that was almost purple. Whisker like markings adorned their cheeks and their tails were the same color as their ears.

"So are you guys-"Iro was interrupted by a smaller and less violent than the turtles bush-and-tree-crashing as the young woman reappeared. She fought for a second to disentangle her fighters out fit from snagging bushes.

'What do you think, Kurama? Are those them?' the fire demon asked another man at his side through telepathy. His friend, Kurama, turned his contemplative green eyes onto his friend.

'I don't know Hiei but probably. It's a girl we have come for. Lets wait for some sign from Kuwabara,' Kurama pushed a lock of red hair out of his eyes to glance at the tall red headed man.

"Urameshi," Kuwabara said to Yusuke, which happened to be Urameshi's first name, looking rather uneasy.

"What do you want? I'd like to introduce my self now. I am the Spirit Detective," Yusuke whispered back rather annoyed

"That girl is dead!" Kuwabara swallowed hard.

"Didn't Koenma say he wanted us to bring her to Spirit World?"

"Yeah,"

"Well maybe that's why stupid!"

"That makes since but it still gives me the creeps," Kuwabara shuddered.

'It is them,' Hiei said telepathically then shortly closed his mind not bothering to wait for a reply.

"Got him! The little bugger…" The girl peered into the black, swirling substance that was the demonic cloud. She then nearly dropped it with fright from seeing Iro and Iwa's ears poking out of the top of their hair.

"GAH! Y-you guys!" She stammered panicky. "Your… " She whispered loudly, "E-A-R-S!" She had covered her mouth from the others.

"Hey! It's not like we cant spell you know!" Yusuke yelled at her, his brown eyes filled with defiance and shiny, black hair slicked back.

"Shut up Urameshi…" muttered Kuwabara the red head. "It's not cool to mess with the dead people,"

"Mitsuki…" Iwa pointed at her head and then her hat that was still lying sadly on ground. He cleared his throat and gazed into the sky. Her panicked expression doubled.

"WHA?!" She covered her own ears, "OH! Ah… um… these… aren't- AH haha… they're just COSTUMES! Ha ha! Costumes…"

"Mimi! I think they are here for us!" Iwa said, laughing. "It's a little too late to hide it anyway!"

"You are right. I'm glad to make your acquaintance," Kurama walked forward with Hiei not far behind, they always being the first to recover from anything. "I'm Kurama and this is Hiei," Hiei nodded, noting with interest at how the young girl had her hand hidden behind her throw over. It was blue with

purple dragonflies bordering the edges. She wore white pants and, unlike Kurama's traditional yellow outfit he wore once, she opted for no sleeves.

"Nice to meet you as well!" said Mitsuki, blowing a curly strand of hair out of her face.

Her hair, which was the first thing anyone noticed, was a vibrant orange and tightly curled. She had it pulled back into a corkscrewy mass behind her head but many tightly wound curls escaped and framed her face, contrasting nicely with her pale, ice blue eyes. The color of her eyes seemed to be the only evidence that she was related to her brothers. Her tail was of matching orange and looked as if it had been dipped in black paint.

On the side, another conversation was still flourishing.

"But Urameshi, if she is dead, why does she still have a body?"

"How would I know? Aren't you supposed to be the spiritual sense guru here?" Yusuke answered hotly but quietly, pretending to be interested in Kurama's introductory conversation with the twin brothers. The cat girl, Mitsuki, was dusting off her hat, muttering something about a turtle.

"Her energy is a lot like Botan's. Maybe that's why she's here,"

Yusuke did not answer but was looking rather thoughtful as he joined the others in initiatory merrymaking.

"Hey Iro! Iwa!" Mitsuki called, interrupting. Hiei and Kurama watched with mild interest as she quickly hid her hand behind the cotton overthrow, which caused her to grimace ever so slightly. "Pick up these ropes! I'd like a crack at introducing my self!"

"Right away Mimi-chan!" Iro saluted her.

"Yeah sure," Iwa dragged his twin away.

"I'm Mitsuki! You're here to take me to spirit world?"

"Yeah, I'm Yu-" Yusuke was cut off as Kuwabara interjected himself in the middle.

"Yes! We are here to take your lovely self to spirit world! Never fear my love for I am Kazuma Kuwa-"

"I'm sure! And you are?" Mitsuki turned away and fixed her gaze on Hiei, leaving Kuwabara rather dumbfounded and put out.

Hiei said nothing.

"That's Hiei, the "bad cop". I'm Yusuke Urameshi, the spirit detective. Hiei's just shy in the presence of pretty girls,"

Hiei gave Yusuke a glare that could kill a horse and continue beating it afterwards.

"Right then!" Iwa packed a last coil of rope away before shouldering the bag. "Shall we go?"

"Yes! The meeting point has to be only five minutes away! We were almost there when that turtle showed!" Mitsuki said.

"Then let us proceed."

The strange group moved on silently, either on their respective sides. The conversation was light and even Iro was relatively quiet. It was a protective silence.

"There it is!" Iro pointed suddenly to a small ramshackle hut on top of a hill. They stopped to stare. It really didn't look like much.

"It may look better when we get closer," Kurama suggested.

It didn't.

The shack was a sad, shabby affair. It was rotting, covered with lichen and moss. There were holes and cracks in the wood and the whole edifice looked only big enough for two people. It seemed moments from collapsing. They all stared at it wordlessly.

Kurama reached the door, examining the rusty knob.

"It seems this can only be opened with spirit energy," He tried to handle only to recoil sharply. "and not mine. It is probably fit for yours, Yusuke,"

Yusuke reached confidently out to grip the handle.

"Ow! What the-?"

"We'll take that as a sign it is not his?" Hiei asked, his voice sold and detached.

"Well…" Iwa, said, swiveling his ears back in stupefaction, "We didn't try it. We were waiting for you," Everyone gathered around the door, taking turns only to be denied with a sharp electric shock. It must have been a funny sight to passersby.

"Here!" Mitsuki piped up brightly, "Let me try!"

"No, no Mit-chan," said Iro dismissively. She pouted.

"Then can I just look at it?" She whined. Hiei snorted with disgust. Her ears swiveled towards him but he didn't care if she had heard. It was disgusting how she had them wrapped around her finger.

"Alright," Iro caved first, "But don't touch it!" he warned. Mitsuki just rolled her eyes and kneeled to examine the doorknob. She suddenly saw a pattern in the rust, like carvings, not with out rhyme or reason. It had symmetry. She squealed catching every one slightly off guard and grasped the doorknob firmly.

Iro and Iwa started forward with concern, hissing softly with displeasure something the others weren't ready for. They soon stopped, as Mitsuki had not reacted to what should have been a bolt of pain. Instead she had released her spirit energy.

Everyone observed with awe as here energy ran through the rust like water being poured into a maze, dissolving the substance away.

"There!" she said happily, dusting her hands off smugly. She turned the now sparkling knob and pushed the door open. "Welcome home!"