Yay! My first chapter! It may or may not be boring, but you tell me. Anyway on with the story.

Edit: As of May 26, 2017, I've gone back to update all my chapters. If you see an error, let me know. I'm not very happy with some of these chapters, and may revise, but only after finishing this story.

Chapter 1: Supposed To Be Just Another Drill

Keiko jumped from her bed as soon as the siren went off. She glanced at the alarm clock, which read 6 AM. Keiko sighed. Ever since a youkai had injured a child on the outskirts of the town, the elders were sure an attack was bound to happen. There was no time to put on anything decent so Keiko slipped on a jacket over her nightgow, and put on her sneakers.

"Keiko, are you still in there?" called Botan, "The elders will be furious if you don't hurry."

"I'm coming. I'm coming," said Keiko.

Keiko ran out, covering her ears from the droning of the siren. Botan pulled her arm. They ran to the outskirts of their village to the cave where everyone was supposed to gather. Keiko searched around for the familiar faces of her parents until she saw them talking to Kuwabara.

"Where have you been? Sleeping no doubt. Keiko you know the youkai attacks are becoming more and more frequent in the neighboring villages. We need to stay alert for the sake of our lives." Mr. Yukimura warned.

Keiko looked away, unable to look her father in the eye. Kuwabara shuffled his feet at the awkward moment he'd put himself in. They had waited for what felt like hours, looking to see when the threat would end. Finally the village elders arrived.

"Attention. Line up in rank," commanded Kenjiro, one of the elders.

The entire village was "ranked" on how strong the village would be if you should die in an attack. Fighters of the village were ranked highest. Teens were next for their strength, and for repopulating the village, then builders and wives. Last were the orphans who had wandered into the village. No one knew of their past so according to the elders they were not to be trusted. The elders went down the lines to make sure each person was accounted for.

"Where is Sanosuke? The orphan boy?" Kenjiro asked.

Keiko looked around from her spot. Even to the other orphans, Sanosuke was an outcast. He cried a lot and didn't like to talk to many people. It was no surprise that no one noticed his absence. Keiko was so into her own thoughts she didn't notice anything usual until…

"PUUUU!"

It was a demon she was sure of that, but it looked more like a phoenix. Everyone watched it pass by and head straight toward their village.

"PUUUU!" The beast shrieked out before unleashing an energy blast from its mouth.

Keiko's eyes widened. Botan shook Keiko and pointed. They couldn't see well, but it appeared to be a man, a short man. He jumped from the phoenix- like beast, and the beast turned into… some small floating thing?

"Did you see that, Kuwabara?" asked Botan trembling.

"Yeah, and some guy jumped off that thing. Had they attacked just an hour earlier…we'd all be just ashes."

They looked down somberly. One baby began to fuss and cry. 'Poor child… child? Sanosuke!'

"Sanosuke! He was still in the village!" blurted out Keiko.

"Yeah, but how could he have survived that blast?" asked Botan.

"He could have by some miracle. We have to go check." Keiko demanded. "Kuwabara, you're the strongest fighter in the entire village, please come with us."

Kuwabara nodded. 'I may be the strongest in the village, but I couldn't compete against that blast, and that came from that youkai's pet!'

Nevertheless, they all began to walk. The rest of the village followed, but kept their distance. At least if this monster killed Kuwabara, they could run instead of being sitting ducks in a cave. Keiko's parents pushed to the front in case something happened to their daughter.

The group made it back and saw the youkai. There were fires all around at the center of town, and in the center of the biggest was a man. He was five feet at the most, and had spiky, black hair with ruby eyes. He turned to the horde of humans and smirked.

"I see you've come out your hiding place."

"Yeah, to kick your butt." Kuwabara yelled.

He didn't like the weird vibe this guy gave off.

'He probably kills babies and kittens with a smile,' Kuwabara thought.

Kuwabara formed his famous spirit sword, preparing to fight. He ran at the intruder, but the demon simply stepped out the way.

"What?" Kuwabara skidded to a stop, "How did you move so fast? I've never fought a demon with such speed."

"I'm not just any low life demon that could be killed by the likes of you. And as for my speed, I could crawl faster than that. I knew I'd have decrease my power, but I didn't think this much. You truly are a pathetic race. This is the best you could give me?"

"Puu."

The smaller demon flapped his ears up and away from the other demon.

"Going to find your master, are you Pu?"

Keiko was confused, "You mean you aren't his master? Who are you?"

"I am Hiei, and no I'm not that thing's master. You wouldn't want to meet him. His real master is even faster and stronger than I, and not nearly as patient with foolish humans."

"Someone talking about me?"

Keiko gasped. There was a boy that sounded her age. She was seventeen, and that too young for anyone to be as strong as Hiei had said. He was still too far to see, but she saw he was carrying a child in his hands.

"That monster has a child with him!" someone shouted.

Kenjiro stared harder at the boy approaching, "The only child unaccounted for was Sanosuke. If it is indeed him, any event that befalls him is his own fault."

Botan and Keiko stared in shock. The elder just told them to discard a child! The demon holding the boy was fuming. The demon picked up a rock and threw it at the elder's side. The crowd heard the crack as one of his ribs broke. Kenjiro coughed up some blood before the pain made him lose consciousness.

"A little touchy today, Yusuke?" Hiei smirked.

"You humans are all the same. You act all self-righteous and innocent when demons attack, but when you have the chance to save someone, a child, then no one wants to move."

Sanosuke had been buried deep into the crook of Yusuke's neck, but he peeped out to see what Yusuke had done to Kenjiro. He smiled and clung on to Yusuke tighter. Yusuke glanced at Sanosuke before setting him down.

"You're leaving me? Already?"

Yusuke looked back at the young boy. "Kid, I'm a demon, a demon who doesn't have time for babysitting."

Sanosuke gripped his leg, sniffling.

"Please. Let me stay with you. I don't eat or talk a lot. I can run really fast, and I could get really strong if you trained me."

Kuwabara watched dumbfounded as Sanosuke continued to name off things he could do. Hiei scoffed. After all he'd said about Yusuke, he turned soft instead of killing the kid. He knew Yusuke would let him join them.

"Sanosuke, you don't have to go with them. You're safe here," reminded Botan, trying to encourage him to stay.

Sanosuke gave her a deadly glare before pleading with Yusuke. Yusuke gave a small smile before ruffling his hair.

"Fine, but when we fight, stay out of our way. Stay here one more night to get whatever you'll need. I will come back for you tomorrow evening."

Sanosuke sniffled again. "You're not coming back."

Yusuke sighed. "Here, take Pu. He's my spirit beast. He, in a weird way, is me. When I come back for him, I'll come for you too."

Yusuke turned to walk away, Hiei scowling behind him.

"PUU!" Pu cried out as he floated on Sanosuke's head. Keiko couldn't help but smile at the scene.

Kaemon, another elder, cleared his throat. "Prepare yourselves for an attack when they come back. Take any valuable that isn't too badly burned. Assemble yourselves with your raid groups, take shelter in the homes at the outskirts of the village."

Two men picked up Kenjiro while the rest of the village rounded up all the supplies they needed. Keiko turned to ask Sanosuke why he wanted to travel with a bunch of demons, but he was already gone. She instead caught up to Yuki and Ami in her raid group. Botan was also in her raid group, but Keiko couldn't find her. She knew from the excited looks on their faces, she wouldn't get a lot of sleep that night.

'What an interesting day. Very interesting.'

Yeah, that was kinda short,and rushed. I just needed to introduce the characters. I hope I didn't put them to shame. Things will get better. Anyway the next chapter Yusuke and Keiko, as well as Botan and our favorite fox Kurama meet. Hint Hint. Couples. I don't know how Kuwabara can meet Yukina, but I'll try before this thing is over. Raizen will also be in here. Actually a big part. Well I'm making this up as I go so I can't say more than that. Please review. It'll make me finish this even faster.