Having the reputation of a cold-hearted person is not the ideal way to make friends. Yet, Minatoya Miho didn't have any trouble with this.

As she hastily made her way to school-since she was running late once again-, the girl cursed her short legs for not allowing her to get any faster.

She stopped abruptly when she saw one of her friends, Yusuke. Yup, you heard right. Miho had befriended Yusuke, a guy who was already friends with her big brother and big sister-who happened to be twins and one year older than her-Chikako and Sora.

The so- called delinquent was one of the few people who saw past the cold exterior, realizing that the short girl was in fact a loud-mouthed tomboy. While Miho was, along with Keiko and the twins, one of the few who knew what a softie he was.

Thinking of which, recently there were more people in the group. Like Kuwabara and a new girl, Botan. Miho didn't mind ,she actually liked them, though she had to punch Kuwabara a couple of times to show him that his flirting methods annoyed her.

A few more strides, a leap and … BAM! she glomped Yusuke from behind, throwing him face-first on the concrete.

Sitting triumphantly on his back, she said in her usual cold voice "Letting your guard down, Yusuke? How pathetic"

"Indeed" she heard a voice and raised her head. Only then did she realize that her friend was talking to someone before she arrived, and that this someone was now staring at her with blood-red eyes. "How truly pathetic, detective" he went on "to be tackled by such a tiny human"

Miho gave him a cold glare that would freeze anyone on the spot-though this guy didn't seem to budge. "Well, excuse the hell outta me for not being an alien. It won't happen again, master" she replied with sarcasm dripping from any single word.

The guy didn't reply, he just returned her glare. Flame-red orbs met icy-blue ones, yet none seemed to step back. Inwardly, they both smirked with interest.

Emphasizing her every movement, she turned to Yusuke and helped him up. As he grudgingly dusted himself off, she said "Make sure not to get late, Keiko will skin you alive if you do, ok?"

He nodded, purposely ignoring her obvious pleasure at such a possibility, and stopped her as she was ready to take off again "Hey, will the twins come today?"

She shrugged "How should I know? They've been acting strange lately. First, Sora disappears to God knows where for a couple of days, and now Chikako announced she's gonna take the day off"

Heaving a sigh, she turned and started running again, waving above her shoulder…

The classes seemed to "fly" quickly today. Miho was really surprised at that. It was like time itself was passing fast, like something great was bound to happen.

After school, she searched everywhere for her friends. None seemed to be around. Though she did manage to find Keiko, who told her that Yusuke and Botan had gone along with Kuwabara at his house to watch a tape.

Not interested, she went home.

Living in a shrine was not an easy task, especially since she had to climb all those steps twice a day.

At the entrance of the shrine, she stopped. There was something in the air, something strong and … well, not human. Swiftly, she turned around … only to be met face-to-face with the statue of one of the protector spirits, the one that showed a bear.

She blinked and mentally slapped herself as she stepped away and got in the house. "That's it, no more ghost movies with the guys" she decided, managing to miss the strange shine in the statue's eyes …

As she got in her room, her eyes fell on a package on her bed.

Curious, she opened it. Two similar guns laid there next to each other, and next to them a note said:

"Don't touch them till I get back. We need to talk.

Chikako"

Pouting, she plopped on the bed, tugging at her hair "Seriously, what is everyone's problem today?"

PREVIEW:

"You mean-"

"I mean what I mean. We didn't help you up till now. But do you honestly believe Sora would spend all these days in the mountains, giving you information on that bastard, just for the fun of it? It's time for the Minatoyas to march to battle once again"

Next chapter:She's ready