Chapter 1
A New Recruit
Koenma sat at his desk reading through files of demons that had been in the archives, searching for information on a certain individual. She could become a great asset to Yusuke if they could get her to agree to anything. He knew first hand how stubborn she could be. Only once before had the prince and her met, and after that encounter it seemed as though she wanted nothing to do with Spirit World at all, which he did not doubt.
The ogre Jeorge burst into Koenma's office in a panic. In his arms was a stack of forms that went above his head, making him stumble over nothing while he walked over to his boss. "Koenma Sir, the paper work is starting to pile up, if-" he stopped when he saw Koenma flipping through a file. He then realized that he was being completely ignored. Jeorge looked at Koenma as he continued to flip through the files, "Excuse me, Sir. What are you doing?" Koenma continued to ignore him. 'Why can't I have a nice job where my work is at least appreciated?' he thought miserably.
As George was about to say something else in an attempt to gain his childish boss' attention the door opened to show Kurama followed by Hiei. The two were at the mercy of Spirit World after the incident with the three Artifacts and neither one could refuse a direct order without going straight to prison. Hiei would have much rather run back to Makai and forget about his time in the human world. Unfortunately, Hiei knew that having Spirit World looking for him would just hinder him.
"You sent for us?" Kurama asked.
Koenma lifted his head for the first time since the ogre had been in the room to look at Kurama, "Yes, I have a task for the both of you while Yusuke is busy with Genkai." Koenma found the file he was looking for and slid it toward Kurama for him to see. At this time he finally noticed Jeorge, "When did you get here ogre?" he asked.
Jeorge didn't answer, he knew Koenma didn't really care. Instead, he sweat-dropped and continued to think about his miserable life and job.
Kurama scanned the file enough to get an overview of this girl and took a few moments to memorize the picture of her. The photo was simple. It showed a girl with long black hair and amber eyes. Her face was simple, no over exaggerated features at all. Just a simple girl. Once he was finished looking at the file, he then handed it over to Hiei. Hiei only looked at it long enough to memorize the picture of the girl. He cared not for any other information. He didn't rely on such things to get the job done and that's what he wanted right now. Get this job done, get off parole, and be free to do what he wanted. He was done looking it over and handed the file back to Kurama before leaning back against the wall, listening to his partner and the small prince. Kurama slid the file back onto the desk. "What do you want us to do?" Kurama asked indicating the file in front of them.
"I want you to find this girl," he indicated the girl in the photo he held up from the file. "Her name is Nia, but to the lower apparitions she is known as the Black Shadow. She has quite the record as you might have found out from her file. For several years now she has been trying to repent by saving the lives of humans from the demons who run a muck in the living world." Koenma looked in the file and flipped through it before saying, "It seems she was recently spotted in your hometown, Kurama. Your job is to look for her and bring her back in one piece." His serious demeanor melted away and his voice grew shaky, "Just make sure she doesn't kill me..." Memories of the last encounter he had with Nia flooded back and he shuddered, he was lucky to get out of there alive!
Alright, maybe he was overreacting, but she was not at all happy.
Once Koenma finished Hiei left the room. The sooner this was over the better. Kurama then exited the room as well, leaving the ruler to think over if this was really such a good idea.
Back in the human world, a girl was perched on the roof of one of the taller buildings in the city. Her senses were straining to pick up on the smallest amount of demonic energy. Though, her mind was sidetracked as the breeze picked up and she found herself shutting her eyes against the cool night breeze. This was her favorite time, night. It was so quiet and peaceful during this time, although that was only because ninety percent of the humans were in bed and asleep.
She had no problem with humans, it's just the fact that they have such a beautiful world and it's like they do everything in their power to destroy it.
Night could be one of the most dangerous times. Demons come out to prey on the humans brave (or perhaps foolish) enough to linger in the dark. The humans are lucky she is around to save them.
The young woman's eyes snapped open as she felt a faint demonic energy make its way toward her. It approached her from behind and stopped on the edge of the rooftop opposite her. The lady in black turned her body slowly to take in the black clad figure before her. He must have been just a few inches taller than her, and a black cloak and boots covered him, contrasting with the white scarf and headband he wore. The most prominent features on him were the star burst of white in his gravity defying black hair and his crimson eyes. His eyes were guarded and cold, despite the color being that of burning flames.
Their eyes locked and it was sometime before he spoke, "Are you the woman they call, Nia?" His voice held no emotion other than a hint of boredom.
She gave him a suspicious look, "And what if I am?"
"Then you're coming with me." The tone in his voice stayed the same. Though he was ready to attack if there was any problems.
Without moving an inch, Nia focused her energy and entered his mind. At least, she tried to enter his mind. The man before her didn't even flinch when she attempted. Both their eyes narrowed at the other.
The stranger's voice rang out in the crisp night air, "You're going to need a better trick than that to work on me."
Since her signature trick had not worked on him she reached into her long black trench coat and pulled out her weapon. A simple rod of silver with rounded edges and no longer than a foot. She held it out in front of her and channeled her spirit energy to manipulate the metal to form into a scythe. The new length of the weapon was at least five and a half feet, longer than the woman wielding it. The elegance of the simple weapon was enough to make anyone stop and appreciated if given the chance.
Nia looked at him and said simple, "How about this trick?"
No sooner had the words left her mouth had she disappeared. Her lightning fast speed made it seem as though she disappeared. But, her enemy was no average demon. When she swept her scythe blade to slice him in two, he easily took out his katana and blocked the attack. He didn't seem surprised at her actions. In fact she could see no emotion in those crimson eyes of his.
"I'm not here to fight." He said aloud.
"Then what are you here for?"
He didn't answer his question. Instead his eyes moved behind her to the new presence that appeared on the roof. The demon in front of her suddenly moved out of their standoff. She turned and spotted him next to the newcomer.
The new boy was taller than her by several inches. He had long shoulder length red hair and forest green eyes. An attractive young man despite his soft features. He reminded her of a rose. Delicate looking, but if you weren't careful you could be cut by a thorn. One thing really stuck out to her - his clothing. He wore the school uniform of a school in the area.
"Hiei," the redhead began, "we are supposed to bring her back, not fight her." He was serious and seemed to be scolding the shorter male, though it didn't seem to do much.
Hiei scoffed, "I don't know if you noticed Kurama, but she pulled the first move."
Kurama shook his head and continued to look at Nia, studying her. Soon enough he began to speak. "Hello, Nia, it is a pleasure. My name is Kurama and this is Hiei."
"Yes, I've gathered that." She said in an obvious tone. "What I do not know though, is why you are here."
There was a pause before Kurama said, "Koenma would like a word with you in Spirit World."
Her eyes narrowed, "I told him to leave me out of all this nonsense." She huffed and thought it over. The last time she had met with Koenma it had not ended well. He wanted her to help him out in cases as a Spirit Detective. She had refused. What could he want now?
Nia sighed visibly before returning her scythe to its smaller compact form and placing it inside her coat pocket. "Let's get this over with then."
Kurama was surprised at the willingness she showed. By the way Koenma made it sound, she would put up more of a fight. He came to the conclusion that Hiei had just been stingy with his words and miscommunicated.
He nodded and held out a small portable button. He pressed it and a large portal appeared. It was circular and a bright blue color. Hiei walked through the portal first as Kurama watched Nia carefully to make sure she got through. He wouldn't have this little mission of theirs ruined because she decided to run.
Back in Spirit World, Koenma had been stamping away at some paperwork while Jeorge was off to the side in an apron cooking fish.
The two looked up when a low buzzing sound hit their ears, the trademark sign a portal was about to open. About ten feet in the air the blue portal appeared parallel to the floor.
Hiei was the first to land on the floor within the Princes' office. Without a word he walked over to the wall and leaned against it. Just three seconds after Hiei arrived both Nia and Kurama came through. They both landed light on their feet just as Hiei had.
"Welcome back," Koenma said to Kurama and Hiei. He was trying his best not to acknowledge Nia directly just yet. "I see you brought her back."
"Yes, as requested." Kurama nodded. He was curious what was going to happen now. He never said to leave the two of them to talk, so he planned to stay and see what was about to happen between the two.
Nia walked up to the young princes' desk. She placed her hands on the edge of the desk and leaned in, giving the small prince a cold glare. "Alright, I'm here. Now what the hell do you want? I thought I had told you to leave me out of all this."
Koenma flinched back and scooted further into his chair. "Nia," he began, "I am well aware of what has happened to you in the past."
Her eyes narrowed, "And how exactly do you know?"
"I am the Prince of Spirit World. I know everything." He said as if anyone should be able to know. His tone became more serious once again, "I will help you find him if you help me in return."
Nia leaned away from the desk, posture rigid. Only Koenma and Jeorge could could see her biting her lip in uncertainty, "You would do that?" She had been searching for him ever since she had gotten away from Spirit World and she had had no luck. If she had the help of Koenma though, things might go a bit differently.
When she had first ran away from him, she was afraid and angry and wasn't thinking clearly. When she realized that she could have possibly gotten the Prince's help her stupid pride kept her from going back.
Koenma only nodded and waited for her next response.
Her stance posture relaxed and she heaved a sigh. She needed the help to find him, she knew that. There was no way she was going to run away from it a second time. "Alright. Now what?"
A/N - Hello everyone. Because of life and the way my life has been the last few years, I have not had a lot of time, or motivation to write. I am trying to gain it back and reading through old chapters of this story saved on my laptop has got my interest sparking. This is my first Fanfiction I ever made and finished. But, because I wrote it when I was 13 or so, I will be doing major editing to every chapter before re-releasing it. The romance between Nia and Hiei was way too fast last time, and I never spent a lot of time developing her character, those are mistakes I plan to fix this time around. I hope to post the next chapter soon. Please tell me what you think. Feel free to Favorite, follow and review.
