Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I do own Arissa and Alexia.
Prologue
"Arissa! Arissa!" Yelled a small girl from the edge of the dock on the small lake. A head splashed up from the water several yards away. "Arissa!" She yelled again, before the head can disappear beneath the waters. Sharp green eyes glare at the little girl. "What Alexia!" Her clear voice cuts across the waters, showing her annoyance at being interrupted. Alexia flinches hurt at the harshness of her older sister's voice. Arissa's eyes soften, seeing the bobbing gold curls, so like her own, bounce with her sister's flinch. She swam closer to the dock, and said in a soothing voice, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bite, now tell me what you wanted." Alexia looked like she was debating on whether or not to even talk to Arissa after her rude behavior. She finally looked at her sister's sincere eyes, stuck her chin in the air and huffed out. "You're in trouble! You wasn't s'possed to go swimming! You were told to clean the stables! I'm telling! Nya!" The little six year old stuck out her tongue and ran into the woods, following the safe trail back to the ranch.
Arissa stared at the retreating form in stupification as she treaded water. Finally she swore, "Why that little pipsqueak! And here I was feeling sorry for sniping at her. Agh!" Arissa swam to the ladder on the wooden dock and hauled herself out of the water, swearing at the wind, as it's chill bit at her wet bikini clad form. "Ttteach mme nnott to go sswwimming at tthhe beggginning of sppring!" She chittered at herself, quickly drying herself off with the towel she had brought with her. Once she finished drying her body off she wrapped the already damp towel around her long drenched hair. She pulled on her dry clothes, thanking whoever that Alexandra had not decided to throw them in the water like she did the last time she caught Arissa in the lake and Arissa had pissed her off. She pulled on her t-shirt and slipped into her jeans, relishing in what little warmth her clothes gave. As Arissa ran to the edge of the woods, wrestling her tennis shoes on, she heard a chilling scream. "Alexia!" She gasped.
Arissa darted down the trail as fast as her bare feet could carry her; she had given up on the shoes as soon as she heard the scream. It was dusk out in the open, but now in the woods it looked almost midnight. Against everything screaming in her, Arissa slowed down. She knew that if she took a misstep she would be no help to her sister.
Something snapped, a rustle in the brush, close behind. It wasn't her and it wasn't a small woodland creature. Mountain lions? No, a mountain lion would only make such a sound when attacking, and it would have been downwind of her. The sound was upwind. Arissa twirled around, her dagger, a gift from her father for various uses in the woods and self defense, sliding easily out of it's sheathe she had attached to a belt loop on her jeans. She slashed out as she finished the turn, only to find dead eyes staring at her.
"Yusuke!" Yelled a blue haired woman, as she whacked a tall man over the head with an oar. "OW!" Yelled Yusuke as he rubbed his head. "Y'know Botan, you didn't have to do that!" He looked at the irrate Botan who only huffed and pulled out a sheaf of papers from the folds of her pink kimono. "Well, you never seem to pay attention unless you have been hit on the head a few times. Now, here's what I have been trying to talk about." She handed Yusuke the papers. Yusuke looked over them, one hand slicking back his hair that had been mussed from the oar. He read aloud. "Arissa Laine, age: 19, sex: female, height: 5'1", weight: 115lbs. birth date: October 21, likes and hobbies: Art, swimming, dancing, throwing daggers, riding and raising mustangs, dislikes and yada yadayada.." He looked at Botan, "What the hell is this crap! Some kind of dating info or something?" He handed the papers back, shoved his hands into the pockets of his blazer, and started to walk off, saying, "I'm not interested. I'm married, remember." WHACK! Yusuke doubled over from the blow to the back of his head. "Dammit woman! What was that for!" "Be seriouse Yusuke! Read again, carefully this time!" She shoved the papers at Yusuke again. He huffed, but did as he was told, rubbing the sore lump on the back of his skull. "Arissa, age, sex…" His eyes caught onto something he had passed over before. "…Race: Demon…"