Needless to say.. I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or the wonder that is Kurama (I WISH!), but the characters of Mariko, Midori, and Ayako are most definitely MINE!!

This story's based off of a YYH IRC rp that's ongoing with myself, my boyfriend, and several of our friends.. it'll mostly be Mariko and Kurama, but the others.. especially Hiei, are likely to make occasional appearances . But now on to the story...

... thoughts and/or telepathy

Chapter One - A Chance Meeting

"Yay.. yet another pointless year at yet another new school.. I think I'm going to faint from the sheer delight.." A soft sigh escapes the lips of Mariko Tsujimoto as the sixteen year old girl stands in front of her new school and looks up at the clocktower. Her knee-length raven black hair was pulled back into a ponytail that was laying over her shoulder, and a pair of glasses perched on the tip of her pert little nose. They were just windowpane.. she'd faked them years ago for her mother's benefit, but the round frameless glasses set off her delicate features and tended to have the effect of making people take her seriously despite the fact of her delicate beauty. She'd learned rather quickly that humans tended to disregard pretty girls, so if she wanted to be treated as if she had a brain in her head she had to cultivate an intellectual appearance.

"Hey.. who's the new girl?? She's awfully pretty.."

"She'd better NOT try throwing herself at MY Shuichi..."

"Your Shuichi? Since when is he YOUR Shuichi, Ayame!?!"

"Since -forever-, Eriko! You're just in denial..."

The corner of Mariko's mouth quirks in a wry smirk.. it was always the same.. the second that she got to a new school she would hear them arguing over who had possession of the school heartthrob. "More than likely some testosterone-laden gorilla from the kendo team... oh joy.." Her day was just going from bad to worse, she could hear all the whispers, even pick up their thoughts if she bothered to try.. there were days that she seriously despised being stuck in this human body. Her head jerks up sharply as she's bumped into from behind and she spins to come face to face with a pair of brilliant green eyes in a gentle, handsome face that was framed by long crimson hair that resembled spun silk. Almond-shaped chocolate brown eyes widen as they meet his and just for a second they both blush outrageously.

"I'm sorry about that. I was busy reading, and I didn't put my mind where it should have been. It was clumsy of me.. are you alright?" Even as he looked at her Kurama felt his mouth go dry.. she was about the loveliest creature that he'd ever seen, and he'd slammed into her back like some clumsy oaf Beautiful.. and because of your mistake, she probably thinks that your mind is in a constant haze. Not a good first impression..

"Oh.. I shouldn't have just been standing here though.. it's my fault too. I'm just not really looking forward to another new school, I guess.." She brushes her long ponytail over her shoulder with a slight smile.. maybe this year wouldn't be so bad afterall. Slipping a piece of paper from her pocket she hands it to him "Would you please tell me the way to my homeroom? I can figure things out from there.."

Shuichi takes the class list from her and looks it over for a minute, his eyes widening in pure delight as he saw that she shared -most- of his classes.. including homeroom "I can do better than that, assuming that you don't mind an escort?"

It was about that time that they both felt a strong demonic presence approaching.. Mariko's eyes shifting nervously from side to side while Kurama remained perfectly calm. He knew who it was, afterall.. Hiei never bothered to mask his energy, but Kurama caught Mariko's reaction before she managed to regain control and was immediately intrigued Hmm.. it would appear that she's more than she seems..

"An escort? I.. thank you, but I think that I'll risk the wilds for myself.." She takes back her class list, almond-shaped eyes widening for a second as their hands brush and she gets a fleeting image of a tall kitsune standing in darkness and watching her "I really should be going!!" She rushes off in more than a mild panic, the faint scent of roses wafting around her as she heads into the school's main building.

"Hnn.. who's the female, Kurama?" Hiei drops down out of a nearby tree and looks from the quickly retreating girl to Kurama and arches a brow before leaning back against a tree and crossing his arms over his chest.

"It would seem that she is a new classmate of mine, and somehow I get the feeling that this is going to be a most interesting year.." Shuichi watches until she disappears into the school building before turning to Hiei with a curious expression "And what brings you here this morning, Hiei? I was under the impression that you didn't care for the human's education system?"

"The ferry onna came to bug me earlier. Something about a demon named Gensai.. a thief, or rather a leader of thieves. I've never heard of him, but I thought that you might have some information." Hiei's eyes shift back towards the school building and then to his companion. He had never seen Kurama this intrigued by a female, especially not a human one, but it was most likely just a passing phase.

"Gensai.. hmmm... the name -does- ring a bell. He had a rather extensive organization at one time, and a few of his operatives even rivaled my skills. According to the rumor that was going around about the time I had to come to Ningenkai he had set up one of his more gifted operatives.. a female kitsune. She was supposed to be killed in an ambush as an excuse for him to go to war with another demon named Kamanagi; but the ambush was bungled and she not only survived, she discovered that Gensai had set her up. I'm afraid that I don't know much more than that except that Gensai's organization was wiped out almost to the man.. and the kitsune disappeared." He looks up sharply as a bell rings from inside the building "I'll see you later, Hiei. I don't want to be tardy to class, but I'll try to remember any other details about Gensai that I can and I'll tell you when school's over for the day."

"I'll be around, Kurama.." Hiei nods as the taller redhead hurries off to the school and leaps back up into the tree to head off in search of something to do that was significantly less boring than watching paint dry.