The burnette boy tugged on the man's sleeve and pointed further down the mountain. There was a long haired redhead and spiky, dark haired demon approaching. "Oh, it seems we have visitors," the man said, almost pleasantly.

"Friends?" The boy nearly growled the question.

"No, however-" the black haired man grabbed the teen's shoulder. "However, let's find out why they're here first. But why don't you welcome them?"

A wide, devilish smile crossed the boy's face. His golden eyes seemed to glow even more in anticipation. "Okay."

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Dokugakuji and Gojyo didn't even see him coming. But they sure felt him, in the form of four new gashes on each of their arms.

"What…"

"The hell…?"

"Now, now," a voice above them spoke. "I told you to welcome them. That wasn't very nice, now was it?"

Doku and Gojyo looked in the direction the 'wind' had blown. Staring them down was what appeared to be a teenager.

A demon teenager. "Sorry," he said, although he didn't appear to be anything of the sort.

"What is your business here?" the first voice came again. It was older and much deeper. The two 'visitors' couldn't seem to locate his exact position.

"We are here on behalf of Lord Kougaiji," Doku spoke. The voice laughed.

"And what is it his highness asks of us?" The owner of the mysterious voice came into view. While the teen wore only tattered jeans, this one had worn, loose fitting pants and shirt. Vine-like markings covered what clothing did not. A pair of elongated ears marked him as a demon, just as the boy.

Doku found his own voice first. "Lord Kougaiji asks for you and your partner's assistance.

"Assistance. You must be joking."

'Crap. We're losing him,' Gojyo thought. "He'd be more than happy to make it worth your while. Anything you want."

The man suddenly got a look of deep-seeded hatred in his yellow, silted eyes. He charged up to the redhead, but stopped dead inches from his face. "Anything we want?" he asked, running a clawed finger down the other's throat. Gojyo gulped. It wasn't every day there was a deadly aura enveloping you, a pair of dangerous eyes looking at you like you'd be a delicious dessert.

"Don't flatter yourself," the vine covered demon said suddenly, completely dropping his seemingly obvious intentions. "What I want, no one can give me. Come here again, and you will be killed."

"What about your friend?" Goyjo dared to ask.

"He's free to do as he pleases; he knows that."

Doku and Gojyo turned to look at the teen once more. The sadistic smile on his face showed he only wanted to kill; and once he saw the man leave, so did he.

"Well," Doku sighed. "That went well."

"Then I'm not sure I wanna know what your definition of 'well,'" his brother replied. "In any case, you're reporting to Kou."

"You're such a baby."

"I am not!"

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Lord Kougaiji's brow furrowed. "And the little one did everything the older one told him?" he asked.

"Yes," Dokugakuji replied.

Yaone stepped forward. "Perhaps if I-"

"No!" all three men said at once.

The woman sighed. "Or perhaps not."

"Yaone," the swordsman tried to explain. "They're far too unpredictable. And the adult one could very well-"

"You've made your point," she replied crossly. "But if they're so dangerous, why do you seek their help?" she asked the demon lord.

"They're strong," Kou replied. "And this monk took out a legion of assassins with just a banishing gun. I want to touch on every possible resource."

"But we're leaving those two alone now, right?" Gojyo asked.

"No."

"What?"

"I'm going to go see them myself tomorrow. Doku, Gojyo, you'll come with me. Yaone, don't even think about following us."

"Hel-lo!" the redhead yelled. "Did someone forget about what that guy said about killing us if we came back?"

"Scared?" his brother taunted.

"No! His aura… it's unstable. Even more than the brat's."

"I won't force either of you," Kou told them. "But I will be going there tomorrow."