Disclaimer: See chapter 1


"I think we're here," Suki said as the three friends looked at the incredibly long flight of stairs.

"Are you sure Suki?" Kaiya asked.

"Hey, the GPS said this was it. You would know if you hadn't fallen asleep."

Mikazuki started laughing and then Suki joined her which irritated Kaiya. "What are you two laughing at?"

Mikazuki stopped laughing long enough to say, "We didn't know you had a fear of mice."

"Shut up! Those things are freaky. You don't know the things I've seen."

"Way to be over dramatic, Kaiya," Suki laughed.

Annoyed by her two friends, Kaiya shot a warning flame at them. "I'm really not in the mood. I got no sleep last night since I was too busy helping Sui pack and now she's really angry at me for not being there for her. I really hope this instructor can tell us what's going on these powers."

"You really need to chill," Mika said and Suki laughed at her obvious joke. "Look, it seems like every time you get scared, angry, or annoyed your powers get out of control. Just don't get upset over anything."

"You know I have a short temper. How am I supposed to do that?"

"Hey Kaiya, look! A mouse!" Suki yelled, creating an illusion of a small mouse in her hand.

Kaiya screamed and ducked letting out some more flames, almost hitting her friends. Mika turned to Suki. "Do you mind?"

"Nope!" Suki exclaimed as she smiled.

They left their suitcases in Suki's van. There was no way they were going to be able to carry them up the stairs. After an hour of walking up the stairs, they finally made it to the top. Standing in front of a temple, the girls looked around to see if there was anyone around. Upon seeing no one, they walked up to the entrance of the temple.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Suki called into the temple.

There was a few seconds of silence before a woman walked to the entrance. "Yes? And what would three young girls like you be doing all the way out here?" the elderly woman asked.

Kaiya seemed to be hesitant to trust the woman…she had trust issues. "Um, my friend here," she said motioning towards Mikazuki, "said that she found an article online about someone who could help us learn to control our powers. We recently got these powers out of nowhere and they're causing problems."

"I see. Well hurry up and come inside." She looked at the girls and saw that they had no luggage. "Didn't you bring anything with you? I assume you know that this won't be a one day thing."

The girls looked at each other and then back at the woman. "We didn't know how to get our bags up the stairs," Mika said hesitantly. "Getting ourselves up was a workout."

The woman sighed and rolled her eyes, though she did understand that these young girls were probably as lazy as her apprentice always was. "Don't worry. There are some people here who will help you. Come with me."

The girls followed her into an open courtyard and saw seven other people. One of the guys with slicked back, black hair looked over at them dumbfounded.

"Hey Urameshi, what's up?"

"Looks like we have company," he responded pointing at the girls.

"We have names, you know?" Kaiya said, already aggravated at the guy's attitude.

"Well sorry," he said, also irritated. "Why don't you introduce yourselves then?"

"First, dimwit, they need some help with their bags."

"Oh come on grandma, they should carry their own stuff."

"Just get off your lazy ass and help."

"Come on Urameshi. Let's help 'em out."

"Whatever, Kuwabara."

He reluctantly agreed. He and Kuwabara went to get their bags while they waited. When they returned, everyone gathered outside and sat around introducing themselves.

"My name is Genkai and I'm a psychic. Now you said you have recently acquired powers. Why don't you tell us about them?"

Kaiya did not want to say anything, so Mika started talking.

"My name is Mikazuki Midorikawa. I'm eighteen years old and recently I started—" she said starting to sink in the grass. She grabbed onto a rock with many people staring at her. "Yeah, I started doing that. Oh, and help." One of the other guys with bushy, red hair and light blue eyes flew over to her and helped her out from the ground. "Thanks." Smiling, he flew back to where he was sitting.

Suki told of her powers next. "Lately, I've been thinking about things, like creatures from movies and things like that, and then all of a sudden they appear right in front of me…well, last time it was behind me...but I can feel them and they chase me. I don't know how it happens. By the way, I'm Suki Kawai and I'm nineteen years old."

The shortest guy of the bunch, who had spiky, black hair and crimson colored eyes, let out a large breath of air, as if annoyed. "This bores me. I don't care about any of this or their powers. If you need me I'll be in a tree."

"Oh come on, Hiei. There's only one more girl who has to introduce herself. Just wait a minute."

"Kurama, I'm not in the mood right now."

"Why? Is something wrong with Yukina?" the guy who Genkai had referred to as "dimwit" said snickering.

"And why the hell would I care about Yukina?" Hiei exclaimed outraged.

"Hey you better be nice to her. I invited her here today. She should be here soon," the orange haired guy named Kuwabara said.

"What?"

Both dimwit and Kurama began to laugh. No one else but Genkai and a blue haired girl got the joke. Both women put their head to their hand, shaking their heads in disbelief.

"Fine, I'll stay. Hurry up and tell us your power," Hiei grumbled while glaring at the girl.

Kaiya stayed silent. She didn't know if she should trust them, especially with this guy glaring at her. It was making her feel slightly uncomfortable. Mika elbowed her in the side. "Ow! Fine, I'll talk. My name is Kaiya Ishii. I'm eighteen. Whenever I get scared or angry or annoyed, flames shoot out from my body and instantly incinerate anything around me. I can't control it and I'm worried I might hurt my sister who I'm taking care of."

What Kaiya said piqued Hiei's interest, but he dismissed it, jumped up into a tree, and closed his eyes. "Don't mind Hiei. He's a real jerk. My name's Kazuma Kuwabara. Nice to meet you."

Mika whispered to Suki, "I don't know if it's nice to meet him." She was commenting on his grating voice, and the two girls laughed.

Dimwit pushed Kuwabara out of the way. "No one cares. Anyway, the name's Yusuke Urameshi and Hiei's not that bad."

"Yes, he's just not a people person. My name is Kurama."

Mika turned to the red-haired guy that helped her. "What's your name?" she asked him.

Blushing, he responded in an Irish accent, "My name be Jin. It be a pleasure, miss." He motioned towards another guy wearing blue leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. "And his name be Touya."

Touya motioned his hand for a slight wave. "Pleasure." Then he folded his arms again. His eyes remained closed the entire time.

"And I'm Botan," the blue-haired girl announced. "It's really great to meet you three."

"Master Genkai, are you home?" a voice rang out to the courtyard.

"YUKINA!" Kuwabara yelled running in the direction of the girl's voice.

Hiei looked down from the tree to see Yukina walk into the courtyard. Kaiya noticed that he was staring at Yukina, but then he turned away and closed his eyes. Kaiya wanted to know what was up.

"Anyway, this is Yukina," Kuwabara said introducing her.

"Hi, nice to meet you," she said smiling. "What are your names?"

"Mikazuki Midorikawa."

"Suki Kawai."

"Kaiya Ishii," Kaiya said hesitantly.

"Anyway, we should probably start discussing your powers. I know these abilities you've acquired. Mikazuki, you have the power of shadows. You can sink into your own shadow, or any shadow really. You could also store objects in your shadow. It's a tricky power to use. Suki, you have the power of illusions. You can create illusions from your thoughts, dreams, or memories. Anything you think about can become a weapon. And you Kaiya, your power is the burning flame. That power is a little more difficult to explain.

"None of the powers are easily manageable. Mikazuki's power is linked to her focus, Suki's is linked to her consciousness and state of mind, both which are related. Separately, Kaiya, your power is linked to your emotions, which could be even more dangerous. We are going to have to work on getting you to control them as soon as possible."

"Well, we do have this week, but then we have to get back to school," Mika announced.

"And I have to get back to my sister."

"You have a sister?" Yukina asked.

"Yes," she admitted, not feeling as nervous when she heard Yukina's kind voice. "She's seventeen. Her name is Sui."

"Does she know?" Yusuke asked.

Kaiya was pissed and glared at him. "Know what?"

"You know, about your fire powers?"

Kaiya calmed herself down and looked down to the ground. "No, I haven't told her. She'd be better off not knowing, although, she does think I'm avoiding her. I feel bad, but at least she's safe." Hiei glanced down at the girl again, but no one noticed.

"We understand. Don't worry. I have something that may help." Kurama went to a backpack that he brought with him. He took out a black, stone ring. "This should help you gain control of your powers. It's a rare artifact that has a suppressing ability. It should keep your powers under control even when your emotions aren't."

Kaiya took the ring, still a little hesitant, but glad that she had a way to be around her sister without putting her in danger. "Thank you. But what about Mika and Suki?"

"Controlling your focus or your consciousness is much easier than controlling emotions," Touya said finally moving away from the tree.

"Yeah, you don't know them…"

"So," Suki said changing the subject, "how did you guys get your powers?"

Everyone looked at each other, each a little hesitant, but of course Kuwabara had no problem telling about how pretty much everyone there except him, Genkai, and Botan were demons and that Botan was the grim reaper and he had spiritual awareness. Yusuke tried to get him to shut up, but Kurama could already see how the fight was going to turn out and got in Yusuke's way to prevent it.

"Wait," Mika said. "You mean to tell us you're demons?"

A moment of silence was then broken by the three girls yelling out, "COOL!" to everyone's surprise.

"It doesn't bother you?" Yusuke asked.

"Why should it?" Kaiya asked. "Are you planning on destroying us or something?"

"Well no, but—"

"But nothing. We think it's awesome," Mika chimed in.

All of a sudden, Kaiya's cell phone rang. "It's my sister. I have to take this." She walked back inside the temple.

"How does she have reception up here," Mika questioned.

"So what's the deal with this sister of hers," Yusuke asked.

"Long story short, it's her step-sister. Sui's mother and Kaiya's mother agreed Kaiya should keep an eye on her. Their mothers are like best friends, which is good for Kaiya and Sui because they didn't get to see each other for a while after Kaiya's mom divorced Sui's dad," Mika explained.

"Where are you guys from?" Kurama asked.

"We're from the university town nearby," Suki replied.

"Hey, that's where we live," Kuwabara said.

"Hey cool," Mika said as Kaiya came back into the courtyard looking incredibly pale. She had the ring on her finger. "Why are you wearing that now and why do you look so pale?" Mika questioned.

"Because Akina's mother was in an accident and Sui is at the hospital."

"Is she okay?" Suki asked.

"Yeah, she just had a small asthma attack," Kaiya said, trying to stay strong when it was obvious she was panicking.

"You should go attend to your sister now, but I expect to see you back here every weekend so we can start your training," said their new teacher.

"Okay, we'll be back," Mika replied.

The three girls ran down the stairs, leaving their stuff behind. They weren't even thinking when they left it (shocker). "Hey, they forgot their stuff," Kuwabara said.

"When we return home, we can stop by the university and see if we can find where they are by tracing their energy. We can give it back to them then," Kurama suggested.

"We'll see them later then," Yusuke retorted.