~~~~~~~~~~~When Cheza was 6~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He had long silver hair and hypnotizing golden orbs that any woman couldn't help but gawk at and adorable fluffy ears that twitched at the slightest sound"

"He was stealthy and cunning"

"He was the king of thieves"

"Mommy, how come he has doggy ears?"

Cheza pointed to a picture of the infamous bandit with curious eyes, his story was famous in folklore.

"He was a demon"

"A doggy can be evil? But their so cute and innocent!" Cheza exclaimed.

Cheza's mother smiled "He was a fox demon"

"oohhhhh."

Cheza turned to the next page revealing a silver fox.

"Foxes gain another tail every 1,000 years" her mother read aloud

She couldn't take her mind off of all the strange events that had plagued her, when she had gotten dressed that's when it had hit her she had seen that fox in her dream somewhere before. Her mother used to read her a story about a famous thief named Youko, Kurama. After this realization had hit her she went through a few old boxes hidden away in her closet. Her mom wasn't alive anymore…or at least she didn't think so. Her mother had disappeared one day just like the fox demon. As for her father, she hated him..he was pure evil in her eyes…a demon himself. "I found it!" she exclaimed causing Alice to bark. Dusting off the book her eyes met with those golden orbs, those eyes couldn't be mistaken, it was definitely the same fox demon. Alice sneezed then flopped over rolling on her back as Cheza opened the first page of the book, remembering the words her mother had read to her over and over when she was a child. She remembered this story being one of her favorites. Cheza flipped to the second page catching site of the fox she remembered setting eyes on long ago.

"Foxes gain another tail every 1,000 years"

"They are loners but Youko had many comrades"

Cheza continued to read, "Kuronue.." she muttered reading one of the many names listed.

"Kuronue…Yomi…." The names didn't ring a bell but when she turned the next page a familiar face caught her attention. There he was the bat demon from her dream, around his neck the crimson pendant in all its glory.

"Kuronue was a late comrade of Youko but died shortly before Youko vanished"

Maybe it was just all in her subconscious…nothing more than a dream. But part of her couldn't help but think just maybe it wasn't. It was crazy to believe that she had an actual conversation with a bat demon that died like 3,000 years ago. She held the pendant in front of her following it with her eyes as it swung back and forth like a pendulum. She thought back to the night she was attacked by the "demon" remembering seeing a strange orb of light being sucked out of the demon and into the pendulum. Had that really been the demons spirit getting sucked into the pendant? Was this book more than just a faerie tale…did the legend of Youko Kurama really exist? Did demons really exist?

A loud thump from her kitchen brought her back to her senses, Alice got to her feet growling. Cheza tensed as she heard two voices conversing. She quickly pocketed the pendant then pulled out a pocket knife from her dresser drawer. Cheza silently crept closer and closer to the kitchen, Alice in front of her ready to pounce at any sign of movement. "YOU LITTLE BITCH WHERE IS IT!" "Yeah where is it!we know you have it " she quickly spun around staring at a stubby fat looking demon with horns that curved downward like a ram and what she guessed was a demon due to the glowing green eyes. He looked human besides the eyes…he was ridiculously tall and well built.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Yusukes apartment~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"HAHAH I WIN AGAIN!" Yusuke bragged as Kuwabara grumbled slamming the Super Nintendo controller down. "Don't be a sore loser! He taunted. "SHUT UP URAMESHI! DON'T MAKE ME POUND YOUR FACE IN!" Kuwbara retaliated. They continued a new game of street fighter, after a few minutes had passed Kuwabara paused the game "You sense that Urameshi?" Yusuke went silent for a moment, "I think we got ourselves a demon infestation". Kuwabara got to his feet, "What if that girl is in danger! Kurama said a demon attacked your neighbor last night!" Yusuke got to his feet cracking his knuckles, "Lets check it out".

/\/\/\/\

She was cornered now, the fat demon only inches away. Alice was of no help because of some type of invisible barrier the tall demon had put up. "I'll kill her, then we'll search this place until we find it" "What if it's not here?" came the other demons voice. "It is!"the fat one hissed. "Well well what do we got here? A horizontally challenged midget and a jolly green giant" "He doesn't look so jolly to me Urameshi" Kuwabara stated. The fat demon manifested a dark ball of spirit energy from his stubby little hand and flung it towards Yusuke who quickly dodged and pointed his finger towards the demon, . The ball of light didn't miss the front door though, a huge gaping hole now lurked in it. "SPIRIT GUN!"

~~~~~~~~Cheza's pov~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I watched Yusuke make a gun shape with hand, point his finger at the creepy fat demon then yell out "spirit gun". A blinding light emitted from his finger and next thing I knew the demon was in ashes. I looked over at the remaining demon that towered over me. I watched as a green glow flared up behind him, his face began to morph into the shape of an alligator. I watched in awe and fright as his teeth began to grow following a drastic change in his body, which now resembled an alligator standing up. He reminded me a lot of the alligator soldiers' in Donkey Kong Country..the Super Nintendo one. "See you later alligator" Kuwabara shouted, a yellow glowing sword that seemed to appear from nowhere cut through the demon and he fell to the ground lifeless. Now their eyes were upon me…I didn't know what to say so I stared dumbly at the two. Yusuke broke the silence, "Are you okay?" I nodded as he held out a hand to help me up. I took his hand, he must of noticed it was shaking for he told me not worry there weren't any more demons around. I had heard that word a lot lately (demon)

"You probably want an explanation…I mean this is the second time you've been attacked"

Second time….their red headed friend must have told them about the attack last night. "Kur… Shuichi told me to keep an eye on you" Yusuke said confirming my suspicions. Shuichi was his name.. it had just dawned on me that the red head had never told me his name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~30 mins later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yusuke had explained to Cheza that demons sometimes escaped from what he called the "makai" or demon world and wreaked havoc on humans, but he couldn't explain why she had been attacked twice now. He informed her that he was a spirit detective and explained there was a living world(ningenkai) and a demon world(the makai) and a spirit world where his boss resided. What Cheza thought was a cell phone had gone off in his pocket, what he took out was what looked like a makeup container, the circular ones with a mirror in the top part. He opened it up and an angry baby's face appeared, he was yelling at Yusuke soon after saying "it was dangerous for Cheza to know what she did"..that her memory needed to be erased. Well, needless to say they did end up erasing her memory…

/\/\/\/\

Cheza awoke to Alice's nonstop barking. She groaned holding her head, she felt dizzy and had a bad headache. She figured she must of gotten drunk and passed out. Tossing her sheets aside she got to her feet following Alice's barking. A confused look fell upon her features, "Why is there a big hole in my door?" she thought. She tried to remember the days events but she couldn't remember anything. She stared over at the clock, it was 4 in the morning. The last thing she could remember was walking out the door to go hang out with her friends. She took out her cell phone checking the date, "what the hell?" she whispered. That was two days ago….

She jumped , Alice had startled her. Alice had come running through the hole in her apartment door. "I guess you have a doggy door now" she said patting Alice on the head. Cheza's eyes followed Alice as she happily trotted over to the couch where her leash dangled off the side. "Ruff!" Alice sighed, "okay okay we'll go for a walk"

It was still dark outside, but not pitch black. Alice loved to explore the woods so that is where Cheza always walked her. She decided to let Alice off her leash while she rested under a large oak tree. Alice was all over the place, she seemed to be very hyper at the moment. "Woof!woof! WOOOOOOF!" Cheza looked over at Alice who was staring up at a tree continuously barking. She looked up seeing nothing, "probably a squirrel" she thought.

~~~~~~Hiei's POV~~~~~~~~

That baka ningens dog was getting on my nerves. I wanted to jump down and put an end to that mutts barking. I clinched my fist grinding my teeth together as I concealed myself from view. The human girl was staring right up at me, but I was hidden from her view. I was forced to keep an eye on this baka ningen, thanks to that kitsune.

Cheza was back inside her apartment rummaging through her belongings making sure nothing had been stolen. She figured someone had possibly broken into her apartment, drugged her, and made off with any valuables they found. "nothing…" she muttered to herself. Nothing was out of place….everything was perfectly fine, except the front door of course. "I hope I don't find a tiger in the bathroom" she said to herself. Waking up not remembering anything reminded her of the movie "the hangover". She walked back to her bedroom, where Alice laid at the foot of the bed sleeping. "I guess I'll go to sleep too" she plopped down on her bed, feeling something sharp poke her leg. "oww!" she reached under her sheets pulling out the crimson pendant she had found earlier. "Where did this come from?" she stared down at it, seeing her own reflection staring back at her. She had no idea how it got there, " I'll just go to sleep..wake up..and everything will come back to me" she said clutching the pendant tightly in her hand. Eventually she fell asleep, the pendant still in her grasp.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dream~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello again" Cheza's eyes shot open, her body felt ice cold. She sat up realizing she was on a cold stoney surface. Cheza stared stupidly at the man in front of her, "you…who are you!" she said frightened by what she saw. The man looked at her confused, his wings disappearing behind his back. He continued to look at her with a puzzled expression on his face. "What are you! You..you have wings..and fangs..and.." The man sighed interrupting her, " Tell me…what did you do yesterday?" The question seemed to catch Cheza off guard, she was expecting the mysterious "bat man" to say something like "Im going to eat you!" or something to that affect. "Well…I…I don't really remember" she seemed lost in thought, forgetting where she was. "someone must have erased your memory..." Cheza snapped out of her thoughts, "but..why?" the bat man shrugged, "I don't really know". The two remained silent, " I think I can give you back your memory" the bat finally stated. Before Cheza could respond, his arms wrapped around her. "What are you do.." he pulled her closer and kissed her on the lips. Her head began to spin, she felt queasy as memories began to flood her mind. The bat man stepped back waiting for her to say something. "You..your…Kuronue aren't you?" His eyes widened a bit, "I never told you my name" her heart raced as she soaked in all the information from the past few days. He stared intently at her waiting for her to speak once again. "I know…I found this book..that fox guy is in it too" Cheza looked into Kuronue's eyes, he seemed to be in pain. "I need you to find him…he can get me out of here..I know he's alive" "But..how do you know?" "I just do!" Kuronue hissed. The two sat in silence again for awhile, "not to long ago a demon's soul got sucked into the pendant..he told me…he fought Kurama…but he was different..he..he was trapped inside a human body" Kuronue paused, " he told me he saw the human transform into Kurama" Kuronue began to pace back and forth, " I don't know why..or how..but this human..is some how Kurama." Again there was silence. "Did this demon described what he looked like..I mean I know what Kurama looks like..but his human form?" Kuronue nodded " he said he had long red hair..and green eyes…" Cheza thought for a moment before her eyes widened, "there was this guy I met..he matches the description..but his friend said his name is shuichi" "his friend lives next door to me...he's the one who erased my memory..he told me he worked for some place called spirit world" "No normal human would know anything about spirit world..he must know something" Kuronue stated. "Im going to give you some of my powers so you can defend yourself, demons will be coming for my pendant…they must not get their hands on it" Cheza nodded. Kuronue approached her, "Give me your hand" hesitantly she did as she was told. A strange surge of energy flooded her body, it felt like millions of needles were poking her.

/\/\/\/\/\

Cheza's eyes snapped open and she screamed. She dropped the pendant out of her hand and a ball of dark energy came shooting out of it through her wall.

Yusuke was standing by the stairs of the apartments talking to Kuwabara and Kurama, the stairs happened to be directly in front of Cheza's apartment. A loud boom was heard and a large purple ball of energy was seen coming through the wall of Cheza's apartment, whizzing inches by Yusuke's head.
Yusuke's heart raced at the near collision of his head with the ball of energy "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!"

The ball of energy was not yet done. Hiei had fallen asleep in a tree nearby Cheza's apartment,the ball of energy just happened to hit that tree he was in sending Hiei flying. Hiei's fast reflexes saved him from falling on his ass though, he landing gracefully to the ground. With a bewildered look, Hiei glared up at Kurama who stared back at him with a dumb look.