I wasn't eager to go home. I didn't want to add anymore bruises to the one on my cheek. Tong might be upset with me for coming home so late. I'd just have to make sure to stay out of physical abuse range.

Whew! I was in luck. I had no idea where Lian was, but Tong was in a deep drunken stupor in his chair. I doubted whether he would wake up feeling like kicking me around anytime tonight. Sighing in relief, I escaped to my room.

I tried to keep my mind on my homework that night, but my thoughts kept drifting to Hiei and the others…

Finally, with a groan of exasperation, I slammed my textbook shut. There was no way I was going to keep my attention on the work. Maybe a walk would help clear my mind?

Peeking out of my door to make sure Lian hadn't returned yet, I slipped on my black jacket. The sun had set long ago, and catching a case of the sniffles wasn't on my agenda.

I walked through a small park nearby. Not the safest place to be in large cities after night fall, but I wasn't worried. Honestly, I didn't think death would be as bad as they always say. Of course, I didn't know from personal experience…

I wasn't watching where I was walking. The foot of my boot caught on something, and I fell to the ground. Curious, I looked around to see what I had tripped over. As soon as I saw the dead body, I opened my mouth to scream.

A hand clasped over my mouth tightly. My heart began to beat rapidly in my chest, out of pure terror. Uh-oh…

"Don't scream." Said a very familiar voice.

I ripped myself away from the hand, scrambling back.

"Hiei!" I shrieked, shock and fear causing the pitch of my voice to rise. "What the…?!"

"It's not what you think." He replied calmly. I scooted back, farther away from him.

I looked back at the body. "The heck it isn't-" I stopped dead when I took a closer look at the corpse. It was clearly not human.

"I told you so." Hiei snapped. He roughly grabbed my wrist, pulling me to my feet and yanking me away from the body.

"Hey, wait!" I called to him. "Where…?"

He ignored my questions completely. "Yusuke!" He yelled.

Moments later, Urameshi came into sight. I felt slightly relieved to see him, but the memory that I had been quite scared of him when I first met him was brought back to the front of my mind. Who were these people?

"Jenie!" Urameshi said in surprise when he saw me. "What are you doing here?"

I opened and closed my mouth for a minute, too overwhelmed to say anything. "I-I-I'm out for a walk." I finally managed to stammer. Hiei let go of my wrist.

"She saw," He said shortly. Urameshi sighed.

"Yusuke?" A silky voice I didn't recognize said. "What's going on?"

I turned to see a tall, good-looking redhead, followed by Kuwabara. The redhead's emerald eyes almost seemed luminescent in the dim light. He had been the one to speak.

"Friend from school." Urameshi replied. "She apparently saw everything."

"Not everything." Hiei commentated. "She only saw the body after I killed one of them."

"Wait!" I yelled suddenly. "What is going on? Who are you people? What's happening?!"

"Calm down!" Urameshi said hastily. "We'll explain everything. Just…Just take it easy…"

Urameshi and the others led me to a park bench, telling me 'that it might be a good idea to sit down.'

"See…" Urameshi said, scratching his head. "I'm not exactly a 'normal' student…"

And so there it began. Urameshi explained to me how he had died a few years ago, and had become a detective for the Spirit World. He and the other three were responsible for eradicating demons that came to destroy humanity.

I was silent after they stopped explaining this to me. Surely they didn't expect me to believe what I had just heard! But…After seeing that body, how could I deny it? I stood up shakily.

"Are you telling me that…you…?" Wait. Suddenly I felt extremely light headed. I stumbled forward, collapsing.

Before I lost complete consciousness, I expected to feel the hard ground beneath me. But prior to hitting it, strong arms grabbed me around my shoulders and my waist, saving me. I passed out before I had the chance to see who had saved me…

**************

"You're awake."

A voice told me so before I was even aware of it. I sat up, unsure of whether I dreamt meeting Hiei and everything after that. But that voice happened to belong to the one person I hadn't met before last night…

I set eyes on the handsome redhead. He was smiling kindly at me, and I couldn't resist the urge to smile back.

"What happened?" I asked. "Where am I?"

"My house," he replied. "It was the closest. You seemed to have gone into shock after learning our story, and you fainted."

I blinked in confusion, trying to remember. "Oh!" I said suddenly, "Someone caught me. Was that you?"

The redhead chuckled. "No. That was Hiei."

Hiei? But, from the way he acted, I was sure Hiei hated me. What reason would he have to save me?

Sunlight was shining in from the window. I gasped in shock.

"School! I'm going to be late!"

The redhead burst out in laughter. "It's Saturday. You don't have school today."

"Oh…" Oh yeah. I had totally forgotten that. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to organize my thoughts.

There was a soft knock at the door. The redhead and I both looked up. A pretty girl with bluish colored hair, and eyes as red as Hiei's peeked her head in the door.

"May I come in?" She asked, her voice as sweet as her appearance. The redhead nodded. The girl pushed the door open, and approached me. I was a bit surprised by the lovely blue kimono she was wearing. But this girl seemed instantly likable. I gave her a small, unsure smile, and she returned it cheerfully.

"My name is Yukina," she introduced herself. The redhead smiled at me.

"Yukina's a healer. We called her here in case something might be wrong with you, but you're quite healthy."

I really wanted to learn this guy's name, but I felt too shy to ask. Maybe I'd ask Keiko or Urameshi later. I turned my attention to Yukina.

"Thank you." I said politely. She smiled, laughing a sweet, bell-like laugh.

"It's no problem. I am glad you're alright."

"Speaking of which," The redhead announced, getting up from the chair he'd been sitting in, "the others will want to know she's awake. I'll tell them. You two can get better acquainted."

Yukina and I sat in silence for a moment before she spoke up. "Kurama is really nice." She commented. I frowned.

"Kurama?" I said in confusion. "Is that his name?"

She smiled. "You haven't been introduced? Yes, that's him." She tilted her head curiously. "Have you met all of the others? Hiei, Yusuke and all?"

I nodded. "Yes, I think so. I don't know how many of them there are, though." I hesitated. "Do you know Hiei well?" For some reason he was the one who intrigued me the most.

Yukina shook her head, which disappointed me. "He seems to keep to himself. But I can tell that he's a good person."

From what I knew of him so far, that wasn't the impression I got. "What makes you think that?" I asked. Yukina stared at the floor, as if she was thinking.

"Well…I can just tell. He has a good heart. He may be a demon, but…"

"Hiei's a demon?!" I squealed in shock. What the…?

Yukina's blood-red eyes widened. "You didn't know?" She said in surprise. "Oh, I'm so sorry…"

"Ummm." I asked. "Can you get Hiei in here?"

"Of course." Yukina scurried out of the room.

Jenie faints from mental stress a lot. Just warning you.