I should go after them and find out what they're up to. I thought to myself as I slowly began to move again, still afraid that they would be lurking in the vary shadow I was standing in waiting to strike. I don't like that fact that they are so close to where I live, there's something wrong about it. They should be at the tournament training with they're new fifth member, not anywhere near me. Curiosity continued to rule my life that night. I decided to follow the Tegoro brothers to find out what they were up to.

I didn't think twice about it because I knew that I would convince myself that it was too dangerous, and I shouldn't do it. I began to sprint in the direction the brothers went, knowing that if I kept going I would run into them eventually. The running was also extra assurance that I wouldn't change my mind. It was a very short amount of time before I reached the forest and I began to weave around the trees. Left, right, left, right. It had become a pattern as if I really was weaving. I kept going waiting to run into the Tegoro Brothers. It was taking longer than I had expected. Right when I was about to groan in frustration I heard a faint whispering coming from not to far a head of me. I kept going, holding in the groan, praying that the whispers were them, and that I would not get caught.

"- I don't understand brother she shouldn't have been able to survive for this long on her own. We didn't teach her anything that would have helped her with this and I don't think she knew anything about it either. I'm almost worried that when we do find her it will be when she's surrounded by buzzards and half eaten. That would be a shame, then we'd actually have to find a new fifth member."

"You doubt her to much brother. She could potentially live on her own for her entire life, if she has the will. And she would do it if not for her desire to belong. I bet she's already dying to come back to us just so she can be apart of our cause." I gasped. He was right. Exactly right and I didn't like to think of that. I knew who they were looking for now. They were looking for me, by the sounds of it so I can be their fifth member again. I wanted to, oh how I wanted to. But I could not. I would not go back to a place that I knew I was not wanted in. I don't want to be a weak pitiful little girl that runs back to the very place that got rid of her with out a second thought.

Now that I knew what they were doing I was about to turn and leave when I was suddenly grabbed from behind and flying in the air toward the direction of the brothers. When I had stopped flying and was safely on the ground I looked to see what had grabbed me and I saw that it was Tegoro's hand. He had probably stretched it out to grab me and pulled me back in using his ability to disfigure his body. He use to do it all the time back when I trained with him. I had always thought it was cheap and now I thought it was especially true.

"Let go of me you jerk!!" I shouted. I began to struggle violently squirming, kicking, punching, wiggling, anything that you can think of I was doing it. I knew it was useless it never worked no matter how much I tried. The sad part was I knew Tegoro knew it too. Teg had no idea that I couldn't get out of Tegoro's iron grip and was standing near by waiting to catch me incase I managed to get loose. I was turned around until I was face to face with Tegoro. He grinned that evil grin and cackled that sadistic cackle of his.

"Well look what we found here brother. A spy and not just any spy the exact spy we happen to be looking for. Very coincidental isn't it?" Tegoro was speaking to Teg but his eyes and full attention was on me.

"Yes it is quit fortunate for us. How are you on such a wonderful night such as this one Kitani? I suppose you've done well for yourself out here to be in such fine condition." Teg eyed me up and down checking me over to make sure what he said was true. "Good, you are still in perfect condition for competing. Come brother let's go home we have just enough time to get back for the first round." Teg turned around and began walking back the way the brothers had just come from and began to walk again. Tegoro started following him as he was told to but I didn't want to go and I made sure that was known to every one within hearing distance. I began to scream and cry and kick, and struggle some more. I was doing everything in my power to get away but my struggling was pointless I couldn't get out of Tegoro's grip no matter what I did.

I knew that eventually Tegoro wouldn't take it any more and would punish me for not cooperating with him but I didn't care. It made me feel better to know that I was struggling rather than just going along with them. And my prediction was right, after a mere five minutes Tegoro slapped me and told me to quit or the consequences would be worse than just a slap. I struggled less but I did not stop completely despite what Tegoro had said. He soon became annoyed with even the small amount of struggle that I was doing and threw me onto the forest floor and roughly pinned my down. He held both my hands with one of his and drew his other one back. He then began to repeatedly punch me directly in the center of my stomach over and over again. He would not have stopped until I was unconscious had Teg not inter feared. He calmly bent down and caught Tegoro's hand in his own stopping the punch before it got to me. The he rapped one arm around my waist and picked me up setting me on my feet and looked me over. He looked at my stomach to make sure nothing was to badly damaged, then nodded when he noticed that there was nothing but a little bruising.

"Kitani, why don't you ride on my back for a while and give Tegoro a brake." I sounded like a request but I knew it was an order. I really didn't want to be punished for disobeying Teg so when he turned around I jumped up onto his back and rapped my arms around his neck for security. Teg folded his arms underneath my legs, which just barely came around to his stomach. Once I was fully settled Teg began to walk again completely ignoring the rampage his brother was throwing at him about why he stopped him.

" - I mean really she'll never learn her lesson if you don't discipline her and that stupid cub is already rambunctious enough without giving her the idea that she can get away with thing such as this. I have never understood your reasoning for stepping in the way of my teachings. --"

"Brother if you say another word I might have to cut out your tongue out of sheer annoyance. I stopped you because you can't hurt her to much before the tournament, she might not recover in time to fight well, and beside I don't want to carry an unconscious demon no matter what the size all the way back to the camp." Teg interrupted Tegoro his voice laced with annoyance. I'm glad he decided to stop Tegoro's criticizing I don't know how much more of it I could have taken silently. Not too much more I bet. I would have ended up screaming at him to shut up and then Tegoro would have tried to punish me. Then Teg would stop him and the whole thing would start all over again just this time with more passion than the first because this time I had done something that was disrespectful to Tegoro and his hates to be disrespected the most out of everything. That's why he gets really testy when you mimic him, and play a prank on him. He feels that he's being disrespected and he blows up at you and doesn't stop until someone he respects comes by and tells him to shut up. It's weird as long as he respect you, you can do what ever you want to him, and that stuff is usually twice as bad as what I do to him but he never says anything to them. He just goes along with it and pretends like nothing is happening that is a complete insult to him.

Our traveling was silent for about ten minutes and then I couldn't stand it. I hated Tegoro's rants but I hated silence more. Don't ask why I just do. I wanted to get down from Teg's back but we were traveling at a fast pace and I didn't think that I could keep up with them for very long if we kept going that pace. Both Teg and Tegoro take really big steps and so it's about four of my steps to one of theirs. It's not that I take small steps it's just that they're a lot bigger than I am. While Teg stands at just above 7 foot, and Tegoro 6 foot tall, I stand at a measly 3 feet, 2 inches. They both have a good foot for every two of mine. So my thoughts of asking Teg to let me down were quickly put aside. But then the thoughts of being let down brought up another subject. Hadn't they said that if they left now, and moved quickly that they could make it back to the tournament in time for the first round? Did that mean I was going back to the tournament? Hadn't Teg said it was a good thing that I was in good condition for competing? Did that mean that I was going to fight? Was I still their fifth member of the team? And suddenly there were so many thoughts that I couldn't take it any more I had to know.

"Are you taking me back to the Tournament to fight as the fifth member?" Blurted out of my mouth before I had a chance to reconsider. I heard Tegoro groan in frustration that I was talking again, but Teg stayed silent. His face was impassive but if you looked close enough you could see traces of evidence that he was in deep thinking. Was he considering telling me the truth? Or was he just deciding how to tell me what their plans were? Or was he thinking up a good lie to tell me? Although I knew it wasn't the last one because he knows I can tell when he's lying to me and I don't take it very well. It would be hell if he did that. Not only would I start pitching a fit so would Tegoro that he was letting me argue and all that nonsense. After a couple of minutes with no reply I started whining in Teg's ear. I knew that would get him to speak even if it was just to tell me to stop whining.

"Kitty stop that whining and listen. Yes, we are taking you back to the tournament so you can be the fifth member. That means you're going to have to fight so I expect you to be ready when the time comes alright?" Kitty, Teg had called me Kitty again. That alone made me happy but to me disgrace what made me even happier was the thought that I was getting to be apart of the team again. I was so happy in fact that I couldn't keep it to myself like I normally do. I squealed softy and tightened my grip around Teg's neck so that it was a backward hug instead of just a loose grip to keep me up.

"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!" I continued to repeat these words over and over again, despite the fact that I had said I wouldn't be the girl that went back to them with open arms. I could feel Teg's laughter rumbling through his chest. Using his skill he pulled me around in front of him so that I was sitting on his arms facing him with my hands still around his neck. Then Teg did something that he had never done before. He smiled at me. At me! This of course made me even happier that I already was. I began to grin broadly still chanting thank you. I don't know if something happened while I was gone, or if he was just trying to put me in a good mood for the tournament, but Teg was being a lot nicer than he had ever been before, although I didn't really mind.

"You know maybe I gave you a harder time than you deserved Kitty. You're better than I thought you were. I blame Tegoro he put bad thoughts in my head about you." Teg was being sincere with me. That alone was amazing but at the same time he was apologizing to me in his own weird way for being so cold to me too. I didn't think it was possible but my grin got even bigger.

"Well you know what they say! You don't fully appreciate something until it's gone!" Teg laughed even more at that. I don't why it's true.

"I suppose so." Teg smiled again, making me laugh. For the rest of the trip Teg and I continued to joke around. Tegoro walked behind us a little ways and muttered to himself about things that I don't really want to know about. It would probably kill my good mood. We, and when I say we I mean Teg, walked for about four hours nonstop. I told you I wouldn't have been able to keep up if I had walked. At the very end of the four hours Teg stopped and told me to look down. I did and when I saw what he wanted me to see I became slack jawed. It was one of the most amazing sights I had ever seen. It was huge plains that stretched as far as the eye could see with lush green shrubbery, and tall plush grass that was at least two feet taller than me. Trees, beautiful, full, blossoming, trees of all sorts were scattered here and there through out the entire field. If I wasn't at the very edge of around a thousand-foot drop I would totally jump down and run around the field. Teg gave me a couple of minutes to take everything in before he had to laugh at me. Teg shifted his hold so that I was resting mainly on his left hip, with his left arm rapped around me. He raised his right arm and brought it to my face.

"Kitty you are not a fish, or anything that would require such a face." And with that he put his index finger right underneath my chin and closed my mouth. "I'm going to put you back on my back we're going to have to climb down the cliff. I'm going to be using my hands so you have to keep yourself secured all right?" I nodded a couple of times. It was nerve racking to think what would happen if my grip slipped and I fell to my doom and stuff like that. Teg swung me around so I was on his back again. He helped me find a solid grip before he turned around so we were facing the forest knelt down and began to descend the cliff face. Twenty meters down and we were still going strong. Although that was expected, I mean Teg was really, really buff. Besides my extra weight wouldn't matter much, I don't weigh more that fifty pounds, which sounds like it's really light but it's about average for my kind at this age.

Forty meters down and disaster struck. For once in his life Teg made a very vital mistake, one that cost my life. When his foot missed its hold it caused me to lose mine and down I fell. I landed on the ground splattering blood everywhere. Ha, not really. I'm just kidding. But forty meters down and Teg really did miss a foothold. But all that happened was Teg and I slid down the cliff for about two meters and then he finally caught holds again and we stopped to make sure I was ok, to which I said I should be the one asking that question. After all he is the one that slid down the mountain not me. He laughed at me and said, and I quote "The only thing a stupid mountain can even hope to accomplish with me is a scratch." So either he really is that tuff or he has a biggest ego I've ever seen.

We reached the bottom not long after that. Teg and Tegoro didn't even stop to rest before they began to run toward a rising structure a few miles away from where we were that every one in the Makai knew: the stadium. We arrived at the front gates of the stadium just in time to hear the announcer over the intercom say " Welcome Demons and others to the Makai grand stadium where the 200th annual tournament is about to begin! Please give it up for this year's sponsor Yoshimaku Tamagaji!"