The following day was not a good day in the slightest. First, I woke up early to train with Jin (like I normally would have), but he told me that I did not require his assistance any longer, and then he left. Then, I was about to head back into my room to possibly catch up on a little bit of sleep before Hiei's training (which I was sure was going to be brutal), but a voice stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Where do you think you're going Onna?" I turned around to find Hiei leaning against a tree, arms crossed and a glare on his face. I said that I was going to get a little bit of sleep before his training. He, however, had other plans. "No you are not. Your training starts now." He had me train in speed first; he did this by having me wear weights around my waist, wrists, and ankles. He then had me run around in the woods. During the run, he apparently thought it would be amusing (or he was taking his revenge for me calling him gay the previous night) if he started attacking me while I tried (in vain) to dodge his attacks. After that lovely and fun time, it was time for weapons training.

He tossed me my sword that he was allowing me to have (but only for training sadly; I liked that sword) as we approached the rink. I caught the sword and bent down to remove my weights, but a sword narrowly missed my cheek as I did so. I looked up with wide eyes as Hiei glared at me, commanding me to keep the weights on as we trained. I mentally sighed; I knew his training was going to be brutal…but this is killer. I sighed aloud as I jumped up onto the rink (or tried to, the weights kept me from doing so; oddly enough, I had been getting used to jumping up onto the rink and I was finally able to do so—well, without the weights I was able to do so) and walked up to Hiei. 'Something is telling me that I'm going to die during this…'

Hiei did not waste any time in taking me down. Within one second I was sighing and dreading this training session, and the next I felt the cold rink on my back after Hiei swept my feet out from under me and held his sword to my throat. "You're weak Onna." I sighed mentally and bit back the comment of 'no shit Sherlock, that's why I need training' as I tried to stand. Hiei had other plans as he started attacking me with his sword, forcing me to roll away from him lest I wanted to be decapitated.

"Hiei! What the hell?" I screamed as I finally was able to catch my breath after countless minutes of trying to dodge his sword swipes. "If the reason you're acting like this is because of last night, I'm sorry. Okay?" He 'hn'ed me and sheathed his sword. "Look, I'm sorry that I said that, but anyone could draw that conclusion given the things that I noticed…" I trailed off and looked down. I did not notice him raise an eyebrow in my direction. When I received no answer, I glanced up and saw him turn and start walking away from me. I sighed and glared at the back of his retreating form. 'He is such a complicated jack ass…'

"Want to tell me that to my face, Onna?" I blinked, and when I opened my eyes again I saw Hiei standing within three inches of my face, a glare in place. I screeched and jumped backwards about five feet. I was so not expecting him to be standing that close to me. His glare deepened (if at all possible) as he gently rubbed his left ear. "You are a loud mouth, Onna." The comment, for once, was no spoken in anger, but the tone he used was dry as he advanced to where I was standing. His eyes stayed narrowed at me, but he spoke nothing or did anything; he just stood there. After a second or two of staring at each other, I finally could not take it any longer and asked, "What? Do you want a face to face apology?" He still spoke nothing. After another second or two, I sighed as the air around us turned awkward. 'Why is he still staring at me?'

He still spoke nothing as he continued to look at me until he turned his head toward the house suddenly. After a millisecond of looking at the house, he walked off toward the house. At the edge of the rink he turned to look at me and raised an eyebrow. "You coming or are you going to keep standing there and looking like an idiot all day?" His tone was somewhat of amusement; I blinked and quickly caught up with him. He surprisingly waited for me and allowed me to walk into the house first. Apparently he forgave me…but I doubted it.

Inside, a blue haired and pink eyed girl in a pink kimono was floating on an oar. She looked in our direction as Hiei and I entered the house. "Good, I was just about to go out there and get you two. Koenma wishes to speak with all of you; Kori and Kimiko included." We all nodded and a portal appeared. We all stepped into the portal and fell in Koenma's office. I fell and landed on my ass with a thud. I was still not used to traveling by those things. Koenma looked up from his desk as he heard us enter.

"Oh good, Kimiko and Kori are here as well. Now we can get to the matter at hand: I called you all here because something fishy has been happening in the Ningenkai (or human world for Kimiko and Kori). Many odd items from museums are being stolen."

"And you're calling us in…why?" Yusuke asked slightly annoyed.

"I'm getting to that part." Koenma glared at Yusuke, who rolled his eyes; he obviously was not intimidated by the toddler. "Normally there would be no cause for concern; however, all the items that are being stolen were placed there for the greater good of all humanity. Once all pieces have been collected and assembled (there are nine in all), they would form into a talisman that could be used to kill humans and demons alike. (At this point, Yusuke muttered, "Great, another 'save the worlds' mission.")

"What I want all of you to do is go to where the final piece is being held and stop whoever is taking them. This is a high priority case, which is why both Kimiko and Kori will be going as well."

"They would only slow us down. It would be better if they just stayed here," Hiei said coldly. My eyes narrowed at the fire demon.

He was forever being a pain and underestimating us. Kori and I had more strength then Hiei gave us credit for. I had gotten a lot stronger over the past few weeks and Kori had been able to compete with the boys in their training and had lasted a decent amount of time. Yusuke had congratulated Kori after the training one day saying that he was getting a lot better. Kori was now considered a high C- to low B-class, while I was a mid C-class. During this mission, I decided quietly to myself that I would try and prove myself to everyone because they obviously thought little of me.

"I'm sorry that you feel that way Hiei, but they will be joining you four boys, and they will be able to help you. If I did not think they could not handle the mission, I would not send them in there; I believe they will be fine." After a second of silence he continued his explanation of the mission, "You all will be taking the portal to where the last artifact is in the Ningenkai. Your mission, as stated before, is to protect the piece of the artifact and stop whoever is behind this. From the information we gathered, the person will strike at a quarter 'til midnight. You should be able to hide out in the museum until then. Once the person has been caught and the last piece of the artifact has been secured, just call for a portal and I will collect you all. Are there any questions?" No one uttered a word. "Good; go back and get ready. You all will leave once you are ready." A portal appeared, and we were dismissed.

We all went back to the house and got ready to go on the mission; I changed from my training outfit (a tank top and sweats and the flats that Monk Miatsu gave me) and into a black tank top, tight but movable black pants, and the flats that Monk Miatsu gave me. I also grabbed the sword that Hiei was (apparently) allowing me to keep. We went back to Koenma's office (via portal) where he wished us good luck before we were sent on our way. We appeared in the woods closest to where we were to go. Yusuke led us to the museum, and we snuck inside as the doors were closing for the night. We quickly found where the piece of the artifact was located and positioned ourselves around the artifact. It was a good two to three hours before we received any action (other than hiding from the security guards).

A quiet set of footsteps (that sounded like heels) came to Hiei's and Kurama's attention, and they quickly alerted the rest of us to what was happening. We all watched the artifact closely as the footsteps drew closer to our position. An animal appeared in our view and, as we stared at it more closely, we realized that the animal was a wolf. I stared at the wolf in confusion. Why was there a wolf in a museum? It was at that precise moment that I felt a presence sneak up behind me, as well as my sword that was at my hip be taken and placed against my neck. My eyes widened and I froze in place.

"Move with me, or I'll kill you," a female voice whispered quietly in my ear. The woman nudged me forward and had me start walking toward the remaining piece of the talisman. As we walked toward the artifact, I saw the team look at me oddly until they glared as they noticed what was happening. The woman turned me around so that I was facing the team. I felt her grab the artifact and pull me closer to her. "Thanks Spirit Detectives for your cooperation. I will see you again in the near future. Ja ne!" By the playful sound in her voice, I was sure that she had winked at the team and my brother. She continued to make me walk with her; obviously she was opting to continue to use me as a human shield. Her wolf growled at anyone who dared to move, even Hiei. When we reached where she would leave with her wolf, she knocked me out by hitting me over the back of the neck/head.

…

The team watched as the female wolf demon knocked Kimiko out and took Kimiko with her as the wolf demon took her leave. Yusuke growled in aggravation.

"What the hell? There was no need to take Kimiko with her! Koenma, portal!" A portal appeared and all the boys walked through and exited into Koenma's office.

"So how did the mission—where's Kimiko?"

Hiei scoffed, "She was kidnapped; I warned you she would be in the way, but you didn't listen much to your disadvantage and my annoyance."

Yusuke was about to punch Hiei, but Kori beat Yusuke to the punch. Literally. Hiei gripped his cheek as Kori glared Hiei. "I don't ever want to hear you say such things about my sister again. Or it will be more than a simple punch that you will receive from me," Kori hissed at the crimson eyed oni. Yusuke could not help but agree with the enraged sibling.

"Boys, knock it off! This is serious…Kimiko being kidnapped is a bad thing—a very bad thing. We have to find her…and fast." Koenma muttered the latter part more to himself than anyone in particular in the room. "Botan! We have to make the search for the thief's hideout quick so we can rescue Kimiko before he does anything to her."

"Her."

"What?" Koenma turned to the speaker—Kurama.

"The person who took Kimiko was a female wolf demon." Koenma thanked Kurama and Botan jotted down the new information; the normally cheery grim reaper quickly left the room in search of the missing team member.

…

I awoke a short time later to find myself bound and gagged. I started to rock back and forth; muffled screams of profanity were coming from my mouth.

"Oh good, you're awake." I turned to my right and saw that there was a wolf demoness next to me. Her hair was silver while her ears and tail were black. Her eyes were a pale lavender in color. She wore a black halter top with red and black fighting gloves. Around her neck was a black choker collar with a gold tag hanging from it. She wore black shorts and black, thigh-high boots with heels that were about two to three inches in height.

"Why the hell am I here?" was what I tried to say but it came out more like, "Mmmhm managh mmfi?" The woman laughed at me.

"Would you like me to take out your gag?" My glare made her laugh again. She walked up to me and pulled the gag down and around my neck.

"Who the hell are you? Why the fucking hell am I here? Why in the fuck do you want the talisman?" Excuse me for my foul mood, but I do not take kindly to someone kidnapping me for no fucking reason! The okami looked at me with a shocked expression.

"Such foul language for someone so young…" I apparently look younger than I actually am.

"I'm eighteen so just leave me the fuck alone, or let me go you fucking fucker!" That was when she replaced the gag back into my mouth. So I resorted to glaring fiery gaggers at her annoying self. She laughed at me again. I took notice that she obviously found me hilarious. Once I was free of the bondage and gag, I would show her how funny I really was.

"I guess there is no harm in telling you the answers to your very foul language questions, seeing as how you are going to be dead shortly. You should know the name of your killer." She gave an evil chuckle before she continued. "My name is Ookami, Ayame. I want the talisman because I have been taken advantage over and seek revenge on those who have done me wrong; I also want to rule the world." She gave a small sigh as she stared at the ceiling in a daydream sort of state. "As to why you are here? I have just recently told you the answer to that, but in case you don't remember: you are to be the first victim of the talisman." She finished her explanation with a wicked smile. As I stared at her, I was sure that a sweat drop was on the back of my head…those were the lamest excuses I had ever heard. 'Geez…talk about holding a grudge. It's called let go and move on! Why do people have to have the lamest reasons to do something stupid or evil?' I glared at her some more as she turned away from me and back toward assembling the talisman.

I'm sorry that it took me so long to post this….the Writer's Block Fairies were attacking. Thankfully they did not win the battle, but the war is far from over. :P Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter/part. I would have added more to it, but I figured that you all have waited long enough. Thank you for being patient with me. ^-^ Also, some interaction between Hiei and Kimiko are coming up…just so you know. :) Please review! They keep me wanting to write this story. :)