Kurama walked to school alone, he had knocked on Talon's door but she had not answered. He was surprised to see her already sitting at her desk when he stepped into the classroom. She had a zoned out look and her face was reddened. Kurama walked up to his desk setting his bag down.

"Good morning Talon," he said before sitting on his chair, she did not reply so he turned to look at her. He wondered if she had heard him, her eyes were green, but they were unfocused and her pupil seemed slightly more dilated then they should be. Kurama waved his hand in front of her face, she still did not respond.

"HELLO!" Yusuke popped up suddenly, he leaned against Talon probably in an effort to bug her. She slammed into her desk with a loud bang; she sprung up immediately, looking confused. She reached up to rub her forehead,

"Why does my head hurt?" she asked blankly, Yusuke peered over her shoulder.

"Geez Talon are you awake?" he asked, Talon shook her head a small smile playing on her lips.

"I was up late finishing my make-up work," Yusuke cocked his head at her.

"You sure? You're smiling the way you do when you're trying to hide something." Talon waved her hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be awake soon," Kuwabara skipped up to them, taking the attention off Talon.

"What are you so happy about?" Yusuke asked,

"Yukina said she would come to the dance with me," Kuwabara said in a giddy almost sing-song voice,

"That will sure make Hiei happy," Yusuke mumbled, Talon tried to focus as Kuwabara began to monologue, but she found she had developed a headache. Her senses were confused so she laid her head down on her desk and closed her eyes Kurama looked down at her.

"Talon?" he asked in a low voice, the other two seemed to have forgotten them for the time being. Kurama put his hand on Talon's shoulder she recoiled from his touch. With a furrowed brow Kurama let his hand fall away from her then he turned around to face the front as the class became fuller.

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When the lunch bell finally rang, Yusuke slid over to Kurama.

"Did she sleep through out the whole class time? I thought only Kuwabara did that," Kurama turned to Yusuke and nodded.

"I'm a little concerned about her she didn't stir and at one point I thought she stopped breathing entirely," Yusuke shrugged looking grim,

"Shuichii?" the teacher called to Kurama, Kurama quickly went to the teacher's aid. Yusuke watched as the teacher directed him to take a box of supplies to a classroom on another level they apparently were delivered wrongly. Kurama left with a final glance of worry in Talon's direction, Yusuke took a hold of Talon's shoulder shaking it gently but firmly. She opened her eyes slightly looking up at Yusuke then she straightened up, her eyes widening with confusion.

"Hey, are you alright?" Yusuke asked, Talon looked up at him silently before finally replying.

"I have a headache," she muttered, Yusuke pulled her onto her feet.

"Then lets get something for that," He practically ordered. Talon was vaguely aware of her surroundings as she was led towards a staircase, her head hurt terribly, she wasn't really aware of Yusuke who was watching her very carefully. Talon took each step on the stairs carefully making sure not to slip. Suddenly, a bunch of boys raced down the stairs next to them, one knocked into Talon. She managed to yelp in surprise as her foot slipped and she tumbled.

"HEY!" Yusuke yelled, partly at the guys and Talon, partly as a warning to whoever might be coming up. Talon reached over at the railing in an attempt to catch herself but missed. She fell into someone's waiting arms before she could hit the bottom of the stairs. Talon shook her head slightly she could hear Yusuke clomping down the stairs behind her. "Holy cow Talon! Thank goodness you were there Kurama!"

"Talon, are you alright?" a voice close to her ear asked,

"It's obvious that she's not!" Yusuke said with an irritated note,

"I'm fine…," she muttered as Kurama felt her forehead,

"No you're not!" he said feeling a shock from how hot her head felt. Talon tried to push him away but his grip on her tightened, finally she slumped against him. Kurama looked up at Yusuke, "Do you think your mom could pick her up? There's no way she can stay here like this," Yusuke shook his head.

"My mom's going through a major hangover right now, besides, Talon wouldn't get any help there even if she was sober," Kurama shifted Talon in his arms.

"I could try my luck with my mom… but she might be out with her boyfriend today, it is her day off after all…" Yusuke looked thoughtful Talon suddenly groaned,

"Let's just get her to the nurse's office and figure it out from there," Yusuke said looking down at Talon. Kurama nodded in agreement before taking one of Talon's arms putting it around his shoulder, Yusuke followed his example. They got her quickly to the office, the nurse pointed them to a phone while she had Talon lie down.

Kurama dialed his home phone praying his mother would be there.

"Hello, Minamino residence," her voice said on the other end, Kurama let out a sigh of relief.

"Mom? It's Shuichi,"

"Shuichi? Are you alright?" she asked, and edge of fear entered her voice,

"Yeah, I'm fine,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," It was his mother's turn to sigh her relief,

"Alright, what is it Shuichi?"

"It's a friend of mine, she has a really high fever, but her parents… aren't around right now," Kurama hated lying, but he didn't think Talon wanted it publically broadcasted that she was alone, "I was wondering if you were available enough to come and pick her up,"

"Of course, I'll be there in five minuets," she said, then the phone clicked off and Kurama hung up as well.

"And the verdict?" Yusuke asked,

"She's coming," Kurama replied, Yusuke sighed with relief his face breaking into a smile.

"Good… I don't think I would have been able to take it if Talon kept forcing herself on like this." Kurama smiled warily, silently agreeing. The two waited for Mrs. Minamino, Talon wandered up to them from the back, but Yusuke forced her to sit down at the least. When Mrs. Minamino came into the office, Talon was, if anything, sleepwalking with Yusuke keeping a hand on her shoulder to keep her from standing up. Kurama gave his mom a hug and then brought her to Talon. Mrs. Minamino knelt down onto the ground so Talon could see her; Talon looked up slowly her eyes watching Mrs. Minamino as if she was some sort of predator.

"Hello, I'm Shuichi's mom," Talon nodded to her unsurely, "How are you feeling?" Talon looked away,

"I'm… not sure…" she muttered, Mrs. Minamino gently felt Talon's forehead,

"I'm taking you home with me," she said gently with a smile, she turned to Kurama and Yusuke, "Shuichi, could you bring her stuff home with you?" Kurama nodded as Talon slowly stood. She was feeling stiff and uncomfortable but did not argue as she was led away. Kurama and Yusuke watched them before turning and heading back to class.

------------------------------------------

It felt weird being picked up from school, weirder yet that it was a stranger that was by her side. Talon slid into the seat next to Kurama's mom in the car with a look of discomfort and watched the woman with cautious eyes while they left.

"You don't have to watch me with such a frightened gaze," Mrs. Minamino chuckled; Talon looked out the window blushing.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…" she mumbled, Mrs. Minamino looked at her with a smile.

"Are you Talon?" She asked Talon turned looking surprised.

"Yeah, that's me,"

"Ah, Shuichi has talked about you, I see now that he wasn't embellishing, you are beautiful," Talon blushed again, even deeper this time,

"Huh?" she found herself saying, they passed her apartment and a few blocks later, they pulled up to a house.

"Here we are," Mrs. Minamino, said brightly, she got out while Talon, more sluggishly, followed, pulling herself out of the car. Talon followed Mrs. Minamino into the house, she looked around curiously, it did not surprise her that the house was neat and tidily.

"Here, this will help," Mrs. Minamino said pressing a warm mug into Talon's hands.

"Thank you…" Talon said softly, she sat down next to Mrs. Minamino and took a sip of the unknown liquid. Mrs. Minamino smiled at her kindly,

"When you're finished you can leave the mug on the table and lie down on the couch in the living room," she nodded to the doorway then she stood and went to the phone. Talon watched her silently as she picked up the receiver and dialed a number. Talon quickly finished the liquid and placed it on the tabletop. She stood slowly then walked into the living room; she lay down on the couch and felt herself immediately drift. At sometime she heard someone come in, and she thought she felt someone rub her cheek, but mostly she stayed unconscious.

--------------------------------

"It's strange…" Koenma said, "I thought for sure she would tell Yusuke about her past, if anyone," Koenma, Hiei, Botan, Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Kurama were sitting in Kurama's living room having an unofficial meeting. Kuwabara looked at Koenma with a look of surprise,

"Why would she tell Yusuke?" he asked,

"She told him about having demonic powers," Koenma answered, everyone looked at Yusuke with suspicious eyes; he waved his hands back and forth looking defensive.

"Its not my fault I couldn't tell you guys, she made me promise not to," Hiei's eyes flicked over to look at Talon's unconscious form, in truth it did not surprise Hiei that she was a demon; Koenma followed his gaze.

"She was injected with some sort of suppressing potion, her demon can't be awoken until it either wears off or if she manages to get the opposite of whatever was put in her. But, seeing as I don't know what was injected into her, to try to reverse the effect would prove fatal if I got the potion wrong."

"Why exactly is she here anyway?" Kuwabara asked, Yusuke looked at him annoyed,

"If you didn't notice at school, she's got a really high fever and she didn't have anywhere else to go," Koenma looked surprised,

"She hardly ever gets sick," He said worriedly, he moved to feel her forehead. Talon smacked his hand away, "is it just embedded into you to hate me?" Koenma growled, Botan giggled while Hiei half smiled with slight amusement. She knew Koenma was about to touch her even though she's dead asleep, she has some potential hiding inside of her Hiei thought to himself.

"As I said, you only have yourself to blame for the way she treats you," Botan said with a grin, Kuwabara looked thoughtful.

"Hey Koenma, I met some of her friends from America and they said that she never cried, or really laughed, do you know why that is?" Koenma's eyes narrowed,

"I'm not entirely sure about that myself… I do remember that after her father's death she would not stop crying, every little thing got to her. Then one day… she came to me with a strange look. She looked me right in the eye looking serious,

"No matter what, I'm going to be strong now," is what she said. Then she stopped, I have hardly ever seen her cry, she lets the rain do that for her. And… she never laughs, and if she does it's not real…" Koenma fell silent then sighed, "I have stuff to do so I should leave," Yusuke cocked his head,

"I have something to do to… what is it?" He looked blank before he and Kuwabara seemed to click.

"The dance!" they said together, Botan looked up at them with surprise.

"Wasn't your last day of school today?" She asked,

"Yeah, it's the end of school year dance," Yusuke said, "Keiko will kill me if I'm late…" Kuwabara suddenly looked really happy,

"I can't wait to take Yukina there," he sighed, Hiei's eyes flashed at him. Kurama chuckled then looked at Talon.

"I wonder if Talon will be up to going…" He said softly, Botan's eyes flashed excitedly.

"I hope she does, I want to see her dressed up,"

"What makes you think that she will be dressed up?" Kuwabara asked flatly Yusuke smirked at him,

"Because she's Karin's pet now, didn't you figure that out? Karin's going to drag her to the dance and dress her up like a life sized doll," Botan cocked her head to the side looking curious.

"Who's Karin?"

"The person that caused Talon to be bruised, remember?"

"Oh!" Koenma now looked curious but shook his head and started to leave, Botan flounced quickly after him. "See you guys later!" she chirped Yusuke and Kuwabara left as well with an annoyed looking Hiei stalking after them. Kurama leaned back onto the couch with a sigh; today had been interesting that was for sure. He turned the TV on and started flicking through channels trying yet failing to find something interesting.

Talon slowly opened her eyes; she glanced over at Kurama curiously,

"Anything good on?" Mrs. Minamino asked walking in Kurama shook his head.

"Not that I can see," he answered before shutting the box off,

"Reason why I don't own a TV." Talon said with a small smile, Kurama turned to look at her with his own smile, one that seemed full off relief.

"How are you feeling?" He asked gently checking her forehead; his eyes seemed to relax as he found she was no longer above an average temperature.

"I feel a lot better… sorry for worrying you…" She sat up swinging her legs over the side of the couch; she looked up at Mrs. Minamino with a grateful smile, "Thank you for helping me…" Mrs. Minamino smiled back at her sitting down on the couch's arm.

"You're very welcome. Shuichi told me your parents aren't around right now, where are they?" Talon looked over at Kurama with a strange look, and then it shifted into a look of surprise and realization. I'm so sorry! Her eyes seemed to say before she turned back to his mom.

"My mom… is with a group of her business partners, she'll be gone for a little while." She spoke slowly as if to try to find a loophole, Kurama knew she wasn't telling the whole truth, but he wondered if she was telling most of it.

"And your father?" Mrs. Minamino asked curiously, Talon shrugged slightly.

"He's… dead…" Mrs. Minamino immediately looked concerned,

"I'm so sorry to hear that," She said sincerely, Talon waved her hand with an uncomfortable smile.

"Its ok, I'm doing ok, and so is mom," her eyes darted away, Mrs. Minamino looked thoughtful then she smiled brightly.

"If you're going to be home alone for a few days how about you stay here for a while," Talon looked back up at her surprised. "I'm afraid it gets cold everywhere but the bedrooms, but Shuichi's room is very large. We can put another mattress in there, that way you won't have to be alone and if your fever starts up again we'll be there for you." Talon blinked then she smiled,

"Thank you, that would be very nice," she said softly, Kurama smiled, in truth, he had been worried about Talon being alone, but with this arrangement, she wouldn't have to be.

"And you say I'm perverted," Youko said slyly, Kurama felt his face heat up,

"I wasn't thinking anything like that!" He replied almost too quickly, Youko became smug,

"Like what? I didn't say anything"

"Shuichi? Are you alright?" His mom asked,

"Yeah I'm fine," he replied, Talon cocked her head at him curiously; the phone rang so Mrs. Minamino quickly went to it.

"Shuichi the phone is for you," He went to it and hardly got out the H in hello when Karin's voice exploded in his ear.

"How's Talon? Is she ok? Is she still alive?"

"She's fine… she's… living…" Talon had followed him and smirked at his response.

"Can she come over to the school right now?" Kurama looked over at Talon who nodded; apparently, it was not just Kurama who thought Karin was being a tad too loud.

"Yeah, she can,"

"Good!" then the phone went dead, Talon somewhat grimaced.

"A place worse then hell here I come," she said, before she turned, walking to the door. She picked up her school bag where Yusuke had dropped it, she said goodbye to Mrs. Minamino before leaving. She knew about the dance she was fine with Talon going.

"It's raining, would you like a ride?" She asked Kurama before he left,

"No, that's alright, I'll just bring an umbrella," He smiled at her, "You need your rest,"

"Humph, whatever you say Shuichi,"

--------------------------------

Hiei watched Kuwabara closely, he did not want to participate in any human gathering but he despised Kuwabara dragging Yukina into it. It had started to rain; Hiei watched it from his perch in a tree.

"This is ridiculous," he muttered before looking down. He caught sight of Talon just as she disappeared around a corner. He blinked then leapt off the tree and went after her. She stopped running and leaned against a wall to breath; she straightened up and began to walk again. Hiei came up next to her and silently walked next to her; she glanced down at him and slightly nodded in greeting. They walked silently for a time when Talon turned to him with a question in her eyes.

"How is it that you, Yusuke, Kuwabara, all of you, became a sort of alliance?" Hiei raised and eyebrow at her question but didn't answer immediately.

"It was a punishment, and still is," Hiei turned away from her before she could ask any more questions. Talon cocked her head feeling slightly amused but understood his action and didn't ask again. They walked to the school where a bouncing Karin was waiting for them.

"Taaloon!" She called shrilly, Karin leapt onto Talon wrapping her arms around Talon's neck. "I've been waiting for you, look at me, I'm practically soaking wet!"

"You didn't have to wait for me outside," Talon replied looking at Karin with an almost annoyed twitch of her eye. Hiei himself a twinge of annoyance, more like a whole shot. Karin grabbed Talon's arm and began to drag her away she unhappily tried to resist but didn't succeed.

"I…I'll see you later Hiei!" She called back to him, the two then disappeared into the vast school building. Hiei blinked before jumping into the branches of a tree. He sat down and looked up at the sky. It was going to be a long night; that was for sure.

--------------------------------

Voices brought his attention back to the ground. The Detectives and Yukina were walking together holding umbrellas to protect themselves from the rain.

"Have you guys seen Hiei?" Kurama was asking, he of all the group knew Hiei's feelings about Kuwabara taking Yukina to the dance and was surprised Hiei hadn't already shown up. Yusuke shrugged,

"I don't see him even when he's here," Hiei leapt out of the tree, "He doesn't really like things with humans, the only way I'd expect to see him is if he fell from the sky," Hiei landed right next to him, Yusuke leapt back with a yelp of surprise.

"I wasn't quite expecting that, but Hiei never fails to disappoint," Hiei gave Kurama a look. Yusuke quickly recovered,

"Hiei! The hell was that for?!" he growled, "What are you doing here?"

"What does that matter," Hiei replied,

"Huh?" Yusuke shrugged glaring down at the short demon, "Just curious I guess,"

"Are you coming to the dance?" Yukina asked smiling brightly, Hiei shrugged again, this time hesitantly. Keiko seemed too impatient to wait for Hiei to decide.

"Whatever you do, I'm going in, I can't stand the rain," with that she grabbed Yusuke by the ear and proceeded to drag him.

"Hey! I can walk by myself! Leggo!!" Yusuke protested.

------------------------------------

Talon stared at her so-called reflection, the girl in the glass stared back her eyes slightly wide. Karin had just finished curling a few strands of Talon's hair and was now doing her own while Talon "admired" herself. Talon was more cowering at herself, she tried not to show it but Talon was feeling quite shy in the dress and makeup Karin had put on her.

"Your so beautiful," Karin and her friends chirped happily, Talon self consciously twisted her hands into the filmy fabric of the overlay on the dress.

"Karin…" Talon sighed, "You know I am grateful for this… but don't you think buying me such an extravagant dress is going too far?" Without looking at her Karin replied,

"Nope," She set the curling iron down, and Talon turned to look at her. Karin was wearing a bright orange dress; it fit her snugly ending at her knees. Her pink hair was curled to perfection, Talon felt a tad jealous; she never could look that good… Karin seemed to be inspecting her as well,

"I feel like there's something missing…" she muttered, she tugged at Talon's hair as if it would ring a bell as to what she needed to accessorize.

"How about this?" Sora asked picking up a tiara from Karin's bag of wonders.

"No," Talon said immediately, Karin looked at it a grin spreading across her features.

"Of course! This will make you look like a princess!"

"And I say, NO," Talon said firmly,

"Please Talon? Its just as pretty as your necklace, and you wear that every day," Reflexively Talon's fingers jerked and curled around her mother's necklace. It felt warm from sitting on her throat. The room was slowly being filled with the girls that had brought their outfits to change into. Some of them were gawking in her general direction, feeling a little flustered from the attention Talon began to turn away then she saw Keiko. In an effort to shake Karin off Talon shoved the tiara into her hair then jogged to help her friend who was struggling with her zipper.

"Need some help?" she asked,

"Ah, yes please," Keiko answered sounding relieved; Talon zipped it up then fluffed out Keiko's hair.

"Thank you Talo…" Keiko turned and froze her eyes widening and her mouth gaping.

"What's wrong?" Talon asked concerned, she turned around but saw nothing. Keiko snapped her mouth close.

"Nothing! Nothing at all," Talon looked at her friend, Keiko was wearing a white dress that was fitting at the top and flared out on the skirt, it ended at her knees. The fabric was covered in pink flowers Talon found herself smiling.

"For a tomboy, you really know how to look beautiful," she remarked teasingly Keiko raised an eyebrow,

"Your one to talk, have you looked in the mirror?"

"Yeah… she wasn't me," Talon replied passively, Keiko smiled at her as the distinct sound of music began being played. Girls squealed looking excited, many left quickly to go find their dates. Karin walked past Keiko and Talon,

"Find the group when you two are done in here," she said to them then left. Talon felt the blood drain from her cheeks and the feeling of nervousness began to claw at her stomach. Dressing up funny in front of girls was ok, in fact, it was normal. However, being dressed up in front of a large mass of people who were a mixed gender as well as species, Talon didn't think she could handle it. Keiko noted her discomfort,

"You want to stay in here till your nerves calm down?" she asked kindly,

"Sure," Talon squeaked, she and Keiko shared a look then the two laughed.

"You're just as nervous as me aren't you?" Talon asked,

"Yeah, I think so," the two smiled at each other with encouraging looks, "we can do it," Keiko said taking a hold of Talon's hand. Talon nodded feeling relieved she wasn't the only one, even popular kids like Keiko got nervous. Together they left the room and headed towards the source of the music.

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Karin's group were standing together not really talking but acknowledging each other existed. Kurama, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Yukina stood a little ways away; Kurama was trying to explain what the dance was to Hiei.

"So in other words, this is long, pointless and humans could find something better to do with their time," he concluded, with a sigh Kurama nodded,

"Yeah… something like that,"

"Where's Keiko and Talon?" Botan asked popping up next to Yusuke,

"Huh? You came?" he asked,

"Of course! I wouldn't miss this for the world! So where are they?" Yusuke shrugged,

"I don't know for sure, they should be back by now," Yusuke said scanning the crowd then he blinked,

"Wow…" he said almost breathlessly, the others looked over curiously and they too felt their breath catch in their throats. Talon and Keiko had slipped into the dance room and were looking around, they both seemed trying to avoid attention, but it was inevitable. Keiko was beautiful in her white dress; she also wore a silver clip in her hair. Talon's hair cascaded down her back all the way past her waist; a few curls were set in on top. She wore a sleeveless midnight blue dress that ended at her knees; the skirt had a sparkly overlay. The top was fitted and had an overlay that fell around her shoulders. Keiko spotted them after a moment and led Talon over to them.

"Hey guys!" she greeted, Talon smiled uncomfortably.

"You two look awesome!" Botan chirped Talon looked over at her in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her face flushing crimson from embarrassment. Suddenly the last person she wanted to see popped up with a teasing smile.

"The last thing I imagined seeing you in was a dress," Koenma remarked,

"I can still kick you, skirt or no skirt," Talon replied icily, "What are you two doing here?" she asked again, Botan pointed over at Yusuke and Kuwabara.

"They told us!" she said with a bright smile. Talon looked over at them with a look that would have killed them. Koenma patted her shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry about it, your quite beautiful," he said, Talon scoffed hitting his hand away.

"Save lines like that for Botan," Talon said folding her arms, Koenma chocked on air while Botan cocked her head confused. Talon blinked, "Wait… You haven't told her ye…" Koenma smacked his hand across her mouth. Talon made a sound of protest, in response Koenma's grip became tighter.

"What do you mean Talon?" Botan asked her, Koenma laughed nervously waving his free hand.

"Nothing, you know she's been sick so whatever comes out of her mouth is complete… YOW!" Koenma's hand jerked away from Talon and began waving it to help heal the burn that Talon had given him. Talon had leaned foreword sucking in air. Her eyes had changed to black but were slowly transferring into green.

"You trying to kill me?! I couldn't breathe Koenma!"

"You're the one who tried to burn my hand off," Koenma retorted,

"Because you were blocking my airways!" Botan chuckled,

"You two never stop this banter; you act like a married couple," she said with a laugh, the two turned on her, fire in their eyes.

"We do not!"

"Talon?" Karin came up next to her looking around, "Where's Cori?" Talon shrugged,

"I think he ditched me," she replied waving in the direction where Cori was sitting with two girls, one on each arm. Karin put her hands on her hips,

"That no good," she cursed, Talon grinned at her as Karin fumed,

"Now now, no reason to get all excited," Talon said teasingly,

"Humph," Karin looked about ready to march over to him and smack him across the face when another guy drifted over to them.

"Um… Talon, would you dance with me?" he asked, looking uncomfortable, Talon felt her own shyness leap into her throat but she smiled politely.

"Certainly," she said, he looked relieved then led her away. Keiko giggled,

"We might not see her again tonight," she said with a large smile, she turned to Yusuke tugging on his hand, "do you want to dance?" Yusuke shrugged, Keiko dragged him out anyway. Kuwabara became quickly stiff and held his hand out to Yukina; she smiled up at him before taking it and allowing him to lead her away. Botan grabbed Koenma by the hand and flounced away. Kurama smiled as they all disappeared in the crowd of high school students. Hiei was looking up as if he was trying to avoid looking at the spectacle.

"How can humans stand things like this anyway?" he muttered Kurama grinned,

"You should try it some time maybe you'll learn to like it," he replied Hiei looked at him with a glare.

"You really have gone soft," Kurama looked away casually,

"Your not exactly the cold stoned figure I met a long time ago either," he replied,

"Hn,"

"Shuichi?" a timid blond girl came up shuffling her feet, "Will you dance with me…" Kurama smiled at her politely before getting up and accepting her request.

Hiei watched them leave feeling disgusted he turned away. He caught sight of Talon as she tried to dance, she looked like she was having difficulty and her partner wasn't helping much. Hiei slouched down watching her as she laughed at her and her partner's mistakes. She did look pretty; Hiei shook his head trying to get rid of the thought as it snaked into his head. His eyes fell on Talon again as she thanked her partner and another guy came up. This one's aura bugged Hiei as he took a hold of Talon's waist leading her into a dance.

"Hello!" A voice said, Hiei looked up to see a woman peering down at him through mounds of flesh, she was holding a jar with bits of paper in it and was holding a piece out to Hiei, "I'm collecting votes for the King and Queen, would you like to contribute?" Hiei glared up at her then looked back over at Talon; unconsciously he took the paper and wrote a name on it. The woman swiped it away before he realized what he had done, with a large grin she plodded away. Hiei left the dance room and went outside. He settled on a tree in denial about participating in a human activity.

-----------------------------

Talon declined further invitations to dance and found a chair to collapse in. She felt exhausted although she was definitely doing better then she was doing before.

"How do you feel?" a voice asked, Talon looked up to see Koenma holding out a cup of water for her. Talon gratefully accepted it; she took a sip while Koenma sat down next to her.

"I feel fine, a little hot but that comes with being at places like this," she indicated with her hand. Koenma smiled and nodded but then looked serious.

"What about emotionally…" Talon's face fell and she looked away.

"I… I'm not sure, when I'm around Yusuke and the others I feel fine… but when I'm around other people or am alone… I feel empty and almost as if I'm being torn apart from the inside…" Koenma's eyes narrowed in concern, he stood up and gave Talon a hug. Talon buried her face in his arm breathing in the familiar scent.

"I'm sorry…" He said gently,

"Thank you Koenma," she replied softly, then he let go of her.

"If you think you'll be alright I'll allow you to stay, however, if your fever even slightly starts to come back, you're going home," Talon sniggered before grinning up at Koenma.

"You're so paranoid," she said, "But alright, if it feels like my fever is hitting the top I'll leave." She got up and walked towards Keiko and Yusuke who waved at her happily. Koenma watched her leave feeling surprised… she had laughed, she had actually laughed. Koenma felt himself smile, Japan had been a good idea. For the first time in fourteen years, Koenma felt relieved for Talon.

--------------------------------

The dance was coming to a close as the votes for the king and queen were being counted up. Talon stood next to a window watching the rainfall. It calmed her as the day kept dragging on and the cool glass felt nice against her skin. She turned slightly to look over the dance floor when her eyes caught sight of Kurama surrounded. Talon giggled to herself as he was helplessly in the middle of them trying to be polite in refusing all of their invitations to dance. He made eye contact with her and waved ever so slightly, he made a gesture indicating he needed help. He looked away, Talon debated whether she should help, she took a step towards them. Suddenly a hand clamped onto her mouth and yanked her backwards. She tried to fight back as she was dragged out of the room when a voice began to laugh.

"Try to pull anything and everyone here will be killed quickly," a deep voice whispered against her ear. Talon felt her body grow numb in both realization and dread.

No…no… please… no! The man jerked her roughly out into the rain and shoved her onto the ground. With a cry, she hit the ground painfully landing partly in a puddle soaking most of the skirt of her dress. She stood up quickly as five men surrounded her gloating.

"What's wrong?" one of them said walking closer to her, "We ain't gonna hurt you… much," with that he slapped her across the face. Talon staggered but remained on her feet, another one came up and kicked her in the stomach. With a strangled choke she fell to the ground, the men laughed and jeered. The tallest one, Talon suspected the leader of their pack, walked up to her pulling on a thick glove. Talon eyed it warily watching as electric strings twisted from the space in between his fingers and his palm.

"Who are you," she asked him darkly, his eyes flashed before he kicked her over, smacking his foot into her shoulder, he seemed pleased when she grunted in pain.

"Don't talk to me demon scum," he hissed he removed his foot and grabbed Talon's hair yanking her up, she cried out as the electricity jolted through her body making her completely immobile. "Our only purpose is to deliver a message, 'In three days time, my followers will find you, bring you to me and we can end this battle.'" She was dropped heavily onto the ground, "If you hide or tell your demon friends, we will not stop at killing just them, your little human friends will suffer as well," Talon looked up at them in horror, she watched as the five left laughing all the way. She sat up onto her knees and felt the warning sink in,

"No…No…!" She hugged herself tightly; disbelief and pain clutched her heart tightly. She looked up into the rain feeling the drops fall down her cheeks like the tears she promised never to cry. Its ok…its ok… but it didn't feel ok… nothing ever did.

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Unknown to Talon, Hiei dropped down to the ground watching her as she stood up. She walked slowly back into the school trying to wipe off the evidence that she had been outside. Hiei followed the men out the gates and all the way, to when they reached a house, no not a house, a mansion. The men went inside talking about unimportant things the whole time. Hiei leapt into a tree to look in a window, the five men entered the room looking pleased. There were at least fifty men drinking and playing pool, the five men pushed their way past until they came up to a woman. She wasn't facing the window but Hiei could see that she was the one in charge. Hiei leaned forward trying to get a good look at her face when suddenly something slammed into his stomach. He pitched forward off his perch slamming into the ground; a hand grabbed him around the neck coursing electrical currents through him making him immobile.

"Well well well, lookey what we 'ave 'ere," a thick accented voice said, Hiei cursed as he was yanked up.

"Must be a demon if the glove is having an effect," another man said peering down at him, a third one was looking at him strangely, Hiei glared at him.

"Hey… isn't this one of the demon's boss's target has been hanging around?" he asked, the guy who held him turned him so he could look at Hiei.

"It is! 'Ell ain't that inte'esting," Hiei tried to force his body to move but it refused. The men dragged Hiei into the house and threw him face down on the floor. Slowly his legs began to have feeling but it wasn't enough to escape. He forced himself in a kneeling position and looked up to see the men leering at him but the woman didn't even look.

"What have you three dragged in this time," she asked in a bored voice.

"A demon, friend of the fox!" the guy that had held Hiei said proudly,

"Hm?" now, she sounded interested, "That gives me the upper hand," She turned around looking down at Hiei with a grin, despite himself Hiei felt himself freeze in shock. Out of nowhere, a metal band clasped itself around Hiei's wrist, sending jolts of the electricity through him. He fell down on his side unable to prevent himself a few men sniggered at him.

"I thank you for such an opportunity," the woman was saying, she sat down crossing her legs and looking at Hiei almost hungrily. Hiei stared up at her angrily. The woman… who had a face, that looked almost exactly like Talon.

-Chapter 12 end-

So yeah I got really busy with school and such, sorry if the characters are a bit OOC I mean… its been a while ^.^ Thank you all who still pay attention to this story and I hope you liked this chapter, do me all a favor and push the little button right below and tell me what you think? Thank you and I love you all! Since its summer, I should get the rest of the story up soon and you should all love me because I'm still dedicated! ^.^

-avengefullgirl95