She had known something was going to happen and had felt dread at first but now she knew this intruder was not to be feared.
"Hello." Ari said.
The intruder said nothing for a minute. Then came, "I can't believe you guys did all this, started and accomplished all this before I got here."
"Oops!" Ari laughed. "It's you, Ash!"
"Yeah, it's me? Who else could it be?" Ash said. "...What happened to you?"
"Uh..." Ari froze. "Alot of unbelievable things. I thought you knew what was going on here."
"I'll explain it all to you later, Ash." Chetara told her."Fine, fine." The kitsune sighed. "I'm always left out and the last person to know what's going on."
The other people were just sitting there in shock.
"Sorry, we didn't make it to the meeting." Ari said. "Some weird stuff went down."
"Yeah. When you didn't show up I got suspicious. I asked around demon world and got that the Reikai Tantei kidnapped you. But that's obviously not true." Ash said.
Chetara laughed. "You heard we were kidnapped?"
Ash nodded. "I was worried. I'd believe anything."
"We're sorry." Ari said.
Chetara blurted out, "Did you know Ari is actually a neko princess?"
"What? No way!" Ash said.
"Yeah. She didn't tell me."
"Or me." Ash said.
"Pardon me for being rude but..." Koenma started. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
"Well, looks like I'm here to see Ari and Chetara. What's it look like to you?" Ash said.
"OOH!" Koenma was furious. "WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND YOUR RUDE FRIENDS?"
Ari sighed. "I like people who are blunt, to the point, honest. That's the kind of people I hang out with."
"Do you have any more friends we should know about?" Kurama asked.
"No except..." Ari said. "ARIKA! Is she here?" She wheeled on Ash.
Ash grinned.
"Nice of you guys to start the party off w/o me." Arika said.
"Hey, Arika!" Ari said.
"God, you look like beep!" Arika said. "What happened?"
That was a shock to the whole team. They just sat there gaping.
"Hello to you too. We'll explain later, ok?" Ari asked.
"They won't tell me anything. Did you know Ari is a neko princess?" Ash asked.
"No. Are you beepin me?" Arika asked. Everyone winced at Arika's comment.
"No. We're not. She really is." Chetara said. "She has a tattoo to prove it."
Arika ran over and grabbed Ari's arm.
"OW! OTHER ARM!" Ari cried. That arm was still sore from the dragon tattoo.
Arika dropped that hand and grabbed the other one. She jerked the sleeve up just like Genkai.
"Ow! What are there sleeve ripping classes in high school that I never took?" Ari cried.
"OOOH!" Arika said. "That's awesome! What's it supposed to mean?"
"It's the neko coat of arms." Ari said. "It's a symbol of the royal family."
Ash leaned over and took a look too.
"That's pretty cool, Ari."
"Not really." Ari said.
"What's on the other arm?" Arika asked. She grabbed the other arm and jerked the sleeve back. Only difference, this arm was MUCH more sensitive than the other one.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" Ari screamed.
"What the beep's wrong with you?" Arika asked.
Ari jerked her arm away from Arika.
"Let me do it!" Ari said. She carefully rolled the sleeve back. There was, of course, a black dragon tattoo on this arm.
"Oooo..." Arika said. "I want one."
"No you don't..." Ari murmured.
"Awesome!" Ash said. At that moment Ari's eye started acting up.
"OOH." Ari said. She covered her forehead w/ her hand.
"Makes it worse..." Hiei commented. He was right.
"How do I fix it?" Ari asked.
"Concentrate on it. It might be trying to tell you something." Hiei said. Ari closed her eyes and concentrated on it. Soon, her mind created a picture for her to study. It was...odd at best. It turned into a movie. It was a fight scene. She, Ash, Arika, Chetara, Kurama, Hiei, Yusuke, Kuwabara were fighting a demon. The demon looked cute at first. The more she looked the more monster-like he became. They fought the demon with all their might. They were getting demolished. When it ended she knew what it meant. They needed to start training soon. If they got alot stronger faster they wouldn't get killed by that demon. She opened her eyes.
"ohhh..." Was all she could say. Everyone watched her.
(I don't have enough strength to start training now...) Ari thought. She smirked. (Says who?) She slid her feet out of bed and stood up. A little shaky but that was ok and to be expected.
"We need to get stronger. Alot stronger. Fast." Ari said. Now, everyone just stared at her like she'd grown a second head.
Ari looked at them. She shrugged. She grabbed her book.
"I'll be back."
"Ari!" Ash said. "Count me in! Even if the Reikai Tantei don't want to."
"Me too!" Chetara said. "I'm in."
"I'm in. There's no way I'm missing this." Arika said.
"Great." Ari said. "Now it's just the four of us against an incredibly strong demon..."
"How strong...?" Chetara asked.
"Well, the 7 of us at our current power got blown away. He demolished us." Ari said. "We didn't stand a chance."
"Saw it too." Hiei said. "I'll join you. Ari, you need to rest."
"Tsk." Ari said. "Watch me." She walked out the door with her friends. Hiei chased them. Kurama did, too. The team looked at each other.
"Why not?" Yusuke asked.
He chased after them too. Kuwabara told his sister, "Take care of Eikichi." And he followed Yusuke.
Out in the woods, all seven of them were gathered together.
"Are we ready to train like never before?" Ari asked.
"Yeah!" The girls chorused. The boys weren't so enthusiastic. Everyone started to train. They spared against other team members and learned what their weak areas are. (What part of their fighting needed to become stronger) They trained until everyone had to collapse on the ground.
"Let's go back now..." Ari said. "Back tomorrow." They went back, ate dinner, and went to bed.