(A/N): Huge, HUGE thanks and Shoutouts to the reviewers: Divine Demonic Assassin, NightlyRowenTree, Have, Bloody-Asphode11, Why4What, and YuYuHakushoObsessor. You guys are the reason I put aside prepping for my test to give you this chapter today.

Thank you as always to the followers, favorite-goers and those who lurk. I appreciate you greatly.

Really sorry for the late update. As you can see, I'm off schedule and updated on a Thursday (CRAZY), that's how bad I wanted to get something out there. This chapter was supposed to cover the first two tasks of Genkai's tournament but that didn't happen. Still pretty meaty though. Not as refined as usual so forgives...

Hope you enjoy.

I'll respond to the reviews for last chapter tomorrow after work. Gotta get to studying.

~Yasha's Sis

*Updated 20 May 2016*

Chapter 16

Genkai

"He- hahaha he did what?"

Hiei, stretched on the bough of an appropriately concealing tree, cracked his eye open to lazily gaze upon the laughing onna seated at the outdoor restaurant beneath him.

Kurama's human mother smiled brightly. "Shuiichi wished to know how I could walk in heels and he was never one to learn from explanation alone."

The girl, Izumi a voice not unlike the irritating onna corrected pointedly, giggled. "How old was he?"

"Three," Shiori answered fondly only making the girl snort and cover her face as she tried to taper down her amusement. The older woman didn't mind.

"It's so good to see you Izumi-chan! Shuiichi tried to hide it but he missed you and I don't remember the last time we had a moment to chat."

Izumi's humor drained fairly quickly at that and Hiei watched, interested, as the girl pasted on a smile. "Ah, you're exaggerating, Shiori –sensei. Foxy really just wanted to keep you happy and he knows how much you love embarrassing him by telling me about his childhood." The younger girl took hold of Shiori's pale hands and grinned. "I am glad you're healthy and walking around again. It's nice to see you in real clothes, sensei."

The older woman shook her head. "You and that boy." Shiori smiled. "I suppose hospital gowns aren't the most flattering." She observed as she drew back and smoothed out her light green sundress. A crème band wrapped around the waist.

Hiei huffed at the banter and let his eyes slide shut, pushing the two women's conversation into a background hum.

Seems she is still angry with the fox.

The hybrid demon tucked away the insight with a smirk. It was good to have the irritating onna directing her ire at an appropriate source. Hiei had borne the brunt of her displeasure once she realized why exactly he ran away with her. It was a galling experience and he had never expected his interactions with the human to affect him in any substantial way.

Apparently, the Urameshi family refused to be ignored.

Hiei did not like humans. They were a collection of petty, vain, and infinitely stupid creatures that deserved to be subjugated if they allowed it to happen to themselves. He knew that weakness, no matter the race, would always be exploited and humankind was a race filled with feebleness. There was nothing redeemable about them.

And then he met those twins.

The boy was nearly as much of a moron as he attributed to the rest of the pathetic race, but he was born to fight as few beings are and he would burn the world himself to see his sister well. That, perhaps more than the boy's skill in battle, earned a bit of Hiei's respect.

The Jagan could read the boy's thoughts easily and the simple, dedicated, devotion he held for his sibling would have frightened someone who could not understand, but Hiei did. No one but the fox knew what Yukina was to Hiei. Her protection fell on him alone because those ice harpies that cast him out were selfish embittered creatures who would not lift a finger to protect their own. They were worthless and Hiei could only trust himself with his sibling's safety. He would destroy anything in his path to do so and Hiei could tell Yusuke would as well.

Hiei… approved of that, as well as the boy's practicality.

Urameshi Yusuke was someone who would be good to have at your back, with his own code of ethics that appealed to Hiei's in its lack of idealistic fluff. The boy was a fighter and a worthy one at that.

The honesty in the boy's mind left a mark, no matter how grudging, in Hiei's understanding of humans.

That said, Hiei should never have succumbed to the ridiculous tactics of the Detective in the first place, despite the boy's apparent proclivity to secure a win through guts and instinct alone.

His temporary loss was unacceptable but Hiei could respect that it was all because the boy wanted to protect his sister. Wanted to make her happy by defending the fox (who needed no such thing but neither of the two human truly understood a demon's resiliency).

This understanding didn't stop Hiei from loathing the uncomfortable similarities between the human and himself. The only thin ghe hated more was that his interest in the boy grew to these proportions because of the fox's woman.

Kurama planted the seed. Hiei could see that now.

The girl must have done something to aggravate the fox and Kurama thought to use Hiei to return the favor. While fury filled him once he figured out the thief's ploy, an edge of cruelty urged him to use the hand he had been dealt to remind the fox who he was dealing with.

In the wake of Kurama's retreat from their arrangement, Hiei sought his precious human out.

He was surprised when the girl's spirit energy registered to him.

It was pathetic! Worse even than the Detective when the boy first stumbled upon them. Kurama spoke of her spirit energy as something to peak his interest not his scorn. Why would Kurama bring it up at all if it was so meager? The fox was never one to waste his time with trash.

Whatever the reasoning behind it, her spirit energy was present and finding her with a former spirit detective was odd enough to make Hiei pause. He had not expected her to be with Sanada Kuroko, bane to demonkind for over ten years and a human who made even Hiei wary of approach. How was he to go about observing her in person with Sanada in close proximity?

Luckily, Sanada and the girl had branched off from the woman's house and the girl, not long after, separated.

The seed took root then.

Striking her at the third eye chakra would allow the transformation to occur more rapidly thanks to his Jagan. The faster he turned her, the less time Kurama would have to spin a counter to Hiei's plans. It would be simple then to-

His adjusted plans froze when the girl took off at a breakneck pace for the human settlement at the base of the mountain. A pace that Hiei found impressive for a demon, impossible for a human, especially one who's Spirit energy registered so low. It directly conflicted with her speed.

A nagging part of his instincts told him it was too small, almost like it was compressed and his eyes narrowed as the girl's path shifted to parallel his.

She can sense me.

Hiei kept his youki tucked close and speared towards her position. No point in pretending neither of them knew where the other was. Hiei entertained the idea that the girl had been training with the Sanada woman as he paused a few yards to her left and contemplated the best way of subduing her.

It was annoying when she remained in the shadows of the forest after she came to a stop. As if she could hide from his sight.

"I know you can sense me, human."

Her surprise was an insulting thing.

Of course he knew she could sense him. She had made it clear when she moved to track his path. The girl exited the trees and Hiei was momentarily struck by how young she was. No older than Kurama's current human form and his honor nipped at him for thinking of harming her, although…

Hiei's ruby gaze flickered briefly over her v-neck shirt and hiking shorts. The teen was rapidly approaching adulthood: all sun kissed skin and long legs. Kurama enjoyed eye catching things but the girl was relatively unremarkable. Pleasing enough he supposed but definitely not the stunning beauty one would expect to hold the fox thief's attention.

Why then did Kurama keep her?

Perhaps it was her mind that drew him in, it certainly wasn't the girl's self-preservation instincts.

Hiei inwardly sneered at the open curiosity in her face. The fleeting thought of him resembling a shunned vampire only worsened his already foul mood. It was a little too close to the truth for his tastes.

Hiei found himself moving without any deliberate decision to do so. Kurama had betrayed him and his human was annoying, they both deserved to see her suffer as a demon puppet. Hiei's eyes were the only outward indication to his darkened mood and then his sword was aimed to slice the girl's forehead. Served the stupid woman right for daring to-

"What the hell?"

She vanished to the right to dodge the blade and the air where she previously stood simmered in an after image. Her Spirit Energy, previously pathetic in its presence, shivered and swelled warningly like a cobra's hood. The potent energy surged to the forefront of the girl's skin in quantities that far outstripped his expectations.

"You are fast for a human," Hiei commented with a considering air, previous anger suppressed in the wake of this curiosity. The girl avoided the strike.

This was far more in line with Kurama's tendency to horde eye catching things.

"And you're rude." She returned with a glare. He could read the brief anger she had at any sentence that ended with 'for a [insert gender/label/species]'. She felt her gender didn't take away from her ability and neither did her race. Hiei expected her to be on her guard then.

Instead, the ridiculous onna seemed borderline at ease, if irritated, at his supposed misogynistic tendencies. How could she have such an absolute lack of self-preservation? Even though he had not put any excessive strength into the blow, the girl should be cowering or at least wary of him. Not nearly comfortable in the dangerous air. Was she stupid?

The girl straightened and cocked a hip. "I'm on a bit of a time crunch so let's skip the witty banter. Any way I can convince you to shove off and leave my sensei's family alone?"

Hiei returned her glare easily. "As if I would attack children. I don't care about the Sanada woman or her family. They are not my concern."

Her mind showed her skepticism clearly. "Then why are you here?"

The demon flicked his blade, head canted to the side. He stared at her, savoring the thrill of unease that flickered across her mind at his unblinking attention.

And then the girl dared to think that if he ceased to be so 'scowly' she was fairly certain he'd be adorable.

"If I ever hear the word adorable come out of your mouth in conjunction with me, I will carve out your tongue."

Hiei was not a child and no one dared call him such an insulting endearment in their minds or through their mouths. It was unacceptable that she think she held the right to say such a thing. He should just kill her now. Kurama wouldn't know the difference until he showed up with the artifact.

The girl in return gaped at him stupidly, about to demand what the hell he was talking about, when the words struck in her thought pattern. "You can read minds?"

Hiei sneered. "You are not quite as bright as Kurama gave you credit for."

At the mention of the fox's name, the human stilled. The shift caught him off guard, moreso when her mind shut off to him abruptly.

Coolly, she replied, "Kurama didn't mention you so I guess you aren't that important to him."

Hiei stared.

He hadn't been openly insulted in centuries- let alone by a pathetic human.

She seemed uncaring of his dangerous astonishment and continued, "I've spent enough time letting you be creepy. Since you don't care to get to the point, I'll be going, grumpy."

And the blasted onna did just that, heading back into the trees and taking off for the train station at unacceptable speeds.

Killing her would be too swift of a punishment. Hiei would hunt her down to press this seeming wall of unflappability that rose up and then he would skin her alive. Perhaps Kurama could keep the pelt as a reminder if he favored the reckless human so much. How could she be so unafraid? Even his own kind feared him and yet she thought ridiculous things that implied an interest to understand him before he alienated her with the mention of Kurama.

Hiei did not like this confusion.

He wished to understand and the only way to do so would be to track this insufferable human before he could erase her presence from the world.

She was fast though and it took Hiei two miles to catch up with her. Annoyingly, she slowed as he neared as if relieved to have drawn his attention from the Sanada woman.

Hiei had no business with the reclusive former detective and never intended to deal with her. The fact that this onna was still concerned was aggravating.

Kurama's human blatantly ignored him as he darted through the trees above her. The lack of recognition aside from her change of pace pissed him off. He was not one to be overlooked. Hiei sought to pierce through the sudden block she had on her mind and ruin her from the inside out but her mental thoughts ghosted out of his grasp like mist every time he thought to have a handle on it. Her spirit energy snarled even from this distance at him and Hiei had a moment of insight to realize it was shielding her mind, not the girl herself.

He was grudgingly fascinated. More irate than anything but fascinated all the same.

So, despite knowing the fox put them together to distract Hiei, the fire demon indulged in lowering himself to have conversation with the onna. He would understand this anomaly before he would destroy it. His curiosity would allow that much.

As Hiei deigned to address her, he was quickly corrected on his means of greeting. She apparently did not like being called onna and took to lecturing him on manners like the fox before her. The similarity was bemusing.

But, where Kurama was cool and manipulative to those he did not deem worthy of his concern, the girl was painfully honest. Her spirit energy expressed its dislike for his nature all too readily and she did nothing to curtail its more aggressive snaps. Not to be cowed by anything, Hiei's youki bit back just as readily and the girl, Izumi, was more surprised at her spirit energy beginning some odd game of tag while they raced to the train. She did not let her guard down though until Hiei mentioned his long association with Kurama and flatly told her of the fox's mind games to get them to meet. He was pleased when the girl softened to him at Hiei's familiarity with the fox's habits (all the easier to make her his pawn), but, when Hiei caved to his nagging curiosity and asked why she was not afraid, her response struck a chord in him.

"I trust Kurama with my life. He wouldn't have sent you my way if he thought anything would happen."

It didn't make sense that this human felt such a way with one of their kind. She must not know. She must be oblivious to his true nature, how else could they coexist? He couldn't be accepted by the Koorime who bore him and they were of the same blood. There was no way a human could understand, let alone accept, a demon's nature. Hiei would see her opinion of Kurama crumble if only to make sure the way of the world made sense.

Unfortunately, prodding her bluntly on her relationship with Kurama backfired as the girl explained that she'd known him for years, knew his secrets as well, and that it was very much not his place to try and drive a wedge between them by bringing up his demon heritage like some sort of spurned lover.

"Quit ragging on his demon past. If I didn't care when he told me, I sure as hell don't care now. You sound like an ex-girlfriend warning me off so that you can keep him to yourself. Ugh! And now I have that image in my head. Thanks, grumpy."

Aside from the flare of insult at being called anything so… human, the fierceness of her reply was envy inducing.

Hiei could not count the number of people whose loyalty he had. Kurama once was one of them, still in many ways was, but the human added a layer to the depth of her and Kurama's relationship. Hiei had never had someone well and truly hold any amount of faith in him.

A hardly listened to part of himself wanted this genuine response for his own.

He could not force it though and scorned the corner of his mind which whispered of such a thing. Even if he wanted to make her direct such attentions to himself, every attempt to enter her mind was rebuffed. Hiei wondered if Kurama knew what he was doing dragging them together.

Envy pushed him forward. He wanted to make Kurama feel the surge of betrayal Hiei did when the fox backed out and vanished. He had indulged in his curiosity enough.

So, while holding a conversation with the onna and egging her into a true match of skill, he laid the crumbs to draw the two other artifacts to his side.

It was supposed to be easy, turning her and carrying her body to the warehouse to await Kurama and the other human who ironically turned out to be the girl's brother. Hiei could have laughed if he wasn't concentrating so hard on tagging the girl with the Shadow Sword and maintaining his provoking of the fox.

Her speed was unfathomable in a human.

Hiei felt if given time she could keep pace with him easily and her Spirit energy was a monster in and of itself. It destroyed his youki if he lessened its potency at all and multiple blisters littered his skin where he made a mistake with the concentration. Hiei almost enjoyed this impromptu bout of a spar she thought was simply to kill time before the train arrived. A flicker of something odd rattled in him as he caught sight of the happy expression on the Kurama's human's face.

Her pleasure was directed at him.

Nothing close to such a positive expression had ever been for Hiei and Hiei alone.

Hiei crushed the soft emotion immediately as the thought tried to temper his plans.

This human, Izumi, trusted far too much in the fox to have given Hiei anything less than complete caution.

And for that, she would suffer.

The fire demon, while not a patient being, was a skilled swordsman and he needed only a momentary lapse of the woman's attention to split her skin and introduce the Shadow Sword's ability to her blood.

It took longer than he thought possible to finally mark her and the girl hissed at the cut along her shoulder, her previous smile at their fight gone as the pain of the transformation took hold.

An initial spike of irritation lingered for a moment that she was able to dodge to that extent but Hiei forced a smirk. The strike didn't have to be on her third eye chakra. Really, all that was needed was a single hit so, gloating, he let satisfaction wrap around him, ready and waiting for her to pass out at the progression of the transformation.

It should have ended there.

Instead, her Spirit energy flared white and burning to his demon senses.

Hiei's instincts screamed and the hybrid demon was flung back as the girl's spirit energy surged out of her body, circling the wounded arm in a swirl of white and blue. The girl gave a strangled yell and then her Spirit energy pressed into the wound like a swarm converging on prey.

There was a pause and then a deafening crack sounded before her energy calmed with all the pleased air of a cat fresh after a kill. It hummed and Hiei remained crouched, wary, Shadow Sword at the ready as he waited for her to turn on him and send the unnatural energy to make him pay-

"That was weird," the girl replied with a grimace, eyeing her arm and then giving a shrug. Her chestnut gaze flickered to him and she frowned. "Sorry about that. It acts weird when it comes into contact with demonic energy and I guess it didn't like the sword. First time its' ever been so violent." She smiled again. "Call it a tie?"

Hiei was torn between feeling disgust and bafflement. Neither emotion could fully begin to describe the fire demon's opinion of the stupid, naive onna. Was she truly so trusting? Kurama should have lost this girl years ago if she were this oblivious to subterfuge. Why would she think his actions were anything less than intentional? And the girl harbored disgustingly sentimental feelings for the fox and her brother. All she would speak of was her concern for them and her hope that they were well.

Did she truly care that deeply for those two? For Kurama especially? Why?

He didn't understand.

Abruptly, Hiei's plans shifted.

After meeting her, after seeing her spiritual energy in action and tasting the absolute fury of the reborn kitsune, he no longer wished to see her oddity reduced to the mindlessness of a demon puppet (frankly he wasn't sure if the Shadow Sword would work on her after that display). Instead, he would kill her. She aggravated him and he didn't understand why it affected him so deeply.

He should kill her.

He will kill her.

But his hand refused to move in a killing blow. The Jagan twittered in interest of her spirit energy and its near sentience. It did not want her dead and some portion of him must have agreed because what came out of Hiei's mouth certainly didn't express the level of disdain he felt for the undeserved concern she was currently favoring him with at his silence.

Hiei did not know what possessed him to offer to take her to her human brother.

The human contraption would get her there easily enough and he would not have to deal with her conversation and her attempts to teach him a modicum of manners or show him camaraderie because 'obviously' he didn't play well with others since he couldn't 'take a joke'. He wouldn't have to keep thinking of her strangeness and endure the odd mix of envy and interest that stirred in his gut.

It was childish.

And yet he allowed it to continue.

Thankfully, he prevented himself from sinking too low into the net of Kurama's human by incapacitating her not long after she agreed to travel with him. This woman showed a deplorable ability to let her guard down when she felt comfortable. (Why had she felt comfortable in the first place?)

Her Spirit energy didn't even have a moment to react with his swiftness and remained dormant while she was unconscious.

Which lead to seeing Kurama, the human boy and their vexingly complicated responses. Their reactions, most surprisingly Kurama's, urged Hiei to indulge in his mischievous side.

It was simple to snatch the human from Kurama's nose again. The resulting clash after Kurama found them was extraordinarily brutal for the fox. Kurama could be cold and calculating but rarely did he indulge in cruelty for cruelty's sake. Hiei was given firsthand experience to a spiteful fox thief and honestly was impressed at the viciousness. It nearly made up for Kurama allowing the humans to worm their way into his concern.

A concern that demanded Hiei leave Izumi well enough alone.

Well, now he could not abide. Hiei would not distance himself from the human woman Kurama favored so. In fact, he was 'lurking', as the annoying onna took to calling his presence, simply to incense the two of them at once (and maybe to understand the onna's nonsensical habits more).

Izumi was ignoring him fairly well, but Kurama's energy displayed its irritation easily enough for those who knew how to read it.

The irritation was pleasing.

Hiei's mood dropped sharply when the witless Spirit world lackey popped into existence at his feet and told him it was time for his trial.

*~ADMW~*

Izumi froze as her annoying shadow vanished from her sense.

Where did that creep run off to now?

Izumi had not been amused when she realized Hiei ran off with her just to irk Kurama. She left the two to duke out their differences, uncaring of who came out alive. Jackasses. The both of them.

Grumpy then took to ghosting after her like a particularly persistent stalker and the Spirit Detective scowled lightly when she felt a flicker of concern at his absence. She should not care that he finally ditched his post. She should be grateful even. Izumi had been trying to dodge his ass for nearly a week once she came back from the Spirit World after meeting her 'employer'. Now that the surly fire demon was gone, she could relax and fully enjoy Shiori's recovery.

"Izumi!"

Or not.

Shiori's head turned and the two women focused their attention on the approaching figure.

"Boton," Izumi greeted with a slight smile. The river styx ferry girl had been particularly helpful in updating Izumi on Yusuke's antics while she'd been away and Boton shared Izumi's anger with Koenma for sending Yusuke off to fight three demons far above his level. That alone made Izumi like the blue haired girl way more than Sayako.

It also helped that Kazuma took to pestering Boton about being his wife and settling down with her instead of throwing compliments at Izumi. The youngest Urameshi could admit when another woman held a more exotic beauty than she did and Kazuma would have to be blind to ignore Boton's curvier figure and bubbly personality.

Still, her budding affection for Boton wasn't going to make up for interrupting Izumi's three day weekend and the rare moments she had with Shiori-sensei.

"Shiori-sensei, this is Boton, my brother's history tutor. Boton, this is my piano instructor and Shuichi's mother Minamino Shiori."

Shiori brightened immediately. "Oh dear, pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much for helping our Yusuke. He's a hard working boy once you get him motivated."

Izumi warmed at the 'our' while Boton sent Izumi a narrow look for the tutor crack. "The pleasure is mine, Shiori-san. I heard so much about Shuiichi from Yusuke and Izumi. Izumi is particularly fond of him." Boton finished slyly, tucking her hands into her red jacket pockets. Izumi scowled at her but Shiori beamed.

"They do make a lovely pair don't they, Botan-san? I don't know how many times I've told her to stop acting like Shuiichi has cooties and tell him how she feels."

Izumi blanched. "I don't feel any special way about –" The two older women burst into giggles and Izumi glowered at the pair of them. Maybe Shiori was a fox spirit in another life. Always yanking Izumi's chain and teasing her about Izumi's early crush on the woman's dumb red headed son. "Come on, Sensei. Foxy teased me enough about that crush as is!"

Boton let loose another feminine laugh before putting her hands together and bowing to Shiori.

"Sorry to interrupt your brunch but I need Izumi's help with a project. Yusuke already went ahead for supplies but Koenma is really hoping this gets done soon."

Izumi buried her sigh and let disappointment color her. We get two weeks from the artifacts and none of that time was spent relaxing. "Can't this wait a week, Boton?"

"It's no trouble at all Izumi-chan." Shiori interrupted with an admonishing look to Izumi. "Go help out your brother. I'm glad I got to see you Izumi-chan, but Yusuke-kun probably won't get anything done until you lend a hand."

Guilt tripping? No fair, sensei.

Reluctantly, Izumi hugged Shiori goodbye and followed after Boton, inwardly hoping Shiori would get the idea of her and Kurama becoming a couple out of her head. Kurama was probably the most asexual person she ever met and the guy was way too attractive to go for someone of Izumi's ilk. Cuteness was not beauty and she didn't know a single guy other than her brother who was cool with a girl that could hit you hard enough to make your head spin. Even Kazuma treated her like she was fine china sometimes, especially after she got back from training with Kuroko.

Which, frankly, was laughable.

Izumi had killed more demons than she could count on both hands and feet. She didn't need to be coddled.

"So it seems I'm not the only one who caught a bit of chemistry between you and our resident fox spirit?" Izumi rolled her eyes to the heavens and tugged her forget me not blue dress a little harder than necessary to smooth out the slight crease.

"I swear if you mention this to Yusuke I will find a way to exercise you."

Boton giggled. "I'm not a ghost, silly."

Izumi's face darkened and she loomed. "Do you want to be?"

The ferry girl gave a nervous chuckle. "Sometimes you remind me a little too much of your brother." She pointedly ignored Izumi's smirk and cleared her throat importantly. "Well, I suppose I should get to the point. Koenma needs you and your brother on another case. There's a demon called Rando who kills humans for sport and steals the abilities of powerful psychics from around the world. Your mission is to prevent him from gaining the powers of a powerful psychic by the name of Genkai. She's having a tournament this weekend and you or your brother have to win it!"

Izumi tilted her head, considering. "How'd you get Yusuke to give up his three day weekend?" That must have cost Koenma a headache and a half.

Boton stumbled. "What?! Nevermind that! Aren't you at all concerned that this demon uses these abilities to hurt humans and is trying to gain the Spirit Wave?! It's an unbelievably powerful technique and he would be able to murder hundreds of humans before he got bored!"

Izumi crossed her arms and followed Boton as she somehow managed to fling her arms about at Izumi, walk sideways and navigate the streets without looking where she was going. "You said Genkai is supposed to be one of the best psychics in the world. My sensei knew her and I know she'd notice the demon the moment he entered her territory. If she decides to train him, that's her business, isn't it? She could kill him on her own."

Boton sputtered. "That's- That's not the point!" She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Between you and me, Genkai doesn't exactly judge folks based off their moral character. She just wants to pass on her abilities. We can't let Rando get an opportunity to win her attention!"

Izumi felt there was a fundamental problem with this situation if Izumi and Yusuke were supposed to go there 'undercover'. Nowhere in this report did Boton even hint that Genkai knew about the Spirit World's interference.

"Are you really going to let Yusuke handle this by himself?"

Izumi gave a put upon sigh but relented. It would be bad to have the guy run off and murder innocent people for jollies. Plus, she hadn't had a moment to sit and spend time with just Yusuke since she got back. Koenma needed a kick to the teeth for almost getting Yusuke killed and Izumi saw fit to be the one to grant him that. She arrived at the Spirit world after King Yama left to see about what he could do to fix the mirror and Koenma was still wailing from his spanking.

She laughed so hard she cried.

Alerted to her presence from the noise, Koenma relegated Izumi to clean up duty for a few minor demons to make up for 'avoiding important duties'. Like Izumi had a freaking say in not collecting the artifacts in the first place.

It wasn't her fault she was laughing so hard she couldn't speak and embarrassed the mini Prince.

Still, someone had to point out the obvious to their little infiltration mission. "I doubt Genkai's going to appreciate us interfering." From what Izumi remembered Kuroko saying of her, Genkai wanted everyone to leave her the hell alone so she could die in peace. Kuroko wouldn't get into why the lady got so bitter, but she did have a ton of respect for her.

Boton practically shivered with impatience and Izumi smiled. "Didn't say I wasn't going to help. Relax, Boton. Why don't you tell me how we're supposed to get there?"

Relieved, the ferry girl opened up a portal (right in the middle of the goddamned sidewalk) and gestured Izumi through. Izumi sweat dropped. "You ever heard of being inconspicuous, Boton?"

The ferry girl waved her off and flounced through. "Humans don't really pay attention to much, especially if it's something they don't expect to see. I'll bet anyone who saw us will dismiss it as their imagination."

Izumi hoped so and trailed after. It'd be a hell of a thing to explain.

The portal dumped the pair out over a staircase that stretched far behind them and up to a tori gate with a glowing aura around it. Stunned, Izumi stepped out only to fall into her brother carrying a drawstring bag.

"Ow!"

"Yusuke!"

Izumi blinked at the aggrieved expression on her brother's face as he set her on her feet. "Hold up! How the hell did you get up here?"

Izumi jerked her thumb back at the vanishing portal and the fading, grinning ferry girl. "Boton decided to drop me out of the sky."

Something clicked for him and Yusuke's face darkened immediately as the portal closed with a pop. "Boton! You bitch! You could have teleported me here the whole time?!"

Izumi bit her lip to hold back a smile, dancing up two flights of stairs as Yusuke fumed. "They say hard work builds character, Yusuke."

Yusuke made a rude gesture with his free hand in return that made Izumi laugh and turn away, tilting her sun hat down as she climbed the last hundred or so stairs to the gate. If she let him sulk they'd never get this tournament thing over with. Izumi didn't have to wait long before Yusuke squawked and hurried up the stairs after her.

"How'd they rope you into this?" Yusuke eyed her suspiciously. "They didn't offer you the Tokyo dome ticket, did they?"

Izumi rolled her eyes. Well that answered that question. "You selfish jerk, you couldn't have asked for two?"

Yusuke glanced away and grumbled something that suspiciously sounded like 'didn't think you'd go with me'.

What?

"Why wouldn't I go?"

Yusuke's expression shifted into a pout. Izumi stared. "Yusuke?"

"We haven't done anything together since I died." He mumbled out. "Even when you came back you got called away to the Spirit World for a week and then you were dodging Hiei and I don't know, you've just been everywhere but home." He stuffed his free hand in his pocket and watched her out the corner of his eye. "It's like you're avoiding me."

Izumi blinked rapidly. "What?! How could you think-"

She knew she hadn't seen much of Yusuke but she didn't think he noticed. He was always with Keiko or Kazuma. He didn't need her there. Izumi also didn't really want to see if she wasn't missed. Why force her presence there if Yusuke was happier without-

Oh.

Izumi slipped her arm around her brother's waist and pressed into his side. "I guess I didn't want to see you doing great without me so I let myself stay moving." She sighed. "We've never been away from each other for longer than a day or two. I guess… I guess I was scared you wouldn't have missed me."

An arm dropped around her shoulders and held her close. "That's a stupid thing to think. I tell people you're the smart twin, 'Zumi. Don't make me look like a liar."

Izumi smiled under the brim of her hat. "Wouldn't want that would we?"

"Damn straight," Yusuke agreed with a decisive nod as they passed beneath the tori gates. Izumi buried herself a little deeper into her brother's side.

"I missed you, bro." She did. So very much.

Yusuke held her a tighter. "Of course you did. You're the smart twin, but I'm the fun twin."

Izumi snorted. "You're the twin that requires bribery." She tilted her head back and puffed her chest out accordingly. "I can't believe you wouldn't help out of the goodness of your own heart."

"Pssht, like you would have come here if Boton didn't tell you I was going. You hate this job."

The youngest Urameshi twin let her eyes slide to the view just over the lip of the staircase deigning not to respond to that. Izumi hoped Yusuke was never asked to do anything that would taint his view of the Spirit World or make him hate a part of himself. Kuroko taught Izumi many things and not all of them were to the good of the Reikai.

There was a reason the older woman quit.

"Woah," Izumi breathed as the sea of potential apprentices came into view. "When Boton said there'd be a lot of people showing up, I didn't think she meant this many." Her brother grinned.

"Damn, the old lady must be pretty famous to have drawn this sort of crowd."

Izumi rolled her eyes. "Do you even listen when Boton tells you things? I know she didn't send you here with no information. This is in our world and they seem to have a better handle on the crap that happens here than the other two."

Yusuke picked his ear. "Yeah, sure. She said something about the old broad being a Psychic and that she was important or something."

Izumi facepalmed. "I love you, Yusuke, really I do but sometimes-"

"Ho ho Kenta, seems the boy brought his girlfriend to cheer him on."

"Well when I was young I used to want my woman near me as well but as you get older you learn to bring them around at the right times. Wouldn't want to get embarrassed, would you son?"

Both twins grimaced at the comment.

Gross.

Yusuke glared and let his arm drop from Izumi's shoulders to size up an older looking man with a goatee who made the girlfriend comment.

"That's my sister, dumbass, and if you keep staring at her legs I'll show you who should be worried about being embarrassed."

Izumi glanced down at her faded but scar littered legs and rolled her eyes. Yusuke needed to stop acting like every guy was panting after his sister. Izumi didn't have the softness that Keiko did or the kindness of Shiori. She brawled with her brother like the tomboy she had been and had the marks to prove it. Learning about her death made much of her self-consciousness subside but she truly didn't think Yusuke needed to defend her honor. They were just legs. Nice ones despite her less than flawless skin. The guy could look all he wanted.

"Yusuke-" She began, hoping to nip this in the bud. The last thing they needed was to get kicked out of the tournament before it even started.

"Oi! Urameshi?!" A painfully familiar voice called. "That you picking fights over there?"

"Kuwabara! What are you doing here?"

The two men from before edged away at the shouted call and Yusuke cracked his knuckles menacingly, hurrying along the process. Izumi swatted his arm.

"Ow, Izumi!"

Immediately, Izumi's hands were in Kazuma's grasp and the flirtatious red head was beaming at her, flowers in the air.

"Izumi-chan! I can't believe you're here. Urameshi doesn't do anything but mope when you're not around and Boton thinks you're the only thing that keeps him focused outside of a fight. I'd have to agree-"

Izumi sweat dropped. "Uh Kazuma-"

"And Keiko missed you too. She said she only saw you once in the past two weeks, Izumi-chan. I haven't seen you at all! Boton said you were working on a project for your toddler boss which is cool I guess but-"

"Kazuma!"

"What are you doing here anyway? Are you here for the great Psychic Genkai? I'm hoping to get some help from her too. You look great by the way, blue really is your color-"

"Kazuma!"

The grey eyed red head blinked.

Izumi's smile was strained. "Can we not make a scene?"

Kuwabara froze and then cast his gaze about the compound's flat but wide grounds. Everyone was staring at them. Kazuma gave a nervous laugh and dropped Izumi's hand at the annoyed look Yusuke was sending him.

"Oops, sorry Izumi-chan." Louder he said, "Go on back to whatever it is you guys were doing. There's nothing going on over here."

"Real subtle, Kuwabara." Yusuke deadpanned.

Kazuma turned on him immediately. "Yeah well I don't see you doing anything to stop 'um."

Izumi twitched.

"Alright, boys! Let's not draw more attention to ourselves." She snatched both of their ears when they didn't look to have heard her.

"Ah! Ok, ok, ok. Chill Izumi!"

Izumi released them with a scowl. Was this why Boton assigned her? So she could keep Yusuke from picking fights with everyone?

Kazuma seemed to remember that Izumi was not just a cute face and shuddered slightly. Yusuke cocked a brow. "What's wrong with you?"

"I swear you were just channeling, Shizuru." Kazuma eyed Izumi warily. "It must be a sister thing."

Yusuke laughed. "Izumi's way scarier than Shizuru."

"Is not-"

"SO!" Izumi interrupted loudly. "What are you doing here Kazuma? You said something about wanting help from Genkai?"

"Oh, yeah!" Kazuma slammed his fist into his hand forcefully. "My senses have been acting all wonky and I'm hoping Genkai can do something about it. I can't even concentrate. She can do crazy things with a person's spirit so maybe she can turn the volume way down on mine."

Yusuke scoffed. "Does it even work like that?"

Izumi gave Yusuke an unimpressed stare. "You know, when you say things like that, it doesn't convince me that you pay attention in your briefings."

A gong sounded and a hush came over the crowd. The Sarayashi middle school students followed the swiveling heads to the old creaking, slide doors. Izumi put her hand on her head and adjusted her hat to see better.

Up a dozen flights of steps, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the building.

It was a woman. An old woman with faded pink hair dressed in a red tunic with blue trim that draped over her green pants. A light blue sash circled her waist that was a touch off from the blue long sleeved shirt she wore underneath her tunic. She wore a traditional headdress for a Master and a slight air of skepticism floated around the crowd.

Genkai was tiny.

"My, my, quite the crowd." Sharp brown eyes scanned the crowd, lingering here and there before the old woman smirked. "Alright people, lets get this thing started. The first of your screening tests will be," She paused dramatically. "Drawing lots!"

A rumble of incredulity swept through the crowd but Genkai was unmoved. She gestured to a jar that had been situated at the base of the staircase leading into her home.

"Everyone will draw a lot from this old jar. Once you pick a lot, move out of the way for the next person to go. If the paper inside is red, congratulations. You'll move on the the next phase with me. If your paper is white, you can get lost."

"Huh," Yusuke's face took on a hopeful expression as Izumi, Kuwabara and Yusuke reached the front of the line for drawing lots.

"Don't you dare wish for getting out of this, Yusuke. My day with Shiori-sensei was shot to hell because of this tournament so we're doing the damned thing or I get your ticket to Tokyo dome."

"Ack! What? No way. Boton bribed me with that ticket! Get your own."

"Sheesh, Urameshi, if you didn't want to come, you should have just stayed home. I'm the one who has to go through this tournament just to get a bit of advice."

Izumi and Yusuke sent Kuwabara a look. "You realize you can just wait until after the tournament to get advice, right?"

Kuwabara's hand froze in the process of tearing his lot free from the paper. "uh… well yeah I guess." His head snapped to the twins. "Oh wait. Na uh! You're not getting me to quit that easily Urameshi! If you're entering this tournament then so am I!"

Well, Izumi thought wryly. Now neither one of them are going to back out.

She grabbed her lot next, ignoring the snicker of the idiot standing in line behind her. Genkai was a woman. Thinking Izumi couldn't be in a tournament because she was in a dress was pretty stupid if the person he was trying to impress was a woman as well.

Still, Izumi glanced down at her summer dress and chewed her lip. I hope Genkai has a change of clothes I can throw on. Fighting in a dress wasn't as glamerous as action heroines made it out to be.

Genkai waited until the last person drew their lot before giving them the go ahead to open it.

A majority of the people had red lots which was surprising. Statistically, Izumi thought Genkai should have wanted more folks to get weeded out. Especially, if the lot tickets were fairly done. Why would so many people pass while others didn't?

She eyed her paper for a moment longer before shrugging and tucking it into the band along her hat. Maybe the paper was special or something. Yusuke sighed beside her which let her know he got the dreaded red paper while Kuwabara made an equally depressing noise.

Ignoring them both, Izumi rolled her shoulders and bounced on the balls of her feet. She was excited to show her brother how far she'd come with her abilities. She also wanted to prove to Kazuma that she wasn't defenseless and now was a fantastic opportunity to do so.

Yeah, it sucked having to find some badass demon and put him down while she was supposed to be relaxing the weekend before finals; but, growing up with Yusuke as a brother instilled a certain appreciating for a good fight in her.

Izumi was looking forward to the challenge.

(A/N): Sorry. Longer chapter to make up for the wait.

Next Chapter: Genkai's Tournament

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

It will definitely be a month before I update again. I am about to get my ass kicked hard at work with this new project. I'll do my best but don't get your hopes up for earlier.

Upside? I'll be a year older.