Shonoki: I"mSorryI'msorryI'msorry! (On floor apologizing to readers)

Yusuke: (walks up in front of her) About time you start bowing down to me.

Shonoki: (twitch) Shut up moron, I'm not bowing to you.

Yusuke: Yeah, uh huh.

Shonoki: I'm debating whether to let you keep living in that fantasy world of your, or to pop you one right in the mouth.

Yusuke:...yeah...you just continue with you what ever it was you were doing. (Walks off)

Shonoki: Idiot...anyway, I'm so sorry I haven't updated for so long. Life's been hectic with one thing right after another. I'll explain this maybe some other time, but for right now, lets get to the story .

Disclaimer: I'm not even going to bother...You all already know what goes here.

Ayame sat on the couch with a needle and thread in her hand. In front of her was a layout for a kimono, and the fabric that Miu had gotten her for her birthday. Hiei sat in the windowsill behind her, seemingly asleep. They had decided to rest up and take a break today, and resume training tomorrow.

Ayame sighed a bit. The house was so quiet; she could actually hear all the small noises in her house. The needle pulling the thread through the fabric, Hiei's breathing behind her, the creaks of her house as it settled….It was enough to make her go crazy. "I'm going out for a walk, be back in a moment." She stated as she finished her stitch and tied the knot. Ayame stood and started for the door.

Hiei gave a slight "Hn," to show that he heard her and went back to sleeping. Ayame smiled and slipped on her shoes, looking back once before leaving.

"Who would have thought I would actually miss tracking down demons." Ayame put her hands behind her head as she walked. "It's so quiet now, you would think that everything that has happened was nothing more then a dream." She closed her eyes as a breeze blew buy, the fading summer time smell carried along with it. "Fall is on its way here already, and it feels like summer just started."

Ayame stopped as she came to the lake that housed the entrance to her secret spot. Climbing on top of a rock, she sat crossed legged and looked out over to water. A memory of the day she showed Hiei the spot played out in front of her and she smiled. "It's going to really suck when he leaves." Lying down, she looked up at the blue sky. "Figures, I finally meet someone I really like, and they have to leave."

'Why not go with him?' Ayame's mind tried reasoning.

"I can't leave Kyoto, I have to work here. Koenma would throw a tantrum if I just left."

'Teach Naoko and Miu. They could take over for you.'

"I don't want to put them into that kind of situation. Miu doesn't like violence unless it's absolutely necessary, and I'm not sure how well either of them will deal with that kind of weight you get after killing that many demons." Ayame sighed and closed her eyes.

'Ask them.'

Ayame opened her eyes slowly. "Ask them…let them decide whether or not they can handle it." She was silent for a moment then sighed. "It gives me something to do at least."

"You want us to become trackers?" Miu asked, a little surprised.

Ayame shook her head. "I want to know if you two want to become trackers. The decision is entirely up to you guys, not me. You've about what I do for a long time now, so you know what the job entails."

Naoko sat across from Ayame at Miu's kitchen table, Miu herself next to her. "Would we be taking over for you?"

Ayame shook her head again. "Not right away, you would cover for me if I needed you too, or partner up with me for really tough jobs. You and Miu would work together once you get better at it though. With both your abilities, it be a really good team up."

There was silence from the other two girls for a long while, Miu was the first to speak up though. "We'd have to kill demons wouldn't we?" Her tone suggested that she already knew the answer.

Ayame looked down. "Yeah you would, but only if they're posing a threat to others. For instance, if you see a human like demon, like us, just minding his own business and living his own life, you would leave him be. However, if that same demon tries to attack and or kills another person, demon or human, it's our job to get rid of him."

Naoko nodded. "But isn't there another way to get rid of them, like sending them back to that one place you've told us about."

Ayame looked up. "The Makai. There will be some instances where the demon in question will go willingly, but most don't. I guess I never really explained that to you guys. Majority of the attacks here in town are from lower level demons that slipped through a portal or something. Most of those demons don't have good intentions once they get here. There are very few occasions where it was an accident and the demon will leave with out a fight."

Ayame stopped here and thought for a moment before speaking again. "Your main priority in this job is to protect those who can't protect themselves. This can also include yourselves. If you don't think you can handle a situation, call for help. There is no shame in it and it doesn't mean your weak in any way. If anything it means your smart enough to know what you can or can't handle."

Miu and Naoko sat for a moment, taking in everything their friend had just said. Ayame tensed a bit as she anticipated their answer. She was ready for them to say no, heck she half expected Miu to ask her to leave.

"When do we start?"

Ayame looked up with eyes wide. No way she had heard that right. "What?"

Naoko and Miu both smiled. "We said when do we start?"

Ayame was at a loss for words for the time being, three seconds later she was smiling and hugging her friends. "You guys rock!" she said as the other two laughed. Getting off of them she jumped a bit excitedly. "You'll have to train a lot before you actually make out into the field. I'll help you as much as I can, but I might have to ask Shinami if she can do it for a bit until I have time. Where is she?"

"She went shopping with my mom and her mom. Her dad went with my mine somewhere else." Miu said as she stood up. "I'm going to make us a snack. Are you staying Ayame?"

Ayame shook her head. "No, I need to go call Koenma. There are a couple of things that I need to ask him about." She stretched as she stood and waved goodbye. "I'll call later to talk to Shinami. Ja ne you two."

Ayame left and started back for her house, taking the long way. "I wonder if Hiei's awake?" she asked herself, hands once again behind her head. She looked at the windows of the stores that lined the street stopping at. Noticing one store in particular she stopped and looked at the merchandise. A gave a small smile at seeing one item and ran in to buy it.

"I'm back." Ayame kicked her shoes off and made her way upstairs to hide her purchase.

"Where are you going?" Hiei asked as he walked into the kitchen.

Ayame stopped and smiled. "Upstairs. I'll be right back." A few seconds later she was back in the kitchen and placing a bag of take out on the counter. "I didn't feel like cooking, so I hope you don't mind take out."

Hiei shook his head and took a container of food. "You were gone for awhile."

Ayame nodded. "I went to talk to Miu and Naoko. I asked them if they wanted to be trackers. Speaking of which, I need to call Koenma."

"You want them to take over for you?"

Ayame shook her head. "No, not yet anyway. After a few years maybe, or depending on how well they progress. Either way, I need to start training somebody." She looks around for a moment then back at Hiei. "Can I borrow your communicator please?"

Hiei handed it to her then leaned against the wall near the stairs. "I wouldn't go off on him right away onna."

Ayame sighed and nodded. "Yeah well, I still want to know why he didn't tell me." She flipped it open and pressed the call button.

"Hello." Koenma's face appeared on the screen and Ayame took a deep breath to keep from yelling at him.

"Hey Koenma, I got some news for you, followed by questions."

Koenma nodded. "Alright go ahead."

Ayame explained about the girls training, and about the nightmare attacks she had been getting. "Koenma, there's something I found interesting after all this."

Koenma raised a brow. "Really, what might that be?" he asked, not realizing what he was getting into.

"The fact that you never once, at any point and time during this entire mission, you didn't seem to find it necessary to tell me Ryu was the one that's killed my parents, and the one responsible for my brothers death. Why is that?" Her voice was eerily calm as she spoke.

Koenma stared at her for a moment. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." He replied professionally. "I thought that if you found out, you would have gone on your own to find him. I didn't want to take the risk of losing my only tracker in Kyoto, as well as the last guardian of the Immortals Necklace."

"So basically you did it to keep a pawn on the board." She about yelled. Ayame's patience was wearing thin, and that wasn't exactly the response she was waiting to hear.

Koenma sighed. "Ayame, you know that wasn't my intention." He rubbed his temples then looked back up. "There's a lot you don't know Ayame, Telling you about one thing would lead to another, then another. Some of those topics were areas your parents didn't want me to bring up. So if you want a good reason, I didn't tell you because it was your parents wish."

Ayame was silent, staring back at Koenma. "I see." She said finally.

Koenma nodded. "Once this is all over Ayame, I'll send you the appropriate forms and such for Miu and Naoko. It would be nice to have more trackers in your area."

Ayame nodded. "Alright, thank you Koenma." She closed the comp and set it down, then rested her head on her hand. "Why the hell does everyone keep secrets from me?"

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"Come on you two pick up the pace." Ayame jogged backward in front of Miu and Naoko. They were running uphill on a path through some woods.

"Ayame, you're a slave driver!" Naoko panted as she ran.

"Miu smiled and kept going. "It's not that bad Naoko."

"Easy for you to say, you're on the soccer team, you run all day."

Miu smiled and ran ahead of her. Naoko moaned and pushed herself to go faster.

Above them, Hiei jumped from tree to tree, following at the same pace. "All three of you need to speed it up a bit." He blurred out of sight as he raced ahead.

Naoko shook her fist at the spot he was at. "Yeah, well no one asked you." She retorted.

Ayame snickered and shook her head. "Come one Naoko, keep up the pace. You'll be doing a lot more running then this if you become a tracker, I can promise you that one."

Naoko groaned. "Tell me this isn't the same training you went through when you started." She panted.

Ayame grinned. "Naoko, I want you to think about who my teachers were, then ask me that question again." She raised an eyebrow as she spoke.

Naoko smirked and kept going. "I withdraw my previous comment. I feel relieved that this isn't the same training." She pushed herself and got up to the look out at the top of the trail. "Finally, time to rest." She bent over, her hands on her knees.

Ayame laughed. "Lazy." She opened up a bag that she was carrying and handed each girl a water bottle as well as a bento box. "We'll head back after you guys finish up." She took out her own meal as well as Hiei's and sat down on a bench, setting Hiei's meal down next to her.

"Wow, check out this view." Miu stood at the railing, over-looking their city. "I wish I had my camera."

Naoko walked over to join her, gulping down her water. "Yeah, this is pretty cool. To bad it's such a pain in the arse to get to."

Ayame leaned back and took a bite of her food. "It won't be that hard for long. We're going to run the trail quite a few times for training. We might go a bit farther up next time." She smiled as she heard Naoko start to complain again. Turning she watched Hiei pick up his meal.

"She complains too much." He stated.

Ayame nodded, but smiled. "That's Naoko for you."

"I heard that!"

Ayame shook her head with a smile. "They'll be good trackers, just need to train is all." She turned to look at the horizon watching as the sun hung ready to set at any time. A few minutes later and they were on their way back.

Shonoki: There you guys go. I'm sorry again for it taking so long, I've been having a few problems and stuff lately (Going to the doctors is no fun ) I'll work on the next chapter soon. R&R please.