A/N: If you are still with me, I thank you for your patience. Due to frequent hospital visitations for my grandmother, work and school, I have had very little time to actually work on this and I know that some of you have been foaming at the mouth for more.

26. Training

She awoke to the bed shifting behind her and she sat up, rubbing her silver eyes and turning a curious glance at the fire demon. He rose and moved towards the wash room, disappearing behind the door, and Aria yawned. It had been a while since she had been up before dawn, usually sleeping until later in the morning when the sun was high in the sky, and as she forced herself out of bed, she stumbled to the drawers that held her and Hiei's clothing. She opened the drawer and stopped.

What did one wear to learn how to fight?

It was almost as if Hiei had been reading her mind. He emerged from the wash room, fully clad in loose, black pants and a deep blue muscle shirt that seemed a little big for the pyro. He saw her kneeling at the drawer, rubbing her tired eyes, and frowned. He had forgotten that the onna only had the clothes she had gathered before their departure from the living realm. He stepped over to her side, pulling open a drawer of his own and pulling out a pair of pants that were practically identical to his own. He handed it to her, watching as she took the fabric from him with cautious hands and stood before moving around him and towards the wash room. It took a matter of moments before she came out, her silver eyes scanning the room in what seemed to be a huff. Hiei examined her, the pants seeming to fit her almost perfectly, but she stalked in, moving to the drawer and flinging another one open.

She yanked out a charcoal grey tank top and began to pull her night shirt over her head without so much as a pause. Although he was used to seeing her unclothed, the way the small amount of light and shadows fell upon the curvature of her breasts caught his attention. It was unusual for him to stare, given that he has never needed to satiate that particular need as a man, but he ripped his eyes away as she pulled another item from the drawer. She slid the straps up her arms before clasping it to her body, the deep scarlet fabric cupping her bosom and shielding them from his view, and then she slid the tank top on. He shook his head, relieving himself of the lecherous thoughts that had been crawling up the back of his mind and turned, making his way out of the room to the hallway.

The two headed down and outside to the training grounds that Yusuke had, finding Kurama, Yusuke and the girls already there. Aria came to a stop behind Hiei who examined his twin's clothing, finding the same sapphire blue gypsy pants upon her legs and a black mid-drift top that seemed one shoulder, a strap upon her left shoulder and the sleeve belled out at her elbow, giving her arm free movement. Mirajah wore a similar top, except it was a deep purple, almost matching her violet eyes and her pants were a deep emerald hue. Both women wore slip-ons that matched the color of their tops and Yukina was standing by Kurama while Yusuke stood off to the side with Mirajah, both correcting their stances. As Hiei cleared his throat, making himself known, Kurama turned to him with a smile.

"Good morning Hiei, Aria," the Fox greeted with a smile.

Aria nodded at the same time that Hiei grunted his response.

"Good morning." Yukina greeted while Mirajah waved with one hand and a grin, "Heya!"

Aria gave a gentle smile, her heart hammering in her chest as her nerves began to peak. She took into consideration what Kurama had said; the aggression her Master had shown her becoming a real and genuine fear of violence, and as the others began idle chit-chat, she hung back, hands gripping at the hem of her shirt, concerned as to what she would be witnessing and doing. She dipped her chin, watching her hands strangle the fabric, and was surprised when a cool and gentle hand touched her shoulder. Raising her head, she was surprised to meet gentle crimson eyes.

"Are you all right, Aria?" Yukina asked with a smile.

She nodded, forcing a smile on her own lips.

"Alright," Yusuke began, pointing at Mirajah, "Since you're fired up, I think I will start with you!"

Mirajah gave him a smirk, practically daring him to come at her, "Sure."

The violet eyed female stepped away from the gathered group and towards the Tourin Lord, settling into the stance he had been fixing for her earlier, and she watched as he arched a curious, but smug, brow at her. He stood there for a few moments before he let his demonic energy flare around him, the scarlet tinge of energy sparking around him even as he smirked at her smugly. Mirajah waited, baiting the Lord to come at her first. It seemed like minutes had passed in the mere seconds they stood there, staring one another down, but it only took a fraction of a second before the Tourin Lord became bored with the staring contest and disappeared with his newfound agility. Violet eyes darted around the makeshift training field, trying to locate her pretend enemy when the hair son the back of her neck stood up. She lurched right, barely ducking out of the way of his fist which came crashing down into the ground beside her. Dirt shot up, specks of hard earth and rocks whipping past her as she struggled to stay on her feet. She stared with wide eyes, covered in dirt, as the former spirit detective stood, blowing on his knuckles as though the punch had no effect. He glanced at her and flashed a playful smirk before seemingly disappearing again.

It was a test, she realized, and so far she was passing. She recognized the playful spark in the male's eyes, finding it to be the same look that the caravan elders gave to the children as they taught them how to defend, deflect and run. She was being tested to see how she would fair with a speedy opponent. It took her a few moments before she felt him again and she jerked left, dodging a kick set for her stomach. He skidded by her before running off, a puff of dust behind him. Sensing him was becoming easier and she closed her violet eyes, reaching out with her awareness to find him. It took her a few moments before she felt him coming behind her, but instead of dodging, she pivoted on her toes and snapped open her eyes, catching his own. It was when she felt the warming sensation in her stomach flourish that she knew that it was working, even before the detective halted in his advances towards her. He slowed to a stop, standing a mere three feet from the woman and just stared.

"Yusuke?" Kurama called from Yukina's side, having watched the mocking battle, "Is something wrong?"

Hiei watched the detective for a moment before he felt the power pulse from Mirajah. He could tell that it was a darker power surfacing and he could see the color of her energy begin to materialize around her. The deep indigo hue surrounded her and her dark eyes began to glow black with each second that passed. It wasn't until Yusuke began to look around him that Hiei felt the intrusion upon his mind, feeling the woman's abilities begin to fan out from just the detective to him and his companions on the sidelines. His mind reeled, immediately fighting back the assault that was only made for the detective, turning to check on the fox and his sister. The fox was having trouble with fighting the mental onslaught, but his sister was oblivious to them now, looking around her as if she were in awe. Hiei moved, darting from his spot towards the raven haired female and pushed her, knocking her off of her feet and breaking connection with her ability. She hit the ground and the detective shook his head, as though he were just hit full force in the face.

"What…was that?" Yusuke asked, looking from Hiei to Mirajah who was shaking her own head and sitting up.

"That was….amazing!" Yukina beamed, "It was so beautiful!"

The fire demon felt relief wash over him as his sister spoke, grateful that all she saw while entrapped by Mirajah's talents was a sight of pure beauty. He turned towards the raven haired girl and glared.

"Control." He grunted, jerking his chin towards the sidelines, "Learn it. You were using your power on them."

Her face seemed to pale as she looked at Yukina, but was relieved when she only saw a look of admiration on the ice apparition's face.

"An illusionist." Kurama said, stepping up to the three and holding a hand out to Mirajah, "Remarkable. In all of my years, I've never met one."

"Hn." Hiei grunted, eyeing the woman, "I said the same of sound demons."

Kurama nodded, helping Mirajah up after she grasped his hand. He assisted her to her feet, smiling as she looked around at everyone, taking inventory of their state of mind. The only one who did not voice their condition was Aria, who simply stood off to the side, face lowered towards the ground and clutching her notebook to her chest. Kurama was beginning to take that particular act as a sign of uncertainty from the demoness due to the constant withdrawal she made and as he motioned his chin towards the girl, Hiei turned to assess the condition of his ward, whom he had forgotten was there. Her bangs shielded her eyes from his view and something inside of his stomach told him that she was tearing up from the encounter. He wondered if she had seen something different and turned, catching Yusuke's attention. The detective seemed undisturbed, but when Kurama began to inquire of what the Mazoku saw, Yusuke could only avert his gaze.

"Hn." The pyro grunted, watching chocolate eyes fall to the side.

"Yusuke?" Yukina asked tentatively.

"I thought I was back in the Ningenkai." Yusuke replied, looking up at them, "I was in my apartment…before…"

Kurama cringed, "Yusuke–"

The long haired teen shook his head, "Kurama, don't. It's fine. I was just confused."

"Did you…?" Yukina began, unable to complete her question.

"Nah." He said, smiling at the ice apparition, "Like I said, I was just confused. I didn't know how I got there."

Kurama glanced from him to Yukina, "What did you see, Yukina? You said it was beautiful."

The crimson eyed ice maiden smiled, "I saw the beach at Genkai's…but it was a shore of ice and snow. It was beautiful."

The fire demon turned to his sister, a bit surprised that she had seen something different than Yusuke and he glanced at Kurama.

"It seems," the fox demon began, connecting the pieces, "that each person sees something that means something to them…Were you trying to project a particular image at him, Mira?"

"No." the illusionist replied with a shrug, "I never got the hang of doing it, but sometimes it just brings up something the person is thinking about…Least that's what my father used to tell me…"

Her voice faltered and Kurama nodded, a frown on his lips. He was the one who had held Mirajah when she cried and he knew that her words contained a strong sense of loss. He gave her a reassuring smile, something he knew she needed, before turning to Yukina.

"I think that it is your turn Yukina." He said, smiling, "I wanted to try strengthening your ice abilities, if you'd like. I know frigid temperatures and healing are only the basics of what you can do."

Hiei watched his sister's eyes light up, the idea of expanding her talents making her smile. The fox demon motioned his new student away from the others and began to instruct her on what to do to create things from ice. He knew that the talent would manifest and come to her naturally after a while, but he did not want to start her off with something too difficult. He began to instruct her on how to start, encouraging her to have an open mind and to concentrate.

His words began to fade away as Yukina closed her eyes, concentrating on the source of her power which she used when healing, feeling the power within her bloom. The world around her became silent and she tried to release her own energy, inhaling as she unlocked her own mental restraints on her own abilities. As her concentration grew, she felt a need to move well up inside of her chest. It took her a few minutes to grasp the feeling and she turned, snapping her crimson eyes open and slamming her sandaled foot down onto the deep brown earth. It was almost instantaneous. The brown earth turned blue beneath her feet, stretching out in front of her and after expanding a few feet, icicle spikes began to shoot up from the iced over earth, impaling the imaginary enemy that she had stomped towards. It was when she realized what she created that sound finally returned to her; Kurama's words fading and she stared with astonishment at her icicles, surprised.

"Whoa…" Yusuke breathed, "Bad assed."

Hiei could only watch in amazement as his sister looked them over, her pale cheeks tinged with chagrin. He never imagined that the ice maidens from the island could harness their abilities and yet use them so fluidly.

"That was amazing!" Mirajah exclaimed, breaking through the silence, "I didn't even know that you could do that, Yuki!"

"N-Neither did I…" the ice apparition replied, smiling.

Kurama praised the ice maiden, glancing to Hiei before instructing her to try other things. Before she knew it, her abilities were flourishing and she was able to create weapons out of ice, ice the entire field and even make it snow. Her abilities drained her, though, and as she stepped from the practice field, she sat off to the side, exhausted. Hiei appraised her for a moment before he looked at the sound demoness behind him. He caught her attention, jerking his head towards the small field which had finally thawed from his sister's ice and he stepped onto it, moving farther back and away from the sidelines, awaiting for her to move. Aria hesitated, unsure as to what she could do. She took a tentative step onto the cold dirt, trudging out to Hiei and looking up at him like a confused child. He rolled his crimson eyes, knowing that the onna had no sort of training or ability to use, so he would have to train her in physical fighting. He grunted, tossing his katana off to the side where Kurama intercepted the sheathed weapon. He turned his attention back to the demoness, assessing her. In all the time that she had been under his care, she had flourished into a gorgeous young woman. The first time he had seen her in that cage, she was almost sickeningly thin and fragile, now it was as if she had finally grown into her own skin, filling out in all of the right curves. He moved to stand in front of her, catching her silver eyes with his crimson ones and smirked at her.

"Hit me."

The amused tone he held was lost onto the girl who stared at him as if he were from space. The command had stunned her, confusing the woman, and she simply stood there watching him.

"Hit. Me."

Hiei glared at the onna, becoming aggravated with her inability to comprehend. He wanted to see just how weak she actually was and to also assess how deep rooted this apparent fear was. She stood there with a nervous twist of her fingers, unsure as to what to do. To Aria, the pyro was asking her to sign her own death sentence. When she had struggled in her cage, it was because her Master would have killed her for leaving the room, almost did in fact. Now that he was gone, she looked to Hiei as a sort of Master, albeit a much more informal one. She wanted to do as he asked, but found it hard to raise her hands. She closed her eyes, shaking herself from her thoughts, before inhaling deeply and looking back up at the fire demon.

Hit me.

His telepathical demand made her move. She stepped towards him balling her hands into fists and throwing a punch in his direction. Her small fist came into contact with his chest and she cringed. She jerked her hand back and ducked, shielding herself with her arms as she waited for a retaliation, only to be met with a snort from the fire demon. Chancing a glance up at him, she saw his quirked brow and she watched a smirk slowly play upon his lips.

"Hn…is that it?"

Hiei's taunt was not lost on the female as she looked up at him with wide and glassy silver eyes. He smirked at her in amusement, finding her reaction to simply hitting him a bit beneath even a demon of her state and she watched him for a moment before finally rising to her feet. He shook his head at her, wondering just how deep her scars were under Takeshi's reign.

"You are weak." He grunted, moving to stand behind her, "You have no strength."

He circled around her, watching as her pale cheeks flared with chagrin at his words. Her hands balled into fists again and he smirked at her subtle reaction to his statement.

"Again."

Aria heard his words, but she hesitated as she pondered the feeling in her chest. It was the same flare of emotion she received when challenged by Viola and Jazz. Her silver eyes narrowed as she contemplated the meaning of the feeling when the fire demon repeated his demand. The second time he grunted at her, Aria failed to hesitate. She lurched forward, throwing a punch at the fire demon with as much force as she could muster, and although she made contact, the fire demon simply stared at her, a glint of amusement in his crimson eyes at her futile attempts. Her knuckles laid against his chest as she looked up at him, glassy eyes shimmering with resolve. The word he used to describe her made her feel as dirty as the various amount of men she had been forced to submit to under her Master's care. Her insides ran cold as she thought about it and she averted her silver gaze from him. He moved from her and she glanced up, ducking from him as his hand shot out, half-heartedly. She stared at him wide eyed from her position on the ground, landing on her bottom, arms holding her up from behind as she looked up at him in a short burst of fear. The fire demon held no remorse as he turned back to her, demanding her to get up. Aria did as he requested, getting to her shaky feet before the fire demon let the smirk slide off his face, his crimson eyes darkening with a serious intent behind them.

"Again."