Like a two-sided coin, the sun in the Makai had just begun its climb in the sky, while the sun in the Human World was slowly falling behind the horizon. Soon, night would fall in the forest Genkai's temple was located in. Night would fall, and the Spirit Detectives and their trainer, the revived and old Genkai herself, would retire to the temple after another day's hard training session.
"You got that right, Kuwabara," Yusuke yawned as he, Kuwabara, and Kurama met up with Genkai around the entrance of her swamp. Yusuke heard distant sounds of a weapon accompanied by screams of terror and looked towards the Devil's Forest off to the far side of the swamp. Aww jeez, Yusuke thought. The jelled teen cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted, "Hiei! Get your damn demon butt over here! We're gonna call Koenma to ask about Amay-"
"Then get it over already." Hiei was instantly in his face, waiting impatiently.
Yusuke jumped back in surprise. "Ack! Don't do that!" he yelled. He heard Genkai mutter something behind his back and spun around. "What are you saying about me Grandma?!" he demanded.
The old woman looked at her old apprentice in disdain. "I was not talking about you, you imbecile," she insulted. Genkai shook her head. Amaya. She remembered that girl all too well, but it felt so long since the last time they had seen each other, nearly a decade ago.
Yusuke ignored his silent teacher and took out the pink compact communicator, flipping it open. The small screen blipped on and Koenma appeared.
"Yes, Yusuke?" he asked. It seemed to the Detective that today had been an easy work day for his boss. The toddler seemed very aloof. "Can we talk to Amaya?" Yusuke asked. A hand suddenly pushed his head out of the way of the screen and Kuwabara appeared with an excited grin.
"Yeah! I wanna tell her how strong I've become!"
Yusuke hit Kuwabara hard over the head, sending the taller teen flying. "Idiot! Shut up and get outta my way!" Yusuke turned back to Koenma expectantly.
Koenma's relaxed demeanor instantly dropped. His shoulders sagged like it was bearing a heavy weight. He sighed. "I'm afraid she's still on her mission everyone," he replied. There was an underlying tone of worry.
Having the acute sense of sound to have heard it, Kurama came into view. "What is the mission about, Koenma sir?" he politely inquired. He made sure his tone was pleasant so as not to worry the others.
"She is retrieving the necklace of Henka, and has been for a while," Koenma muttered the last part under his breath. Hiei heard this, however, and began walking back towards Devils Forest.
As he entered deeper, the Detective's shouts at the baby boss became fainter and fainter. A small crease that only Kurama had noticed at the time had appeared across Hiei's brow. Hiei's lips slightly curled down in a confused frown. What is that onna doing? he asked himself as he threw off his jacket so that he wore only his shoes and pants. Though he should probably get back to the temple, he needed to clear his thoughts. Hiei unsheathed his katana and patiently waited for another prey to come upon him, making them think they had caught him unawares. His patience paid off when a few minutes later, his sensitive ears picked up the reverberating thuds of an animal coming his way. That onna better not be up to something foolish, he thought as his speed carried him off in a blur.
Fire burns. Fire destroys and brings pain and destruction on contact. It brings ash also, a reminder of what once was. A small flickering wisp of a fire-lit candle, so harmless-looking, can burn down a single house in a matter of hours without necessary precautions. Wind howls, sounding like a thousand lost souls have been carried off with it. Wind can be a soft caress or a fierce storm strong enough to tear the roofs off of homes and lift cars off of their wheels. Fire and wind can mix, creating a raging whirlwind of fire that destroys anything in its path.
Amaya and Jin werent really doing the scavenger hunt for the jeweled kunai. Its main purpose was to get Touya and Kamuro working together. The results of it depended on the both of them after they found the kunai. Until Amaya felt the rupture of power that would tell her if the two had found the kunai, she and Jin trained.
"We are going to work on your defense," Amaya told him. They had stopped at the top of a hill with a single willow tree atop it. "I will attack, and you will defend yourself to the best of your abilities. There will be no use of our powers until I say so."
Jin landed softly on the ground and nodded. He grinned impishly. "Betcha I can beatcha," he challenged.
It took Amaya a full minute to realize what he had said. "Well then, you are betting against the wrong person," she retorted.
Without a warning, she was gone from Jin's sight. Jin heard a twig break to his left and jumped up in the air, flipping over his hooded opponent. Amaya jumped up after him and they began hand-to-hand combat. Jin had the advantage in the air, secretly using it to keep him from descending sooner than Amaya to the ground. Amaya realized this and swore.
"Baka cheater!" she cried as she landed on one knee.
Jin hovered a few feet in the air. "I didn' cheat!" he argued. Jin flew up to her and pointed to the fresh, shallow cut across his left shoulder. It was three inches long and slowly bleeding. "But you did! Ya can't say that wasn't from a reglar punch, lass!"
Amaya smirked. Standing up straight, she held up her left hand, revealing a four-pointed throwing star. "You're right. I did cheat, but so did you. Once a demon, always a demon. That was a test. You know that in the competition there will be a lot of cheating going on." Amaya concealed her weapon once more inside her sleeve. Then she attacked Jin without warning once more.
Jin spun around in the air before regaining control. He rubbed his chest where he was hit and looked towards Nightfire. His green eyes widened in surprise as a fireball zoomed past his head. The burnt smell of hair, his hair, reached his nostrils.
"Oh yes, I seemed to have forgotten to tell you that we could use our powers now," Amaya called out smartly.
Jin's surprise quickly wore off and he chuckled. "Now you've done it, lassie!" he shouted down at her. Jin raised his hands high in the air. The once quiet wind suddenly picked up, shaking the branches of the trees, making forest debris fly, and moving the darkening clouds. Jin's own wild red hair flew in all directions. A visible current of wind swirled around the Wind Master mixed with leaves and twigs from the forest. Amaya held her arms up, shielding herself from the flying debris. She was unaware that Jin was slowly beginning to move his right arm in a giant circle, moving it faster and faster until it was a blur.
Jin noticed how Nightfire's spirit energy had lowered drastically since he started to build up his. His own energy had tripled. Using the wind to accelerate his speed further, Jin dove down towards Nightfire. "Tornado Fist!" he yelled over the din. He reared his hand back and stuck Nightfire hard across her vulnerable stomach.
Amaya's dark brown eyes widened in surprise. She gasped out as pain arced all over her body. She soared back, limbs outstretched, and landed hard against the thick trunk of a mighty oak tree. Amaya literally lost her breath for a moment as she slid down to the base. She shook more from shock than from pain. Amaya rolled over and got on all fours, coughing air back into her lungs. Her abdomen and upper back thumped with pain. Once having regained her composure, Amaya wobbly stood back up and turned around.
Jin landed on the ground and quickly ran over towards his fallen comrade. She was atop of one of the oaks big roots on all fours, coughing violently. Nearly upon her, she stood back up and turned around. Jin's lungs slammed to a stop for a moment at the face looking back at him with dark brown eyes glazed with pain. He looked at the naked face of Nightfire. It was, in his opinion, a beauty to look at. Nightfire's short jet black hair fell in clumps around her shoulders, messy from their battle. Her dry and cracked lips were formed in a grimace at her defeat.
Amaya saw Jin's reaction to her humane form and inwardly smirked despite of her injuries. They were minor, but still hurt, especially if she tried to breathe in deeply. Outwardly, Amaya lowered her dark eyes to the ground in feigned shame. "So now you see the true image of the famed assassin of Makai," she sighed heavily.
There was a long pause until Jin broke it. "But why keep yer identity secret lass?" he asked her. Jin walked up closer and laid a friendly hand on her shoulder.
She did not react to his touch except to looked up and meet his eyes. "Why else?" she asked him. "To keep myself safe, she answered," giving him no time to answer the question. Amaya sighed again and moved a few steps back, making some room in between them. "I believe we need to reintroduce each other again," she said. Amaya held up her hand. "I am Amaya Toshi, also known as Nightfire."
Jin smiled so widely his little fangs showed. "An' I'm Jin," he said and shook the offered hand.
"You must not tell anyone about my identity," she told him seriously as she took back her hand. "Touya and Kamuro will know once they've retrieved the kunai," she answered Jin before he could pose the question on her. She knew he would not have kept the secret of her identity from Touya, so she figured it was the time to, what was that phrase Yusuke once said to her? "Open up more," he had said. Amaya delighted Jin with an unsuspecting true smile, the first she's had since leaving Spirit World.
Yes, she would open up more.
But only if it would benefit her in the long run.
"Speakin' o' tha' lil weapon, shouldn' wi' be findin' ours?" Jin asked.
Amaya pulled her hood over her head and nodded. "Yes, of course."