9.

Hiei, I have found her, there is a mansion twenty miles northwest , I have her but she refuses to leave. Yusuke and Kuwabara are inside, they are working their way through. There is something here…hurry. Yukina remained asleep as Siera kept her body curled around her protectively. She was on edge, she felt something in this place but couldn't pinpoint it to a particular location, it was like this amount of power wasn't being contained within a person but in the property as a whole; yet at the same time it was being controlled like water in a faucet. It was unsettling and she wished she weren't there. But as she looked at the poor scared girl who had endured this for much longer than her she knew she had to stay, the only thing she could do was scan for thoughts and hope for it to be over.

The intruders have gotten through the apparition gang and the triad they are going to kill us next!

Dammit I knew I should have took the bastards watches and bolted now I'm going to die empty handed

I wonder if I sneak out the back if they will just assume I'm dead

My mother said for me to become a dentist but did I listen? Fuck no, now I'm screwed!

From what she could tell Yusuke and Kuwabara were almost through, good then they could all go home and this poor girl won't have to suffer anymore. She felt it again and it nearly took her breath away, that power, it was immense.

Ha Toguro will lay waste to those brats, he killed Helen with no problem, their money is mine! Now to just move the girl to protect my profits…Oh shit, oh no, they are coming, she had to calm herself, open her senses and think of a plan. Who was Helen, what was coming this way? She searched the thoughts of the last man which was usually harder when she didn't have eye contact, why didn't she practice harder?! And then she saw it, a horrible beast ripped in half by some man…no…some monster. That surge of power Zoie felt, that came from him, she shuddered at what he could do to her.

Yukina, sweet heart wake up, they are coming, they are going to move you!

"What do we do…no you have to leave or they will kill you!"

I'm not leaving you, I will try to fool them, I will be in this corner you go back to your chair and do not speak or look at me I will manipulate their minds so they do not see me here.

"Please be careful."

Shhhh I told you no more tears, now go hurry! Yukina sat back in her place and Siera reverted back to her normal form and pressed herself against the wall being as still as possible. Two thugs entered the room along with the monster she saw before; he wore a long overcoat and dark sunglasses, a smaller gangly man clutched to his shoulder. Poor Yukina shuddered, afraid that another deposit was in order.

"Come on sweetie time to go." One of the thugs grabbed her arm and the man named Toguro placed his hand on the man's shoulder.

"Wait…we aren't alone." Both of the girls' hearts stopped Toguro turned his head and looked directly in Siera's direction. You don't see me…There is nothing here, just go away.

"Ha, silly girl, your effort is nice and you fooled them but I am too strong for you. But then, you know that already don't you?"

"Who are you talking to, I don't see anybody did the ice bitch do something again?"

"Now brother?"

"Yes." The small man's fingers flew like daggers in her direction faster than she could dodge. She was stabbed straight through the left shoulder. She felt the blood fill her mouth but even more so the fear fill the rest of her.

"NO LEAVE HER ALONE PLEASE!" One of the thugs slapped her as she leapt out of her chair.

"How did a naked chick get in here and I not notice?"

"Because she is a telepath and a manipulator, you saw what she wanted you to see. How long has I been since the last guard been in?"

"Not long ago, there is usually one to check every hour or so"

"I bet you've been here for hours haven't you? Why didn't you sneak her away? I've heard stories of women like her; conjuring armies with a whisper, destroying whole cities with a thought. I believe she could be quite powerful someday but she's young, she doesn't know what she's doing."

"Should I rip out her heart now brother?"

"No, we have business to attend to." What was his game, he could kill her while she was exposed, what was going on? She was released and she fell to the floor but refused to take her eyes off of him. He knelt in front of her and looked her in the eye.

"You're afraid, or else you would have launched an attack and I bet a strong one, I see the power in there, but you merely can't tap into it. This is only 20% of my power, and you are this afraid? I could only imagine what you would do at fifty, how easily I could crush you then." He stroked her face and she shuddered, he let out a soft chuckle as he stood.

"You're nothing but a waste of my time, come back to me when you're strong enough to fight. That's if you make it out of here alive, if you become my next job you won't get to walk away." she felt insulted and weak as they left with Yukina in tow. She failed…she failed to keep her safe she stood there like some sort of idiot. She stood and ran after them another thug stopped her.

"Well looks like my birthday came early."

Shut up, give me your clothes and then go jump off a cliff. The man obliged and she continued on trying to follow them without being seen. They had her in the room with the ugly man as they watched the fight begin, she just had to get back to her, she had to help her somehow…

Tarukane watched in delight as his champion was going to win back his fortune he placed a cigar in his mouth and turned to his latest prize as she trembled under his gaze.

"Come on sweetheart, I want you to have a good look at those two down there that came to save you, they are going to die and it's all your fault." He was interrupted by the clicking of heels on the floor, there he saw this vision of a woman enter the room; silky smooth skin the color of milk chocolate carefully clad in a red backless Persian silk dress that met the floor. Her raven hair pulled into a pinned Mohawk that let their waves cascade down to her shoulder blades. Her body was amazing but it as those cerulean eyes that entranced him so much so that when her full painted lips curled into a smile he hardly noticed.

"Wh-wh-who are you?"

"I am insulted that you do not know who I am, being that my late father was a very esteemed member of the Black Black Club. I will disregard your utter disrespect by allowing you to pour m a drink." She spoke with authority and looked at him like trash, she had money, she even smelled of it.

"You can't be Seiji's daughter, you died right along with him…" She slapped him so hard Yukina jumped out of her skin.

"You insolent bastard, how dare you slander my father's name by calling him a liar! Look at my ring and the family crest if you do not believe! As I am to understand, you have owed my father a great debt, and in result are now beholden to our family…of course we could simply have you killed…being that you don't have much of anything to offer anymore…"

"Look…I'm not calling you a liar, I got the cash I owe ya, I got it and then some, just give me a little time. I got a lot riding on this right now."

"Yes…wait please give me time said the con man. I will need some collateral if i'm going to allow you to thin my patience further."

"Like what…I got cars, boats, I have monsters galore if you want to pick one out any one you want pick any demon."

"Hm, fine I want this one." She points to Yukina who gasps as he grabbed her arm.

"You can't have her!"

"But didn't you say I could have any demon you owned or are you the liar, shall I add that to your name, or will cheat suffice?"

"I did say that…"

"She's easy to look at, easy to transport and she's right here. So then…what is so special about this one that I can't have her?"

"Nothing, she aint special at all."

"Then I will take her, I will give her back when I get our money."

"Wait…if you are who you say you are, then how much do I owe you?" she looked him in the eye and took a drag from her long cigarette, blowing the smoke in his face.

"Eight billion yen, with five percent interest over three years…that's 9.2 billion yen. A pretty meager amount I may add but if I add in the fact that you hired a man to shoot down my father's plane to avoid repaying…well, let's just say a girl can get a little petty. The other members find out what a cheat you are then it won't take much to destroy you. You will be wiped clean of your funds, then I will have my guard take you to my torture chamber so that we can have a little fun. You remember my specialty… first I start with burning the soft tissue…then I slice each tendon slowly….you will beg for death long before your time comes. Of course I am a forgiving woman and I'm always willing to settle."

"I can give you all the money you desire, I'll make it an even 10 no need to be hasty how about it?"

"Place it in my hand now."

"I don't carry 10 billion yen in my pocket…"

"Then I will take my collateral and go, you may have her back…when I have my money." She grabbed Yukina by the arm and proceeded to lead her away. We are almost out, I just have to get you out and you will be free.

"Look out!" Tarukane pulls a gun and proceeds to fire three shots, Yukina screams and silence falls, before there is collective gasp. The three bullets stop in midair, and the air became increasingly thick with tension. Yukina trembled in fear as the woman who she thought was her savior looked on to the terrible man eyes glowing like blue flames along with her aura making her look like a terrible sapphire blaze. Something in her changed, some sort of switch flipped inside her and even though she felt nothing but bloodlust and rage it titillated her senses and excited her, the thought of ripping him apart piece by piece while he begged for mercy seemed so tantalizing. All eyes suddenly moved to the window as Yusuke and Kuwabara administered a blow to Toguro's chest rendering a victory. Tarukenae screamed and another faint sound came to Sieras' ears putting a wicked smile on her face.

"You're lucky fool, there are others in line before me who want to have their way with you; it would be rude to take you out when you have such a comeuppance in front of you. Yukina, you are safe now, this is where I leave you." She hugged her new friend before taking off in full run with Hiei passing her by.

She continued her trek back home and the more she thought about it the more depressed she became. What exactly had she done to help the situation, how did she help Yukina in any way? They would have gotten everything done without her; they didn't need her at all, if anything she could have made things worse. Worst of all she allowed that monster to intimidate her, she could have attacked him in that room with the same ferocity she felt when she wanted to dismantle that human gangster, but she was too afraid of the power she felt and second guessed her abilities. She began to feel her rage spike again, why was she so foolish?

"You thought you could just go home without me knowing?" Kurama stood in a nearby tree just above her; she sucked her teeth and kept walking. He jumped down and reached for her and she jerked away from his grasp.

"Siera…"

"If you've come to tell me that you were right I don't want to hear it okay?! I was foolish, I ran into a situation I didn't know anything about, I choked the moment I would have been the most useful and I did nothing to improve the situation or expatiate her rescue! I was useless! I could have gotten her hurt, or worse... I should have just stayed in class."

"She wanted me to find you to thank you."

"What?"

"You kept those men from hurting her further, they would have no doubt been in and out trying to get their own share, you kept her safe from them and she felt safe with you. And when you were found out you could have left her, you could have left her at any point she chose not to leave but you didn't and she thanks you for that." She rested her forehead on his chest and sighed, she was both mentally and physically exhausted. Something about the nearness of him…she was better before he even opened his mouth.

"Teach me."

"What?"

"Teach me to fight K, I need to learn hand to hand combat, weaponry, all of it! I need to be as skilled as the rest of you, I cannot rely on my abilities alone, there will always be someone out there with stronger spirit energy than me, so I need to be strong and fast physically as well. I am not going to choke because of my fear again when someone needs me!" He looked at her as though in thought and smiled.

"I will help you, because you need to learn to defend yourself, in the meantime I don't want you running off like this again."

"I understand." They walked together in the cool night air, this was such a change of pace from just the day before; calm and quiet.

"Stay with us tonight, Mother has been wondering where you've been for the past few weeks."

"I was mad at you."

"It never stopped you from visiting before."

"I didn't want to cause a scene…how has she been?"

"She's fine, she has been seeing her boyfriend a lot lately."

"Boyfriend, you mean that old guy?"

"Ha ha, now now he is a good man."

"He still isn't good enough for her; I should do a background check on him."

"Siera, behave yourself. She will be alright, I rather like him."

"Hmm, sure that's fine, but it doesn't mean he can start coming into our home eating our food and calling you son, he has no right to-"

"You make it seems like she's your mother not mine." The moonlight illuminated him and she felt something she hadn't before. She hadn't even noticed when he has started to help her walk, guess she had lost more blood than she realized.

"Our mothers were friends…and she's done so much for me over the years, maybe I do see her as my second mother."

"There is nothing wrong with that, she surely sees you as her daughter."

"Really?"

"Of course, always talking about what a nice girl you are and that you would be a good fit for me etc."

"Oh wow, now that's funny!" They both laughed but something felt awkward between them.

"Things really haven't been the same, I was so angry before; I thought I was going to lose you to this. But I realize that this is much bigger than me or you; I just want to be a part of it."

"I know you do, so we will start tomorrow, you can stay with us tonight and I'll patch your shoulder."

"I can do it myself you know, I can lick my own wounds."

"Yes but consider it my apology for keeping you in the dark." She looked over at him as he smiled at her, something about those emerald eyes of his warmed her. Was it the blood loss or the moonlight messing with her?

"I'm really tired…"

"You've lost a lot of blood, here I'll carry you the rest of the way."

"How chivalrous of you…" she hardly remembered being lifted up as she passed out, but not one moment did she feel afraid knowing she was in her best friends arms.