I woke up the next morning feeling like I was going to drown. Choking, I sat up trying to catch my breath. After looking down at my soaked hair and chest, I realized I was woken up by a bucket of water... again. Not wanting to go through this again, I just flopped back down with my eyes closed.

My head barely touched the pillow before I was literally pulled out of bed and placed on my feet. I opened my eyes, ready to give the deadliest glare to whoever was responsible for this. Apparently it wasn't deadly enough because the glare Kurama was giving me almost made me whimper. Almost.

Without a word, Kurama let go of my shirt and threw a new set of work out clothes at me. I was so tired, and still sore from yesterday that I just let them fall to the ground. It's really starting to creep me out that these guys are going through my clothes... I might have to actually wake up crazy early just so they don't do that anymore.

Since I really didn't want to go through this whole thing again, I picked up the clothes and started to get dressed. Kurama didn't leave until I actually reached down to pull off my shirt. As a ballerina and someone who was just too tired, I really couldn't give a crap what Kurama saw. Besides, asshole trainer or not, he's still a gentleman. By the time I was dressed and heading downstairs, I didn't feel any better. All I could think about was how badly I wanted to crawl back into bed. Plus, my legs still hurt. Whine, whine, whine. Humph.

Just like last time, Yusuke called my name and threw an apple at me. Unfortunately, unlike last time I wasn't awake enough to grab at it. So what happened? It hit me right in the middle of my face. Pain shot through my nose, which did wake me up a bit. As I rubbed my nose, I could hear Yusuke and Kuwabara bite back a laugh. When I went to grab the apple I made sure to not look over at Hiei. I knew that whatever look he was sporting, it was just going to make my mood worse.

As I chewed on my apple, I followed the guys outside. I had no idea what was the plan, but I knew that whatever it was, it was going to be painful. The moment we headed towards the front of the compound and not the forest, I started to get confused. Refusing to comment, I just followed them quietly. It wasn't until we headed to the room that had all the weapons when I realized what we were going to do today.

Before I could try out some new toys, we all stretched for half an hour. At first I was a little disappointed but then I remembered how important it was to do this kind of thing. Especially after yesterday. Usually I don't have to stretch for too long because of my natural flexibility, but I was still sore and stiff from running that I really took my time today.

The moment we finished, Kurama headed straight to the weapons and pulled two items from the large collection. When he turned back around I noticed he had a tessen and chigiriki in his hand.

That instantly brought a smile to my face. "You remembered," I said while completely forgetting about my anger towards them.

He threw the tessen at me as I walked towards him. Ohhhhkay. Looks like I'm not going to be choosing what I start with. And damn, they don't waste any time, don't they? Without any small talk, whatsoever, we jumped right into this training thing.

As it went on, I began to realize that Kurama was the only one who really seemed to know how to use this thing. He was the only one was really training me while the others watched and offered a few pointers; like leg positioning, and balance. If they weren't-which I took as a good sign-they minded their own business and did their own little exercises.

At the beginning I thought this was a piece of cake; training that didn't involve my demon energy, balance, or hard physical training. However, that quickly changed after the first two hours. While we were just covering the basic things, like positioning, basic moves and such, they would often make me hold positions while they made sure that I was doing everything perfectly. Two hours of that? My muscles were in so much pain. Worse, it wasn't just my legs this time, it was everything.

By the time I was allowed to have lunch, I had to focus all my will power to stay standing rather than collapsing on the ground where I was. It wasn't until I had walked in the kitchen that I realized that Yusuke had left early and prepared something. Normally that would make me nervous, but the variety of slices fruit and salads kept me calm.

Then again... this light lunch began to make me nervous as well. Normally the guys are trying to fatten me up during the meals, why is all this so light and rather healthy? Without commenting-because I was too scared for this suspension to become reality-I grabbed some of my favourite fruit and a little bit of salad.

Sure enough, by the time everything was cleaned up, Kurama told me that we'll continue with the tessen training. Damn it... I tried so hard not to whine or show any form of emotion as we walked back to the weapons room.

By the end of the day, I was so tired and sore, that I went straight to my room and fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up and quickly covered my face with my hands. When no water splashed all over me, I opened one eye and realized that my room was empty. It wasn't until I saw that it was seven in the morning that I realized that I might actually have a free day today. As I crawled out of bed, I noticed that I was still wearing my clothes from yesterday. Instantly feeling gross, I quickly took a shower and changed into something comfortable but not overly informal.

Still expecting there to be training today, I peaked my head over every corner thinking the guys would jump at me saying I had to run across Japan. It wasn't all clear until I reached the kitchen. Kurama was sitting at the island with a book. Does this guy ever leave this place?

I tried to be as quiet as I could as I gathered my breakfast so I didn't draw Kurama's attention. It was all good enough I sat at the table with my bowl of cereal.

"How are you feeling?" Kurama asked.

I waited until I swallowed my spoonful before answering. Mostly because I didn't want to accidentally snap at him. "Alright," I replied as I continued to eat.

"That's good." He went back to reading which left this weird awkward silence. "So I'm assuming you've guessed that there's no training today."

I simply nodded. Good. I wouldn't mind taking a trip to town today. In fact, the second I was done cleaning my bowl, I went upstairs to brush my teeth, put on a cardigan, and headed straight out the door.

"Where are you heading?"

I turned to see Kurama standing just in the kitchen door way.

"Into town?" I answered. "Is that okay?"

"Yes. Do you have any idea when you're going to be coming back?"

I tried not to frown at him. Never? "Not sure. Before dinner?"

"Okay, have fun."

"Will do, Mom." I heard Kurama laugh softly as I closed the door.

I didn't have any real plan on what I wanted to do today. I just needed to get out of the house for a while. When I got off the train I found myself heading towards the dance store from the other day. Since I knew I shouldn't be spending money on something so pointless, I planned on just taking a quick look through the window.

Unfortunately, that quick look lasted much longer than I intended. As I stood there, looking at all the outfits and dance shoes, I realized just how much I missed dancing. How long as it even been? A few days? Weeks? Longer? I had no idea, but I did know that I had to stop coming here…

I mean, sure, I don't need pointe shoes to dance, but I've danced with them for so long that it wouldn't feel right if I danced without them. Sighing, I turned to leave but ended up bumping into someone.

"Sorry," I said as I stumbled a little.

The person gently grabbed my arms to keep me standing while saying, "It's fine."

The moment his hands landed on me, I couldn't help but put my guard up. I looked up at him, ready to glare and slap him away but my expression quickly changed.

"Shuya?"

He smiled back at me. "Fancy meeting you here."

I laughed softly. "Tell me about it."

"So, what brings you to this side of town?" Shuya asked as we continued to stand there.

I shrugged. "Nothing really, I needed to get off the compound so I decided to take a little walk. My feet basically took me here."

Shuya took a look through the window. "Thinking about getting new ballet shoes?"

"Nah," I said while trying to make my tone of voice neutral. "I honestly couldn't afford it. You'd be surprised by how much they cost."

"Well, let's take a look." He grabbed my wrist and started to pull me inside.

"Are you kidding me?" I was unable to hide the surprise in my voice. Not liking the fact that he grabbed my wrist, I yanked it back. "They really expensive. Besides, I'll need someone to knows how to size them properly."

"So? We don't have to actually buy a pair, just try them on."

"I don't think so.."

"Come on. Besides, there might not even be someone there to size you, or whatever."

I tried to think of another excuse so I didn't have to go inside. But I couldn't think of anything.

He grabbed my wrist again and successfully pulled me inside. Shuya walked straight to the cashier who was just standing there fixing a roll of ribbons. When we reached the counter I made sure to quickly take my hand back.

"Hello," he said politely, "I was wondering if you would happen to have someone working who can size someone for pointe shoes?"

She nodded slightly before tilting her head back to call out. "Emi! There's someone here for pointe shoes."

Oh my god, this is actually happening. Just as I was about to tell Shuya that we should leave, Emi came out from what I assumed was the back room. Damn it. Well, at least we're not actually buying anything. Wait, that alone should be a reason to not go through with this. What's the point? What if they get angry because they go through this effort and we don't get anything?

"Shuya," I whispered, "I really don't think we should do this."

"You're here for pointe shoes?" Emi asked, looking right at me.

I opened my mouth to said that we weren't but Shuya beat me to it. "Yes," he said. "AJ, here, broke her last pair and is in need of a new one."

"You broke them?" Emi asked. She sounded more curious than anything.

I nodded. "I hadn't used them in a while and was trying to soften them up. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention and ended up snapping them."

She smiled as if she understood. "It happens to the best of us. Now come." She motioned me to sit.

Emi was being so sweet that I couldn't bring myself to leave. After I took my seat she started off with asking what my preferred brand was and shoe size. I told her it was Capezio so she went off to grab a few pairs.

When she was out of sight, I turned to Shuya. "Why are we doing this?"

He shrugged. "I'm curious."

I frowned at him, this was beginning to feel a little weird. "Curious about what?"

"I've never met a ballerina. And it seems like a lot of thought goes into getting proper shoes. I want to see how all this gets done."

Still, this didn't seem right. It seems like a lot of effort just to satisfy a simply curiosity. I was about to continue but Emi had come out carrying a few different pairs. It didn't take long to get the correct pair. Since I knew what I needed and she had a good eye on my feet, we found the pair I needed in her first trip to the back.

Emi sat back on her knees, smiling, while she looked at my feet with pointe shoes on. "Perfect. So, you're ready to pay now?"

Crap, "Um, well…" Please don't get mad at me… "I'm a little tight on money at the moment."

She frowned at me.

Before either of us could say anything else, Shuya stepped in. "Is it possible to put a deposit on it? We just need a couple more days before we can come back and pick it up."

Emi's smile returned. "Of course. The deposit is twenty percent, and you'll have 30 days."

I shot a look at Shuya. How could he be doing this? He takes me to try on pointe shoes and he expects me to pay some kind of deposit? I need to stay away from this guy. I'll leave when we finally get out of here.

After putting my shoes back on, I walked over to the cashier and started to pull out my wallet. Shuya placed his hand on my shoulder and shook his head. "I got this," he said.

Normally I wouldn't accept something like this, but I was really starting to get annoyed by him that I couldn't bring myself to say anything at all. When we finally got back outside, I couldn't help but take a deep breath of relief.

"Well, that was kind of fun," he said.

I resisted the urge to frown at him. "I should get going."

"Oh, so soon?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I promised I'd be back by a certain time."

I started to walk away but Shuya grabbed my wrist again. "Hey, is everything okay?"

"Yeah," I said, yanking my wrist back. "I just need to get going now."

"Okay… Well… Bye."

"Bye."

As I started to walk off, I made sure not to look behind me, especially since I could still feel Shuya watching me. During the whole trip back home I made sure that I was calming down. I can't believe I did something like that. I can't believe I allowed that to happen. I leaned my head against the window of the train. How am I suppose to some kind of fighter in this Demon World Tournament when I let this human push me around like that?

I took my time walking up the steps feeling like I was doing the walk of shame or something. No one was around when I got to the front of the compound so I headed straight to the house. When I first opened the door I was greeted with the delicious smell of dinner.

Thinking it was Kurama in the kitchen, I walked straight over there to see what he was making. I paused in the door way to see Kuwabara.

"Hey," I said while hoping the shock in my voice wasn't obvious.

Kuwabara jumped five feet in the air before turning towards me. That seems more normal. "Jesus, you scared the crap out of me! I thought I was the only one home."

I raised an eyebrow as I took a seat at the island. "You're the only one home and you're cooking dinner? Is it for yourself?"

"No." He looked kind of insulted so I gave him a huge smile. "It's for everyone."

"Okay, I believe you."

We went back and forth a little more before he announced he was done. Both of us were really hungry but since no one was home yet, we kind of just stared at each before for a couple seconds before agreeing that we would just start eating.

It was obvious that Kuwabara has been maturing, but it was a completely different experience seeing the evidence right in front of me. Without Yusuke around to tease him, we were able to have a normal conversation. First, we talked about how Kurama decided to go see his family, how Yusuke was at work, and how he had no idea where Hiei was. No surprise there. After that we moved onto how his school is going. I felt so proud of him when he told me about all the effort he's putting into it. Luckily, all that effort was pulling off because his grades are getting higher.

When we finally finished eating, no one had arrived yet so we put away the leftovers and cleaned everything up. And since I had this bad feeling about tomorrow—aka a very early morning—I decided to head straight to bed. When I was dressed for bed, I decided to stretch a little bit first. I wasn't sure if it was going to help but it was worth a shot.

It took me a while to actually fall asleep. As I lied on my back, all I could think about is my day with Shuya. What we did was something you do with close friends. I've met with him, what, three times? That wasn't normal, it was kind of weird and in your face. He's bad news. I don't think I should see him anymore. With that decided, I finally fell asleep.

I wasn't sure how long I was asleep, but it didn't feel like for very long. Expecting to be drenched with water, I sat up quickly, gasping for breath. Confused, I patted my chest only to feel that it was dry. I looked at my clock and saw that it was three in the morning. What the hell woke me up?

Before I could finish that thought, I heard a scream. My heart instantly starting to pound loud and fast as I jumped out of bed. At first I thought it was right outside my window but as it finally processed I realized that it was actually far away. It wasn't until I heard another scream that I finally grabbed a sweater and ran out of my room.

As I turned to run down the hallway to go outside, I bumped right into Hiei. Something flashed through his eyes but it was gone before I could make out what it was. Not even a second went by before he turned around and headed out. I quickly followed him and only paused to put my shoes on.

The screams didn't stop and since Hiei was in the trees—and going a lot faster than me—I had to reply on that to get to where I was heading. As I continued to run, my heart continued to beat faster, and not because of the running. It was still dark out and the screams were pure horror. It was seriously freaking me out. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and cuddle under my covers. But no matter how much my head told me to turn around, my feet kept moving me forward.

Pain began to shoot through my legs. Just when I was unable to ignore the pain anymore and give up, something changed. I felt weird. This tingle started at my toes and as it worked it's way up my legs I suddenly felt freezing. The sensation continued all the way up my body but when it reached my knees a new sensation started. It was much like the first one but this felt warmer. A lot warmer. I wasn't overheated or anything but it was higher temperature than what I'm usually at. Confused as hell, I had to stop running and pull myself together.

I looked around as I gathered my bearings and noticed that everything was visible. Frowning, I looked up. I knew it was still dark out, but now I could see everything as if it were daylight. Plus I could feel all this demon energy. It was so intense and overwhelming that I had to take a step back. What the hell? Why didn't I feel this before?

Wait… I looked down at my hands to see that my skin had changed to this perfect, marble-like, skin tone. I'm in my demon form.

Another scream brought my focus back. Turning towards the scream, I started running again. My legs didn't hurt anymore! Hell yeah. I had to fight back a laugh as I continued to run as fast as I could.

As I got closer, not only did the screams get louder but I began to see some kind of light through the trees. Frowning, I focused on how the light moved and noticed that it was fire. Great, now my heart is beating faster. I pushed even harder and finally broke through the trees.

When I got a good look at everything in front of me, I could only stare in wonder. There was a mini village in front of me. A village that was on fire. Without giving it a second though, I summoned my water demon energy and started to try and take out the fire.

"Oh, thank god, you're here."

I turned to see Yusuke standing to my side. He was completely dirty and covered in battle wounds. "What the hell is this?" I asked him. "What's going on? Are we still on Genkai's land?"

"I can't explain everything right now. All you really need to know is that demon's from Demon World are attacking this village."

"What? Why?!" I moved onto another house. "Aren't these demons living here?"

"I can't explain right now!"

Just then, Hiei appeared between us.

Yusuke frowned at him. "I thought you were killing the bad guys."

"I am," said Hiei calmly.

There was a loud crash in the direction Hiei was facing. Not more than two seconds later, three—very, very, large—demons jump out. All three looked different. Some of them had horns while others had these weird markings on their skin. And I couldn't miss the fact that they all had weird coloured skin. Is that was typical demon's looked like?

"Damn it, Hiei," Yusuke yelled. "I'm trying to make sure everyone got out in time."

Hiei didn't reply, he only gripped his sword with both hands and charged at the other demons to continue their battle. Yusuke ran off to make sure that all the innocent were safe. Before he got to far he quickly turned to me and yelled, "Make sure you take out the fire. And watch out for—What out!"

I turned to see one of the three demons flying right at me. I quickly stopped with the water so I could jump out of the way. Checking to see why he decided to see if he could fly, I saw Hiei standing there for second. He didn't have much time for a breather because the other two started attacking again.

"Please be careful!" Yusuke said before running off again.

This was starting to get a little overwhelming…

After I started to try and take the fire out again, I began to hope that I was expected to fight. I haven't had any real experience here and I didn't want my first fight to be with a bunch of demons that were five times my size. The demon that was basically thrown at me began to get up. Please don't see me, please don't see me.

At first he started to walk right past me but after he saw that Hiei was beating the other two to the ground, he hesitated then looked at me. Fuck. I could tell that he thought I was an easy target by the way he was looking at me.

"What do we have here?" he said as he took a step towards me.

I took a step back while still trying to take the fires out. This was not going to go well. What do I do? Obviously this can't be avoided. But should I just be defensive until I can get some help? Or should I attempt to fight and pray for the best?

The demon tried to throw a punch at me. The fires forgotten, I ducked and slide between his legs. I guess being as small as I am has it's advantages. As I stood behind him, the demon looked around confused for a second before finally realizing where I was.

"Quick, aren't cha?" he said with a little smirk.

I shrugged and dodged another punch. At first that was all I did. I just jumped from side to side, confusing him and making him a little dizzy. After a while I began to feel a little confident and risked jumping up on his shoulders then jumping away at the last second. Okay, I'm not going to lie. This is pretty fun.

I jumped onto his shoulders again but this time it was a little less fun. Unable to jump away quickly enough, he grabbed one of my ankles and threw me to the ground. And by that, I don't mean a gentle toss, or how you would swat away a bug or something. I mean, this was a Hulk pounding Loki to the ground kind of throw.

With the wind completely throw out of me, I could only lay there and gasp for air. Not only that, pain shot through my back. Groaning, I tried to roll over and get back up but the pain was too much. I couldn't even breath without pain shooting through my back. As I continued to lay there, the demon started to walk up to me with a huge smirk on his face. Fuck.

I tried a little harder but it was no use. Just as the demon reached down to grab my ankle again, Kuwabara came running past us while shouting, "Behind me. Behind me. Behind me." Both of us frowned at him and turned to see two other demons chasing me. Really? REALLY?

The demon looked back at me with a large grin on his face. He reached for me again but this time we were interrupted by Kurama jumping in front of him. Kurama pushed him back before helping me up. I winced but was able to stay standing.

"Thanks," I said, holding my back.

"Don't thank me yet," Kurama said before nodding behind me.

I turned to see three more demons running towards us.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Aly-Jay didn't notice Hiei sitting at the window seat at all. Normally that would please him, he'd much rather be ignored than to have the attention on him. But the way Aly-Jay just didn't even see him at all made him feel a little… odd. That feeling only got worse by how she and Kurama went back and forth like that. Typical, Kurama can get along with anyone. It's something that always got on his nerves.

Hiei watched her leave the house and when he felt like she had gotten far enough, he got up to follow her.

"And where are you going, Hiei?" Kurama asked.

"What do you care?" Hiei replied without even turning his head.

Hiei could practically feel Kurama cross his arms. "You can't hide forever, Hiei."

That made him turn around. "And what would I be hiding from?"

Kurama closed his eyes as if to gather patience. "If you continue to hide like this, you're going to lose her."

It took almost all of Hiei's willpower not to lash out at him. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Before either of them could say another word, Hiei left. He followed AJ all the way to town while making sure he kept a safe distance. He wasn't sure just how developed her powers were at the moment. That being said, he didn't want to risk getting too close and have her sense him.

Hiei's main goal was to simply make sure that AJ kept safe while she was in town as he followed from on top of the buildings. When AJ paused outside a shop, and so did he. Hiei crouched down and watched her. Even from this distance he could tell that her face was full of sadness and longing. Forcing his eyes away from her face, he looked to see that she was staring at the odd shoes she wore to dance in.

That's right, her's broke not that long ago. Hiei stood up. He wasn't sure what he intended to do. Go down to her? What would he even say? Nothing. Even as he stood there he knew that going down there it would only end badly. He crouched down and continued to watch.

All those doubts and second thoughts were thrown out the window when he saw that human kid walk up to her. Hiei tensed up; what was he doing here. Forcing himself to stay put, he watched every move that kid made. The longer he waited, the more he wanted to go down there and step in.

It didn't help when he put his hands on her. Hiei stood up and was getting ready to jump down. The only thing stopping him was the fact that AJ yanked her hand back. A feeling of relief swept through him. It was nice to know that she didn't like the idea of him touching her. With any luck, she'll just push him away and never see him again.

Son of a bitch, she went inside with him.

Not ready to confront them, he adjusted positions so he could get a better look inside the store. He didn't like this at all, and it wasn't just the fact that Shuya kept touching her. It was because of the look on her face. She was clearly uncomfortable yet this kid completed ignored that fact. When that look only got worse, Hiei prepared to jump down and put an end to this.

Crouching down to jump, Hiei focused on the look on AJ's face. Suddenly, AJ's expression changed and Hiei found himself unable to move. The uncomfortable look had completed vanished and was replaced with a look Hiei hasn't seen in years.

As those dance shoes were brought to her, AJ's looked completely at peace. It was the same look she got on her face when she was dancing; like she's the only person in the world. More importantly, it was similar to the look she got on her face whenever she looked at him when he used to visit her at night. But this time there was a something missing. Regardless, however, it was beautiful.

Unable to handle that look anymore. He stood straight and headed back to the compound without looking back.

That night, while Hiei tried to sleep, he couldn't get that look on AJ's face out of his head. Getting frustrated, he adjusted onto his stomach. Seconds after he got comfortable his ear began to twitch. Confused, he sat up and listened. Something is wrong.

The second he heard a scream, he didn't wait a beat before running out the door. At first Hiei headed straight for the exit but images of AJ's room when she was taken flashed through his mind. Feeling panicked all of a sudden, he turned and headed straight for her room. He'd barely taken two steps before she came rushing out and bumping into him.

He had to take a second to make sure she was safe. Confident that she was perfectly fine, he quickly turned and headed to the small town the guys had set up as a sort of refuge. When Hiei noticed that AJ was following behind him, he almost stopped to tell her to head back. Almost. But from all the training she's been through so far, he knew she could handle it. Especially since only lesser, stupid, demons would think about attacking this place.

Hiei immediately regretted that thought when he broke through the forest and caught a glimpse of one of the demons. He had to tell AJ to go back. That second of hesitation cost him though. Without time to react, he got smacked back a few yards by one of the demons and landed right next to Yusuke who had some young demons in his arms.

"What took you so long?" Yusuke yelled.

Hiei only glared at him as he got back up, then turned in the direction of his attacker. After the day he's had, he'd like to kick some demon ass. Bring. It. On.