For warnings and disclaimers, see previous chapters
A/N: I thought about not continuing this, since I only got one review, but I had to because that wouldn't be fair to the person who reviewed this! Thank you for reviewing! (You'd better come back and review this chapter ¬_¬ haha)
Mura woke early the next morning and was soon on her way back to the clearing in the forest. When she got there though, she found it completely empty.
"Huh? Hiei? Are you here?"
She heard a noise and turned toward it in time to see a thorny whip flying at her. She brought up her wooden sword barely in time to block it. The whip snapped the sword easily in two, and retracted. It's owner, a boy with red hair and bright green eyes soon appeared along with Hiei.
"You're very quick for someone with no training," he said.
Mura scowled. "Yeah. Why don't you two just keep testing my reflexes until you kill me? Does that sound like a good plan? And by the way, I'm not rich. I can't afford to buy a new sword everyday."
Hiei surprised Mura by tossing her a second blade, almost identical to his. "A wooden sword will do you no good what-so-ever."
Mura stared at the sword in shock. "Thank you, Master Hiei."
Hiei's eyes widened. "What did you call me?"
Mura didn't hear him. She was already busy looking over her new sword and testing it out.
Kurama chuckled slightly. "An impressive student, Hiei. I didn't think teaching was your style."
Hiei crossed his arms. "It's not. I'll give her a few pointers and then she's on her own. Maybe if I'm lucky, Koenma will hire her as my replacement," he said with a small smirk.
Kurama just shook his head and left the clearing.
Hiei glanced at Mura, who was still testing out the sword. "Enough fooling around," he said.
Mura stopped what she was doing immediately, and gave Hiei her full attention. Hiei was mildly surprised. He hadn't expected the half-breed to be so cooperative.
"The first thing you did wrong when you attacked me yesterday was your stance. You need to put more weight on the ball of your right foot."
Mura did as she was told. Hiei nodded and went on; "Now, the way you hold the sword..."
Training went on like this for the rest of the day. Hiei was impressed by the girl's resolve. Not once did she waiver due to fatigue or minor injury, and she gave Hiei her rapt attention at all times. By evening, Mura had learned several new attacks.
Two months passed (two months longer than Hiei had planned on training Mura), and although Mura had improved immensely, she was not quick enough to dodge multiple attacks from Hiei. He would always get her on the third or fourth blow.
Mura fell to her knees, gasping for breath. It was only mid-afternoon and already much of her energy was spent.
"Get up, half-breed," Hiei commanded.
Mura scowled at the use of her much-disliked nickname. She forced the scowl from her face and forced herself to stand. Her face was impassive as she faced her instructor.
"We'll try this again. I'll go a little easier this time."
After another four hours, Mura could barely move. Even with Hiei's slower attacks, she couldn't defend herself well enough. Finally, she collapsed to her knees.
"I'm sorry. You were right. I'm just wasting your time."
Hiei scowled at her. "I would have told you to leave a long time ago if you didn't have potential. Now get on your feet, and this time, concentrate."
Mura did as she was told. Hiei leaped to attack her again. She dodged the first and second blows, and blocked a third with her sword. She dodged a fourth blow. Hiei seemed to be moving in slow motion. She could see his attacks clearly. His twelfth strike caught her shoulder.
"Well done. That was an improvement," Hiei said. "You can go home now."
Mura slid her blade into its sheath and started to walk back to her small apartment. She was walking down an alley in a bad part of town when she heard someone laughing. It sounded like the leader of that gang...
She saw that she was right when he stepped into view. He had apparently picked up some more members. They surrounded Mura with confident smiles on their faces.
"We meet again, little girl. This time your short friend isn't around to watch your back."
But they were wrong. Hiei was standing on top of one of the surrounding buildings, watching carefully.
Mura drew her sword and assumed a fighting stance. The thugs laughed harder. There were twelve or thirteen flashes of light, and they all found themselves on the ground. A few were missing limbs, but no one was dead.
The leader found he was missing his left hand. He cried out like a wounded animal, and ran as fast as he could manage out of the alley. His gang followed him.
Mura sheathed her sword and calmly walked on her way. Hiei smiled ever so slightly, and left as well.
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Please R&R! This story is only one more chapter long. Maybe two, but I doubt it.