Author's Note: Ha! Guess what? I had time to write today! Since my parents won't know I wasn't writing either of the papers I have to do or the like, it is safe to assume that for today at least there is more to the story. Oh, and thank-you to Empress Satori, Nakoruru, Thorn, and Staci for reviewing and encouragement! It's appreciated J
Yusuke looked at the back of Neko's head, just two seats away. How was it that those above had failed to realize there was a human girl with magical powers growing up down here? Botan had asked Neko a lot of questions about her parents and her family, uncovering a lot of nothing. Neko's family was all gone with the exception of her father. Yusuke felt sort of bad for her, having grown up with a mother and no father. Judging from Neko's lack of reaction when they found her house empty, she didn't see her father much.
After dropping her off, Botan had explained that it was Koenma's wish that they include Neko in their cases as a novice spirit detective. Hiei had looked ready to blow his top, but when Botan explained Koenma planned to train Neko independently for a time, he settled down. Yusuke yawned and stretched. Why was he even here? He'd gotten into high school by the skin of his teeth, but college wasn't in his future, so why try too hard?
"Wake up, Mr. Urameshi!" shouted the teacher. Yusuke looked at the grizzled old man frowning at him over two pairs of glasses.
Yusuke was tempted to just walk out, but his eyes were caught by Kayko's and he decided if he liked living he'd stay. Plenty of time to knock heads after school, it was a Friday.
Neko ran up to her room and dumped her book bag on the bed. Botan had told her to dress in loose clothing and to pack a couple of extra sets just in case. She was rather excited to have something so special and secret to do. Pausing in her preparation, Neko went to the mirror and looked at her reflection.
Her eyes shined back at her, light brown, but she was sure that sometimes they looked green. She grabbed a brush and ran it through her hair. It was almost to her elbows now, and she had to braid it to keep it out of her way during martial arts training with her father. What was she going to tell him? 'Hi Dad, I'm a sorceress going to train with the grim reaper?' She sighed and stroked her necklace. It was an old locket, supposedly from her mother. No matter how she'd tried, she couldn't open it, but now she wondered if keeping it on would be a good idea. What if something happened to it?
Her fingers slowly reached up and pulled at the knot holding the ribbon together. It took some time, but she eventually got it out and slipped the pendent off her skin. She set it aside and looked at herself again. She rubbed her throat, feeling slightly naked without her locket. Her hand hovered over the necklace, but she snatched it back.
With renewed conviction, Neko grabbed her duffle bag and shoved a few items in and left the room. She stopped on her way out to leave a note for her father and a message on his voice mail just in case. As she walked out the door, she felt something slide across her leg. She looked down at Kiri and smiled. Kneeling, she looked her cat in the eye and said, "I've got to go somewhere for a few days, you take care of dad, okay?" Kiri mewed and Neko gave her a final pat before closing the door.
Neko walked down the block and traced her steps from the past day to East Street, then she turned left and headed directly into the park. Botan had said she'd meet her near one of the ponds in the back next to the woods. She could feel her pace quicken as she neared her desired location. This was going to be an adventure like no girl had ever had before.
"Neko? You ready?" asked Botan. Neko looked up and saw Botan floating in the air on a paddle.
Neko blinked. "You're flying," she said.
Botan smiled. "And so will you when your training is done, or at least you'll be able to levitate for short periods of time." She held out a hand. "Grab a hold and I'll take us to Koenma's palace." Neko latched on and they flew off.
Hiei looked at his reflection and scowled. How? He was a fully grown demon, now this? It wasn't like he resented being a bit taller, but he'd made his peace with it long ago. Now he needed to replace some things and reorganize. It was a damned inconvenience, probably because he'd spent too much time around humans. Of course, they could prove quite amusing at times.
Right now he planned to go to his special meditation chamber and practice. His mind had been unusually noisy after that last case and he needed to maintain a cool calm to be in top form. He locked the door and sat down in the middle of the floor. The room was completely empty, no lights or cushions or windows. Hiei cleared his mind and drew his sword.
In the complete lack of light, he relied on his jagan for sight. As his sword crossed in front of his face, there was an unexpected flash and a vision overtook him. He could get visions when he was deep in meditation, but to have one so abruptly was unusual. This was his first thought, then he could only stand rock still, stunned. He saw his sister, Yukina, for the briefest second as always, but the vision didn't end there. There was a rush of sound and color and he was dropped into a strange scene. A child was running around a torturous playground set in a grassy field. Hiei was surprised at how closely the boy resembled him, except he wasn't him. Hiei couldn't remember a time when his eyes were ever that open and trusting. Then a silhouette of a woman appeared falling from the sky. As the figure same close enough for colors to begin to discern themselves as lighter and darker, there was a flash and Hiei was once again in the darkness of his meditation chamber.
Neko felt like crying. Koenma had locked her up in a magicked house in Spirit World. She couldn't get out, and the rooms kept switching! If she was going to train here, she'd need a schedule to tell her what was where and when. Neko had entered her first room oblivious to the fact that it was moving until she tried to go back to the entrance hall. Now she was staring at her tenth door. "I want out!" she said to it harshly. Her hands were fists, ready to break the door down. She grabbed the knob in a last attempt and opened the door.
It led back to the entrance. Neko cheered and ran for the front door. Her joy was short lived, because when she grabbed the handle, it threw her back into the opposite wall. She groaned and started to get back on her feet. A hand appeared in front of her and she looked up at its owner. A child-like person sucking on a pacifier stood in front of her. "You've passed the first test, I'm proud. From now on it won't be so easy."
Neko got to her feet and picked up her bag. "You're Koenma?"
He looked up at her. "How'd you guess?"
Neko shrugged. "Yusuke said you looked about four, and the pacifier gave you away for sure." She could see this bothered him and decided to change the subject. "So what comes next?"
Koenma pointed behind her and instead of a door, there was a hall. "At the end of that hall is a gym, I'll meet you there." He disappeared and Neko gaped.
"I hope I get to learn to do that," she said. She started down the dark hall and whistled to herself. As she walked, a higher pitch came to her ears and she stopped. What was that? The next moment, a shining disk was coming straight for her. Neko ducked and it continued passed. "What the heck was that?" Then she heard more whining and faced forward. A giant saw blade stuck up from the floor and started turning as a rumbling sound grew louder from behind. A quick glance told her the hall was collapsing and she ran forward to leap over the blade. As she landed, a spike jabbed up right next to her foot. She leapt away and looked up as a blade stuck out of the wall and swung at her midriff in a wide arc. The rumbling continued. "I'm going to kill that kid!" she screamed as she turned to face the hall and her next challenge.
Yusuke sat on the bench and watched as people passed. The sudden rush of detective cases had slowed during the past month or so, and he enjoyed the time he spent on his own with no one to bother him. It was such a peaceful Sunday afternoon…
"Hey! Give it back!" shouted a woman in the crowd. Yusuke turned his head and saw a man running towards him with a woman close behind. That guy didn't have a chance, he was practically stumbling over his feet—all three of them. The untrained eye would see two, but Yusuke could spot a third foot keeping time with the other two. The result looked awkward, but it was fast. Yusuke got up with a sigh and strolled out in front of the purse snatcher.
The guy collided with him and fell to the ground. The demon rubbed his head and glared at Yusuke. Just then, the woman caught up and grabbed her purse. She looked ready to scream, but just huffed and walked away. The demon stood up and dusted himself off, allowing Yusuke to inspect him. Yup, three legs, but one was somewhat transparent, so normal humans wouldn't be able to see it. "So what made you leave home?" Yusuke asked.
His latest case looked at him suspiciously. "What is it to ya?"
Yusuke smiled. "Oh, just wondering what a demon is doing snatching women's purses."
The guy bolted. Yusuke sneered and ran after him. They started weaving around less populated streets and entered a back alley. The demon stopped at the end of the street and turned. His human appearance vanished and his skin turned blue. "You want a fight, Spirit Detective?" it asked. Yusuke stretched and grinned. The blue demon held up his hands and fire balls appeared. "Ready to die?" It threw them at Yusuke.
Yusuke managed to deflect them using his spirit energy like a protective glove. "Is that the best you can do?" he taunted. The demon gave him a toothy grin and stepped aside. There was three smaller demons standing behind it. Then it moved to the side again and three more appeared. Yusuke blinked. Soon there were twelve new demons to fight. He prepared himself for a shotgun blast.
"Attack!" the demon shouted. The miniature copies jumped all over, scattering to attack Yusuke from all sides. Two fell to the ground with a squeal and turned to smoke. Yusuke and the demon looked up to see Kurama and Hiei on one of the fire escapes.
"Mind if we join in?" Kurama said. The two demons leapt and joined Yusuke on the ground. Yusuke looked at Hiei and figured he'd never get used to seeing him eye-to-eye.
"You'll all perish! Forward!" the demon cried. It ran in circles now, demons appearing and leaping away just as he returned to the spot to create more. Yusuke and his friends were hard pressed to keep up with the endless stream of demons. He was thinking of using a wide range attack to give them a breather, when a black hole laced with green lightning appeared above the alley.
A dark figure fell out of it. Kurama frowned. "That's a portal to Spirit World," he said. Yusuke beat away another blue face and looked at the newcomer. Was it help for them or the demon?
"Arrow!" cried a female voice, and a shining blue bow appeared in the stranger's hands. She pointed it at the big, blue demon and let loose and arrow of blue light. The demon cried out and tried to incinerate the shot with a fireball, but the arrow went right through to hit it in the chest. The demon fell back and pulled at the shaft to try and remove it. The glowing bow vanished and the arrow in the demon did as well.
The stranger walked over and held her hands over the monster. It shrieked and disappeared. She clapped her hands and turned to smile at Yusuke and his friends. "Hi! Long time no see."
Yusuke thought he'd gag. "Neko?!" he said in disbelief. Her clothes were rags wrapped around and tied on with string. Her purple hair was a nest, and her face was smudged with brown and black.
She came over and crossed her arms. "I just got a week of rest to come and attend school. Koenma has been running me through his house of terrors to teach me magic." Her eyes narrowed at an unseen target. "First came the moving rooms, then the hall of pointy and sharp objects with the occasional flying blade for variety. I just finished a hellish version of an archery tournament." She closed her eyes and swallowed. "I think he's testing my stomach as well as my magic."
Kurama watched her carefully. She looked exhausted, and her spirit energy was low. Suddenly her eyes closed and she began to fall like a puppet with the strings cut. Instantly, Hiei was by her side. He caught her and picked her up with his blank expression showing nothing. Among strangers this would pass as indifference, but to Yusuke and Kurama, it was a red flag in Hiei body language. "Let's get her home. When she wakes up we can ask her what she did to Buram," Hiei said.
Yusuke smiled. "That thing's name was Buram? Hunh, never heard of him." He turned and lead the way while Kurama and Hiei shared a look and shook their heads. Yes, Yusuke was a human. Sometimes his arrogance and powers made it hard to believe, but every now and then he'd find some way to remind them. Kuwabara didn't usually require a reminder, opening his mouth was typically enough.
They brought Neko to her house and found the doors unlocked and no one home. "What does her father do?" Kurama asked Yusuke as they wandered around looking for something to clean up the scratches Hiei had noticed on Neko's hands.
Yusuke shrugged. "Dunno. No doubt something that pays well, this place is nice." There was art everywhere, and an underlying theme of playing cards in almost every piece. "Hey, maybe he's a high-stakes gambler," Yusuke joked. He found a bottle of rubbing alcohol under the kitchen sink along with a bag of cotton balls and various bandages.
He was on his way back to the living room when he spotted Kurama peeking around the corner of the hall. As Yusuke approached, Kurama held up a finger to his lips and the spirit detective slowly crept up and looked into the living room.
Hiei sat on the couch next to Neko's head. He'd propped her head up with a pillow and was frowning at the wall. The scandalous thing was, one of his hands was leisurely stroking her mussed hair. The two peeping Toms held their breath as Neko's eyes fluttered open and Hiei's hand leapt back to his side. She looked at him and smiled a small smile. "…home," was all the two could hear of Neko's whisper. Then her eyes went to the hall. "You two can come out now."
Kurama and Yusuke came walking calmly out as if they had been minding their own business. Hiei's cold glare told them he suspected something, but Neko's eyes weren't judging. "Brought something for those scratches of yours," Yusuke said. He knelt and opened the bottle.
Neko tried to sit up, but Hiei's hand reached out and pulled her back down. She glared daggers at him, but said nothing. Hiei glared back. Kurama and Yusuke were content to watch this battle, but Hiei eventually growled, "Are you going to stand there like idiots or are you going to be useful?" Yusuke snorted his indifference to Hiei's gruff manner and applied some alcohol to Neko's scratches. She winced and lost the showdown.