--Yusuke and Kuwabara had just gone to see what the commotion near the ocean was. Hiei and Tora had practically blown each other away--

"Ah..." Hiei's voice was shaky and weak as he tried to rise from his back. Things were blurry in his vision and he could only really see out his left eye of the three he had. Everything seemed to look black and smoke was still swirling around.

"Hiei! Is that you down there!?"

"Heh. Funny. I thought I heard Yurameshi for a second there-Wait..." Hiei's vision cleared up a bit and at the edge of the cliff he could see little figures who were Yusuke and Kuwabara looking down at him. "Oh-great..."

"Let's get down there..." Yusuke said, searching for a way down.

Kuwabara flinched, "What!? Can't you see all that smoke? Ask him what's down there first?"

Yusuke shook his head, "Don't be such a baby. Here, follow me."

"Grr... I'm not being a baby! I just thought it would be a good idea to go down prepared..."

"Ow! Ah-where is she?" Hiei groaned, managing to rise up on his elbows. He could see something lying down in the distance. It was for sure Tora. She was a little slumped up against the wall. "There you are. Grr... Can't get up..."

"Whoops!" Yusuke fell to his back and slid down the wall with Kuwabara right behind him. "Don't worry-Hiei-Helps coming!"

"How fortunate for me..." Hiei closed his eyes and fell unconscious.

When he had open them again, he was lying in a bed, bandaged up very well. He almost felt like he had a straight jacket on. Looking around at the surroundings, he guessed that he was in a hospital that dealt with combatants of the Silver Stadium. To his left, Tora was sleeping silently, also bandaged up quite well. Out the window on his right he could see that it was noon. He wondered what the Hell he was thinking by being so ruthless in the battle with Tora. It must have been because she was irritating him. At the same time he also felt...

"How are you doing, Hiei!?" Yusuke trampled in with Kuwabara beside him and Ukina, Kurama, Botan, and Keiko coming in behind them.

Hiei rolled his eyes; a little confused that all of them would show up to see him. They were talking but he couldn't really hear them because he was thinking about the battle and Tora again... I bet she is as much a loner as I am. Even with others around... always alone... I wonder if she feels that way...

Yusuke continued to babble when he finally noticed that Hiei wasn't even listening, "Hey! I'm trying to cheer you up here!"

"Geez! He never listens because he thinks he's better than us!" Kuwabara clenched the bar at the side of Hiei's bed, staring at his face. "Huh!? You're still not listening, are you!?"

"Would you shut up," Tora's muffled voice finally was heard.

They all turned to see her glare then close her eyes. Hiei glanced over as well. Then Kuwabara leaned towards Yusuke to whisper, "You know-I don't trust her. She seems really suspicious..."

Kurama stared at her face until he recognized her, "Wait. Aren't you that girl from the forest?" then he looked at Hiei again and asked, "Why would you get in a fight with her?"

"She asked for it..." Hiei quickly replied.

"Well, you shouldn't have been following me!" Tora snapped.

Kuwabara and Yusuke started chuckling. Then Botan and Keiko joined them. Ukina looked confused, "What's so funny?" Botan whispered into her ear and then she started to giggle too.

Hiei was getting mad, "Would you just go away!"

A senior nurse came in, "Excuse me, but if you kids are disturbing the patients, I must ask that you leave."

They all hushed. Then the nurse nodded and continued on her way. Kuwabara saw Hiei's tray of food with pudding on it. He snatched it and dug a spoon in it. Yusuke cleared his throat, "So-Hiei-Is she your new 'friend?'"

Tora growled then slid further under her covers. Hiei noticed then blushed a little, "Just leave me alone!"

Kurama chuckled, "Heh. Maybe we should go. Koenma has some things he needs to tell us-you know about that 'situation...' He wants us to get to spirit world right away."

Kuwabara finished the pudding then said, "Okay!" then he darted over to Ukina, "It is my duty to ensure the safety and protection of you, princess. And I..."

"Alright, let's go," Yusuke said and yanked Kuwabara away quickly, "Get well soon, tuff guy," he said to Hiei.

"Yes, take care, Hiei..." Ukina smiled and left with the others who were also smiling and waving.

"What a group..." Tora said, still with the covers over her face.

Hiei was not yet sure how to feel when people showed some sort of affection towards him. He just wasn't use to it. He stared over at Tora, wondering how her mind worked. He then applied his telepathy powers on her. She was thinking about... Hiei's eyes widened as he read her mind. Was she actually thinking about him? He could have been reading her mind wrong and be mistaking affection with vengeful feelings because he was still recovering. Though now, his own thoughts were going crazy. Tora popped her head out of the covers, being sick of breathing in the obnoxious smell of the hospital covers. She yawned, but not sleepily. Hiei hadn't realized that he was still staring at her but continued to do so anyway. Tora's neck hurt to turn so she didn't try to look over to see him but she felt like someone was watching her. Hiei read that off her mind very clearly and his face burned of embarrassment as he jerked his head away.

"Dammit..." he whispered in pain after snapping his neck so abruptly.

Tora leered over at him, "...I hate these places. They're for the weak-and I am not weak..."

Hiei took a moment to answer, "...Of course not..."

Tora raised an eyebrow, "Huh? Did you just say that I'm NOT weak???"

"Uh..." now more thoughts were racing through his mind. He was taking to long to say something and the silence was driving him insane, "...You're not weak but-you're-not as strong as me." He shook his head a little in disgrace at himself.

Tora narrowed one eye, feeling completely puzzled about him. She sort of admired his strength but she of course would never admit it. She was a little afraid to say anything now. So instead she just gazed around at her annoying surroundings of white painted walls, operating tools, and hospital beds. Outside the door they could hear doctors and nurses rushing up and down the halls, ordering people to clear the way and stuff. Tora felt somewhat awkward with no one saying anything so she tried to pretend that Hiei had fallen asleep, which was completely possible. He wasn't though. He hated sleeping during the day and he could obviously see daylight shining right into his face.

"I hate hospitals too," he murmured.

Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama stood before the child form of Koenma, "Wow! That was a fun ride to get here!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"Normally, this wouldn't be a place that anyone wants to be in..." Kurama said.

"So here's the whole deal..." Koenma took a deep breath, "We have analyzed Kitsune and the results have informed us that she will grow into a fifteen year old in approximately two months... Then she will be old enough to wield her inner powers fairly well. But the results also say that when she has taken the form of her twenty year old self-that is the time she will be at her full potential-and that is not good because the powers held in her heart are for evil intentions. Akkei made sure of that before he disappeared. So..."

"Wait! So where do we come in?" Yusuke interrupted.

"I was just getting to that," he griped. "Akkei has a special locket called Kokoro which he has hidden in a strange castle built into unknown mountains down to the south. This locket is the key to Kitsune's soul. Her soul would be purified if we could get that locket and string it around her neck..."

"Oh. So you want us to go get it, right?" Yusuke inquired.

Koenma rubbed his head, "Of course, you idiot! Now, get moving! Here if you can't seem to find it, Botan will tell you where to go. She must stay with everyone else in Mitsui because the Flying Dragon Tournament is soon to begin and until you guys return they will have alternates in to fight for you." Koenma handed Yusuke a communicator device.

"And who might that be?" Kuwabara narrowed his eyes.

"Well, I say this will be quite exciting, yeah!?" Jin merrily said as he flipped around in the air.

Touya was sitting on the ground, meditating. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama stood watching Jin flying all over the place. Botan joined them and explained, "It seems that Koenma has left me in charge of assembling a good team so of course I called up Jin, Touya, Chu, and Rinku. But Chu and Rinku have already got a team-Now, I have to find two more fighters..."

"Two? Don't you mean three?" Yusuke scratched his head.

"No, two. I've spoken to Tora, that girl Hiei had a fight with and she agreed to join and Hiei will be staying behind..."

Yusuke widened his eyes, "Huh!? Why?"

"He is still recovering and you guys are suppose to leave today. He isn't ready for the mission you guys are going on but he'll be ready to fight in the tournament. So now I must scout for two more fighters... You guys better get moving before Koenma gets really mad at you."

"Uh, okay. But you better not get anyone who isn't going to help because... Wait! Why do you need two more if you already have four?"

"Oh, Yusuke. Don't you remember that in the Flying Dragon Tournament, they require six fighters instead of five because they really like longer fights? I guess. Now get moving!" Botan cautioned then returned to a paper that she was reading.

So, then Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama waved good-bye to Botan and all the others who came to see them off and they headed out for Akkei's Castle.

--So what do you think? Jin's accent probably won't even sound like an accent if I have him talk more in the future but what are your opinions on my story? Improvements needed?--