"Kummy-san.....Kummy-san.......Wait for me Kummy-san....." THWUMP! The young girl fell out of bed onto the cold floor of her apartment. "Ouch!" She gingerly rubbed her head as she stood to look out of the window. Tokyo. What a great place to start over. She thought sadly, remembering all the good times. Kummy-san...I miss you. She remembered the red-haired boy fondly. But he had left her, and that's all there is to it. She grabbed her brush and vainly to tame her mad locks. "I wish my hair wasn't so crappy." She pouted her pretty girl face and tied up her flowing white hair into a pony-tail. Kummy- san...Kummy-san....please come back. She pulled on her school-uniform and grabbed her bag. Kummy-san.....Kuranma....I wish you would come back. She took a look around the apartment, and left.
Meanwhile back at the ranch...
Kuranma smiled bravely at his companions. "Yusuke, I have to run an errand. I'll be right back." Kuwabara smirked. "Just bring me back a nice thing of something. Catch my drift." A white-haired girl walked down the apartment stairs, right across the street. Kuranma glanced at her and smiled a small smile. "Excuse me. I have to pay a surprise visit." He walked across the street, amid gawking from Yusuke and Kuwabara, and cold calculated stares from Hiei.
The girl paused as she saw the red-haired man walking towards her. Kummy-san....you came back. She clenched her schoolbag tightly. "Good morning Astraea. How are-" Astraea thwacked Kuranma across the face with her schoolbag. She smiled sweetly. "There. Now we're even. Who are your friends?" He rubbed his head and bowed slightly. "I'll introduce you." They walked back across the street.
Yusuke gawked. "Damn. That's one fine looking lady. Wonder where she comes from." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "She's wearing the Sara uniform....so she must go to Sara....but that's the upper-classmen model...the high schooler model...I got it!" He thwapped his fist into his palm. "She's a high schooler. A Sara High student!" His face looked cattish. "And Kuranma knows her...very well it seems..."
Hiei stared at the girl. "She's not human. So why is she so social on a human level? No demon would ever live that low unless they had a reason...." He stopped speaking, silent in his contemplation.
Kuwabara stopped playing with his knife at Hiei's comment and looked up at the girl's aura. "She's as human as a butterball. So how does Kuranma know her?" He flipped his knife back into the sheath. "He'll tell us, eventually right?"
Kuranma stopped, noticing how his friends were staring so hard at Astraea. He poked her arm, trying to make her not pay any attention to their stares. She blinked and looked at him peevishly. He smiled and turned towards the group. "Everyone this is-"
Hiei cut him off. "Not human. We know that. Tell us something we don't know. Like what does she do?"
Astraea scowled. "I am too human. Isn't everybody? I mean come on. Kummy-san, please tell me you don't still believe in that crap." She sighed in exasperation as her hair tie popped out. "Crap I hate this dratted hair. Keeps getting thick unless it's wet..." She looked up. "What? Stop staring at me."
Yusuke poked her face. "So this is the former top dog of Sara jr. Not much of a fighter are you? I could whoop you in four seconds flat."
Kuranma jumped in between the two of them. "Now come on Yusuke. She did nothing wrong to you. Hey cut that out!" Astraea held up Kuranma's Rose Whip, fresh pulled from his hair. "I'll just borrow this for a tick. And swish and flick! Here we go!" The Rose Whip changed its shape under a new master to kantana. "Nifty. I need to get one of these. Useful in battle and whatnot." She brandished the Rose Kantana and glared at Yusuke. "What did you say about me? Coming from a wet-nosed brat like you? You haven't even learned what a real fight is!" She lunged forward and expertly swept behind him, locking him in place with the kantana at his throat. "Tough break brat. I'm not called 'Mad-eyed Star' for nothing. Hell, your mother even knows and respects me. And she's the biggest mafia chick in Japan!" She spun Yusuke around and kept him walking backward, kantana at his throat. Yusuke had difficulty breathing. He kept walking backwards, trying to stay at least one step away from this bloodthirsty girl. He gulped, his Adam's apple hitting the edge. A trickle of blood appeared at the tip. Hiei snorted. "Stop putting up an act. You're demon, admit it. What kind of demon are you? And stop playing with the Spirit Detective!" He smirked. "You can tell them, or I'll kill you." Astraea looked at Hiei with contempt. "When will you people grow up? There is no such thing as a demon. And you can't kill someone in broad daylight. I am a drama major, so I have an excuse. Oy! Kummy-san! Here. You can have this back." She tossed Kuranma the Rose Whip, which changed back into a rose as she threw it. Kuranma caught his Rose Whip and stuffed it back into his hair. "Astraea....that was unnecessary. Yusuke, that was very rude. Well, this is Astraea. She used to be my next-door neighbor." He bowed slightly, and she returned the courtesy. "Yeah, but then when you turned fifteen you left. Do you know how bad that was? I got stuck defending your mother and your reputation as decent human beings! Then your mom admitted that you probably weren't coming back, so she gave me all the stuff you didn't take with you. That was just about everything! If I hear even one word from that stupid book Les Encyclopedia de Demonology or even the other stupid book The Compleat Atlas of Magi I will simply throw this book bag at you! As full of stuff as it is even this should make a mark on your inflated head!" She huffed and began walking away. Astraea casually held up a hand in hello as Botan walked bye, and smiled cheerfully. Yusuke's jaw dropped. "Botan! What are you doing here? How do you know that violent girl?" He pointed an accusatory finger at Botan, then at Astraea. "How do you two know each other?" Botan and Astraea turned around and faced Yusuke. Then they spoke in unison. "Because we're both on the same sheet of music." They looked at each other and smiled. Astraea rushed in speaking. "We met over a creative writing assignment. I thought it might be interesting to interview a fortune teller. I guess she thought it might be fun to talk to a normal person. We also belong to the same book club." Botan nodded. "I'll see you around. I have to talk to Yusuke about something." She turned away, expecting Astraea to leave. She paused and waited for a few minutes until Yusuke exploded, "Get on with it!" She held up a finger for silence. "Well, actually Astraea was lying. I asked Koenma for her background." Koenma pinged in. "Yo. What's up?" Astraea screamed and pointed a finger at Koenma. "Oh my god! There's a boy floating in the air! What the hell?" Koenma turned around. "That proves it. You are Astraea Sakura I presume?" She nodded dumbly. "Ah! That explains quite a bit. You see miss, your family has the prominent history of demon association. Your father happens to be the subject of Yusuke's next mission. In other words, you are half demon. By choosing to be born in the mortal realms, you have chosen the side of humans. The Sakura family is traditionally the Spirit Detective. You passed it up. You are also the first human being to ever subconsciously translate any Other Realm book. Congrats. You have also surpassed in aura any of my previous expectations and hopes." Astraea blinked. "I have no idea what you just said. What do you have to do with my mother?" Koenma cleared his throat once or twice. "I helped you mother to escape from your father's clutches, and to the Human Realm. We both hoped you would gain enough of an aura to...uh....exorcise....your father. If you can do this, I will personally guarantee that I will have someone teach you how to control that formidable aura." Astraea steamed, and sank back into herself, allowing some inner demon to take control. Her aura flashed out and began to solidify in a tiny ball. When Yusuke opened his eyes, a tiny black cat was sitting on the ground in front of Astraea. It yawned and showed its massive fangs. The cat mewed. "I'm hungry. Feed me please mommy." She leaned down and bit her thumb, sprinkling three drops of blood into the thing's open mouth. It solidified, and a passerby exclaimed "Oh that is such a darling kitten. Astraea dear, you take good care of it. I'll ignore the no animal rule. Oh it's so darling and frail." Astraea smiled. "Thank you Ms. Kawasaki. You are a very kind landlord. I think I'll call it Killer. Quite the oxymoron." The passerby smiled. "Of course. I have some shopping to do. I'll pick you up some good cat things. I'll see you later." The black cat waited until the landlord was gone. "Thank you mother. I vote we go kill grandfather." Astraea softly spoke, as if she was almost dead. "Of course you do. That's why I created you. I hate this magic stuff. Every time I want to do something, I have to bleed three drops of blood on it. It sucks." She held her hand down, and the little black cat hopped up. "I can control my own aura. I don't need anyone or anything's help! I know my own family history and I know that you are supposed to be Jr. Ruler of the Other Realms. I'm not stupid. I can read you know." Kuranma sighed. It was going to be a long and painful day. Kuwabara just looked at the girl. "Hey. Come with us. WE have to go get rid of your dear old dad anyway. Chill out." Yusuke gulped and rubbed his neck. "I hate women....." Hiei looked her up and down. "I suppose you can come. I need more backup." Astraea snorted. "Dream on."