AN: Sorry about the long wait everyone. I was going to pull my usual stunt of starting something I couldn't finish, but didn't have to heart to. I don't know if I like my fic so far (everyone says it's good, but I really don't know...), but I'm gonna go with it for now. So I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Me: That's it. I'm not saying it. Hiei, you can do it.

Hiei: Hn. Youko-chan doesn't own me or Kurama or YuYu Hakusho no matter how many times she says she does. She only owns that stupid kid, Shiri.

Shiri: I am not stupid!

Hiei: Baka....

Me: Ahem...since when do you two just waltz up and take over?

Hiei: Since you made us.

Me: Oh...okay sure. On with the fic!

~~~~~Stone, Brick and Mud~~~~~

~~~Hiei's POV~~~

"Remind me Kurama. Why the hell are we here?" Another smelly beast of a demon passed me by. The odor was overwhelming, which made me wonder about Kurama. Knowing his keen senses, this place must be simply putrid for him to be anywhere near.

Kurama sighed and said "Because Koenma hasn't really had any missions for us. That and there may be a great deal of rewards." Kurama looked up and over at a wisp of smoke rising from a chimney. "Smells like iron. I'm guessing a weapons smith, no doubt..."

"What else would it be?" I kicked a small rock in my path. It tumbled aimlessly and settled on the dusty, earthen path again. I was becoming annoyed with the place, and quickly. As much as I hated to admit, the thought of returning to the ningenkai was more and more comforting every moment. "Damn it! I've had it with this place!" Kurama, obviously lost in thought, wheeled around to stare at me.

"My, what's gotten into you? Your more short-tempered than usual..." His gaze and his words drifted off to a youthful demon walking down the street. He was carrying what looked to be a basket of food. The load was awkward and I laughed as the basket's contents went spilling out onto the roadway. Kurama, however, was sympathetic and rushed to assist him.

"I swear, those damn humans are making him soft..."I watched Kurama kneel down to pick up a stray potato when I heard a noise. I snapped my attention over my right shoulder, down a dark, narrow alleyway. A shadowy figure was peeking out from behind a few crates, his glimmering eyes bright like a cat's.

"Hey mister! Come quickly!" He beckoned me with his small hand, waving me forward. I was about to turn away when he finally caught my attention. "The red-head won't miss you sir, come here!"

Not wanting the kid to get any ideas, I walked over. "What the hell do you want?"

"Closer now. Don't be shy! I've something special for you, my friend!" He looked deeply into my eyes, searching for who knew what. I put my complete focus on the boy's dusted face. Looking....looking..."NOW!" He shouted.

"What the--" CRASH! A whole mess of rocks, dust and debris came crashing, tumbling, and spraying on top of me. I had so much focus on the boy, I didn't even have the time to react. "Damn you! You all better run cause I'm going to kill you!" I let my anger subside as I brushed myself off. 'Damn heathens....as if my day wasn't bad enough already...'

I heard a slight chuckle behind me. I turned to see Kurama, his hand held over his mouth, an amused look in his eyes. "Not a word, fox..." His hand dropped and his face turned to a look of complete innocence. I trudged out of the alleyway, bits and pieces of debris falling off now and again. "There's only one thing I hate more than human children and that's demon children..."

Kurama had no comment, but instead turned his head and started walking again. I heard another quiet laugh evade his attempts to conceal his amusement. "Ahem. So Hiei, was there anything in particular you wanted to do?"

"Hn." All I wanted to do was leave, but I didn't foresee that happening anytime soon. "I don't care what the hell we do as long as we stay away from those damn children..."

He sighed. "Very well then. I guess we'll just keep looking around then..."

"Hey hey! Urameshi! Come check this out!" Somehow we managed to run into the only person I had wanted to avoid. "Look at this sword! This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" I spotted the idiot a we rounded a corner.

"Hey Hiei, Kurama." The Spirit Detective looked at what must have been a thin sheet of dust covering my jacket. "What happened to you? You fall into a cow pen or something."

I was about to say something when I felt a light tap on my back. I refrained from any further thoughts on the matter and looked at what Kuwabara was ranting about. Sure enough he held a long, slender decorative sword. The details were amazing, but the weapon was hardly practical. "Looks like a piece of crap to me."

"Whatever! This thing is sweet!" Before he had time to protest, I snatched the blade from his hands and studied it.

"Hm..." I turned it over in my hands and then held it straight in front of me. I was surprised when I felt how well balanced it was. The blade was a good weight; heavy enough to do significant damage, yet light enough to make it easy to manipulate. "Guess it's not that bad..." I tossed at Kuwabara and he made every effort not to get cut.

"So I've got pretty good taste, don't I?" He gave me a dopey grin. I took a deep breath and decided it wasn't worth my comment.

I strolled around the shop for a moment, peering over the vast numbers of swords, daggers, crossbows and longbows that littered the room. That's when a heavy blade in the back of the room caught my eye. It was blaze red, finely decorated and quite beautiful.

"You like it?" An unknown voice asked me. I looked over to see a pudgy demon with slimy green skin looking eagerly at me. I picked up the sword. I was amazed as I nearly dropped it, barely catching myself.

"Damn. Heavier than it looks." I eyed it carefully. The hilt was ornate with bright red scales of various sizes. I turned it slowly and they shimmered. I smiled slightly at it's beauty. "It's a fine weapon, but my style isn't suited for it. Something lighter would be more practical."

"Lighter...sir? Well let's see...Ah yes! We have a brand new Crimson Dragon Shear. It was just finished this morning. Would you like to take a look?"

I shrugged. "Why not?" The gringy demon disappeared behind a cloth curtain and soon emerged with another bright red sword. It was a long slender katana, decorated much in the fashion of the other sword. He handed it to me and I unsheathed it. Little did I know that an audience of three was watching my every move.

I went through the same routine as the first; looking it over, testing it's balance. I was very pleased to find that the weight was perfect and the blade was completely balanced. "What do you want for it?" I asked, turning to the shop keeper.

"Your the men that Lord Shiri sent for, am I correct?" I nodded. "Then it's of no charge. I'm honored to be assisting my Lord with his duties in any way. It is more than enough for payment.

I was a bit shocked, but relieved. I didn't have much of anything on me, except my old katana and a bit of change. I pulled my savings from my pocket and handed them to the man. "I trust you can check the condition on this and make any repairs if need be?" I held out my sword and he nodded. He took it from me and left, saying to come back first thing tomorrow.

I threw off my coat and fastened the new blade around my waist. As I looked up I found three pairs of eyes looking at me in bewilderment. "Idiots..."

~~~Yusuke's POV~~~

The four of walked out of the shop. I stretched and took in a breath of air. "Ah...You know, I never thought I'd say this, but I kinda like gettin' out of the city for once. Kinda getting used to all this running around." I was met with an easy silence. "Right...guess I'm the only one who thinks so."

I walked with my hands behind my head. "Huh?" Stupid demons and their stupid languages. I couldn't read the sign outside but then I spotted it. "Hey guys! Why don't we grab some lunch!" I saw a female demon toting around what looked to be some pretty decent food. No one complained, so I headed in.

I came face to face with what had to be the cutest looking demon I had ever run into. "Hello gorgeous..." I said half to myself.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. If you'd like, please follow me to a table." She turned sharply and lead us to a booth in the corner, if that's what you would call it... "Your food will be out in just a few moments." I could see Kuwabara's mouth open to say something, but stop.

"Jeeze. Not even gonna ask what we want?" He put his elbow up on the table and rested his chin in his hand.

"So Yusuke, have you decided whether or not we are accepting this mission?" Kurama looked intently at me.

"Well, I was gonna wait until I got to talk to you guys about. I mean, yeah, that's what I had in mind, but I want to leave it open."

"Hn. How considerate." Hiei crossed his arms on the table and rested his head. Occasionally he blew off a piece of dust that floated off from somewhere.

"Well, it seems logical that if we are here, we might as well stay and finish what we came here to do. The only question I had was about Koenma. He's made no effort that I know to contact us. But, are we so sure that he is alright with this mission?" He ran his crimson hair through his fingers.

"Yeah. It is kinda of strange that the little brat hasn't said anything. Maybe he knew about?" Just as I was finishing, a stubby old lady came from what must have been the kitchen. She carried four plates of food and one tray with drinks on it.

"Here'ses yer food." She said as the plates practically crashed onto the table. She slammed the mugs down on the table as well and scuttled off.

"Sheesh. What a nasty old hag..." I turned and looked at the food with distaste. It was no comparison to the breakfast we had had. It looked stale and old. I hesitantly picked up and plate and gazed around unnoticeably at everyone else, seeing that they too were not thrilled. "Dig in, guys..."

I took a bite of my loaf. It was dry and chalky. I took a drink from my mug and immediately spat it out. "What the hell is this?!?!" That was it. "WAITER!" The old hag bustled out from the kitchen.

"What du ye's want?" She said with a hand on her hip.

"This stuff tastes like crap! There's no way in hell you making me eat this!" My eyebrows drew close as I glared in disgust.

"You dun like ma recipe, boy? Den I guess ye's better git out a ma restaurant." Her face reminded me of a toad, all saggy and covered in warts. I was sick of looking at her.

"Heh. No problem here." I said. I turned to the table to see Kurama trying to drink the weird beverage, at which his nose wrinkled. He set it down and stood up, a bit of a sick look on his face.

We walked out and never looked back. "Man, that was the worst stuff I ever tasted!" I exclaimed. I was met with general acceptance.

Kurama still had his nose wrinkled a bit from experimenting with the drink. "I'm not sure what was in those glasses, but I'll make note never to touch it again..." He lifted his arm up and his mouth and rubbed his sleeve back in forth.

As we walked down the street I was relieved to find us wandering through a busy market, bustling with more of a crowd than I had previously seen throughout the town. Everywhere you looked someone was selling some sort of craft or clothing or food. I heard several people whispering and decided to ignore them. Some guy was selling fresh fruit, so I decided to check it out.

~~~Kurama's POV~~~

The number of people continued to grow as we waded further into the market place. I soon lost track of Yusuke and Kuwabara and only managed to see Hiei's dark hair in the crowd. "H-hiei!" I shouted as I found myself lost in the sea of demons. I found myself backing up further and further. Suddenly, a hand reached out and covered my mouth, dragging me into an empty alleyway.

I felt the hand slip away and I turned around. "Who are--" I stopped to look at a tall, thin girl looking shyly at me. "--you." I finished. The girl gave me bright smile but then looked out to the crowd. She started motioning to the many people passing by. I looked back and then forward. She then pretended to hold something in her hand and take a bite out of it.

She was mute obviously. But she was hungry, and by the looks of it, she needed every bit of nourishment she could get. "Would you like something to eat?" I asked trying to sound friendly. She nodded excitedly, her long, dirty blonde hair whipping around wildly. "Very well then. Shall we go look around?" She nodded again and grabbed onto my sleeve. "But can you do me one favor?" She looked up, waiting. "I'm looking for my friend. He's rather short, has reddish eyes, short black hair with white streaks and dresses darkly. If you see him, just tug on my arm, okay?" She gave me another big smile and began pulling me through the streets.

AN: Hey again everyone! It's Youko-chan! I was really happy with the first part of the chapter. I don't know why, but I felt like picking on Hiei.

Hiei: Hn...

Me: As you can tell, he wasn't too happy about.

Kurama: I thought it was nice.

Me: Why thank you Kurama! At least someone does!

Hiei: Kissing up to her, are we?

Kurama: ...

Me: Right...So anyway, I hope you please review my work! Reviews tend to make people work faster. Especially me 'cause I get lazy sometimes.

Hiei: Got that right.

Me: -_-

Kurama: Until next time! Hope to see you next chapter!