Yuriko woke up in what looked to be the backyard of her house. What was she doing there? The teen scowled for a moment and looked around, seeing if her attacker was near. The little clubhouse her parents had built her when she was younger stood peacefully, surrounded by a nice lawn of lush green grass. She looked around more. The back of her house was still the same with the sliding glass door and the pots of plants her mother had put out to grow while the summer lasted. Hm...nothing was amiss so why did she have her stomach in knots? Getting up, Yuriko went over to the clubhouse. If anything, the person who had brought her out here could hide in there and she wouldn't risk it. She pushed the cloth entrance aside and peeked in before venturing further in. The small space was nicely decorated with a small built in desk in the corner, bean bag chairs, and a radio off to the side. No one was here.

"Huh...whats going on here?"

They watched from the glass window, watching the girl's every move. Two demons, one in a white lab coat, the other with a tattered loin cloth, were standing in a hallway, one way mirrors all along the walls. There were other beings behind the mirrors just like Yuriko, all in their own little 'habitats' and having no idea whatsoever that they were in observation rooms.

"This is the other priestess that the Youko killed?"

"Hai, she has an identical ki, not to mention her striking resemblance to the woman."

"Good. We will begin procedures soon."

"Yes, sir."

Ningenkai

"Are you ready yet, Yusuke?!" Kuwabara bellowed at his friend's closed door.

"Gimme a minute, pea brain, and I will be!" Yusuke threw his door open and glared at the street fighter who glared in return. You could practically see the bolts firing between them.

"Now now, why don't we just be on our way?"

"Stay out of this, Kurama!" Both boys shouted in unison. The kitsune's eyebrow twitched, but he kept himself in check. Hiei snorted.

"I say we leave them behind." The fire apparition didn't even wait for a response as he left the rest of his 'team' to themselves.

It was a sunny day out. Clouds were scattered out here and there and the song of birds was drifting along lazily in the gentle breeze. Yep, it was summer all right. Hiei just smirked and allowed his feet to lead him down the sidewalk for lack of anything else to do. He watched as others passed by him, either chatting quite happily with their friends or busying themselves with some other nonsense. They were so oblivious to the danger out to destroy their world but in a way, it was comforting. For them, anyway. They wouldn't have to live their lives in fear, wondering who would try to kill them next. They were all lucky bastards.

"Hiei, wait!" Hiei turned to spot Kurama running to catch up.

"What is it?"

"I'm going with you, those two are about to destroy the house."

"Hn."

Their walk didn't last long. They found themselves in a park, Hiei perched in a tree as usual and Kurama sitting on the bench below. They were thankful that there weren't many people wandering around the area as well, leaving them time to speak.

"Will you be able to carry out this mission without your 'better half' popping up?"

"...I don't know, Hiei."

"Well you best know soon. We can't have you killing her, Fox, even if you do hold a grudge against her."

"It wasn't like that..."

The fire apparition snorted. "Are you telling me that there was more between the two of you? Just what exactly happened?"

"We....I...Youko used her for her body. A lot. I still have the memories. When I saw her picture, it was like my skull was going to split in half. I remember her screams, her moans....her curse. She swore she would always be there to haunt me, to laugh at me from the shadows. She also told me that I would become nothing. I snapped her neck..."

"Hn. Sounds like you two were really in love." Hiei replied sarcastically.