Disclaimer: I don't own YYH.

Thanks to my reviewers:

Deadly-darkclaw- Thanks a lot! I'm really glad you like it so far!

Angelkitsune- lol…sorry I'm taking Touya away from you…but the story must go on! You can flame me all you want for this pairing, I don't mind. I'm glad you think it's good, though.

sara-chan10- I'm glad you like it! I didn't add more romance in the other story because I didn't want it to turn out as a romance fic, and I haven't updated because the next few chapters got deleted from my computer. I'll try to update it soon, though!

hiei-sister- Thanks a lot! I'm glad you like it!

sakurasango- Glad you like it so far!

Nekala- I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Here's the next chapter, sorry it took a while. Enjoy and please review!

…………………

I awoke the next morning at the end of a dream. Though, I couldn't remember it. All I knew is that it was about a girl, I had had the dream before, and it was always about the same girl.

Not that I knew which girl...the image always blurred when I tried to remember it.

I stretched and sat on my bed, like I did every morning, organizing the events of the day ahead.

7:00 Wake up

7:30 Eat a light breakfast

8:30 Train

12:00 Break for lunch

1:00 Sparring match with Tara

Wait...sparring match with Tara.

I had to cancel that for some reason.

But why?

Then I remembered.

The birthday party for Urameshi.

"Jin," I hissed, saying his name as if it was a curse word. He had pulled me into this.

Grumbling to myself, I got dressed and went down to the dining hall of the dojo. Before I had reached the bottom step, that Wind Master was grinning into my clearly annoyed face.

"What the heck do you want now?" I growled. His goofy grin was the LAST thing I wanted to see at this time of the morning.

His face sobered a bit at the tone of my voice, but still he began to babble about the wonderful gift he had gotten for Urameshi. And sure, it was wonderful...if you would call a tank top with a tornado on the front wonderful.

Then he switched to an entirely different subject...music. For some reason, he considered the wildly out-of-tune music called karaoke to be the most amazing thing on the planet. At least, he made it sound that way.

You see, Jin is not very hard to impress. In battle, yes, but in terms of the wonders the Human World has to offer...no. And this is why he finds karaoke to be much more amazing than space travel.

Soon, he was yapping about ningen shops called nail salons and how ningen females go to these shops to make their fingernails and toenails look pretty to impress all the attractive males in town.

Finally, I couldn't take his jabbering anymore. "Zip it!" I snapped, and strode into the dining hall. Jin, highly insulted, flew off to wrap Urameshi's gift.

As I walked into the hall, I saw a flash of gold. Before I knew it, I was on the polished wood floor of the dojo with an orange-eyed girl smirking down from her kneeling position atop my abdomen.

"Got you again!" she said happily, flicking the gold strands of hair from her eyes.

"I'm NOT in the mood, Tara," I hissed.

She gave me a disappointed look. "Looks like Toy got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," she complained.

Toy...yet another ridiculous nickname. I am surrounded by bakas.

"I did not! Don't call me that! And get off!" I ordered, pushing her back.

Her fingers clutched my shoulders. "It's not nice to hit a lady," she scolded. "And it's rude to talk to me in that manner. I won't get off until you apologize."

"I told you, I'm not in the mood for your games," I snarled. "Get off me. Now."

"No."

I was used to this treatment from her. Usually I would apologize to her, or bribe her with the promise of a match later on, but this morning was not a good time to get on my bad side.

I grabbed her around the middle and pushed her beneath me. She looked at me in shock. I had never done this before.

"I warned you," I spat. My ice sword formed around my right hand, and I drove it into the wood not even an inch from her head. She gasped.

"You're lucky I'm not willing to fight this morning," I said, pulling my arm out and releasing her. I stood and walked away. "By the way, I'm calling off our match later," I said over my shoulder.

"What?!" she exclaimed. I had never called off one of our matches, either.

I ignored her. I threw myself down into a chair at the table. Luckily, not many Shinobi were awake yet. No one had seen our little scrimmage on the floor.

What was making me like this? Why was I in such a bad mood?

It was that cursed party at Urameshi's house. I despise foolish ningen parties.

I felt someone sit beside me, and I sensed an electric aura. It was Tara.

"I'm not in the mood," I growled.

"Something's wrong. What's the matter, Touya?" she asked with concern. That's one thing about her. She's very sensitive to the feelings of others, and when it comes to the feelings of close friends, she drops the fun and games.

"Nothing."

"You're acting strange."

"I said it's nothing, alright? Just drop it."

But now that I thought about it, I was acting strange. Why in the Worlds was this party, this ridiculous ningen party, making me like this?

Tara got up. "Touya, we've been friends for a long time. You can talk to me about anything, you know." Not meeting a reply from me, she walked away.

I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. I felt like I needed to rest. Perhaps I had woken too early. Or perhaps I was coming down with an illness. It was funny, though. My body didn't feel tired.

"Well, look who's dozing off."

My eyes shot open. I couldn't see who it was, for he stood behind me, but I could feel his aura of earth.

"What do you want, Risho?" I asked, annoyed. We hadn't exactly been on good terms since our small argument at the Dark Tournament.

"Just checking in on you," he said in a sour tone, moving into my line of vision.

"Well, I can say you'll find nothing wrong with me, so there's no point in continuing your checkup."

Suddenly, Risho was holding me by the collar of my tunic and pressing me against the chair backing. "Stay away from the humans," he hissed.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know you're going to Ningenkai today. I warn you, keep away from there. The humans have brought us nothing but trouble."

I swatted his hand away from my neck. "I shall decide what to do with my time, and who I choose as my friends, thank you."

His eyes narrowed. "Suit yourself, Ice Master. But if you should become close to that human Urameshi or any of his friends, I warn you. You will meet opposition from the Shinobi. So I suggest you be careful, Ice Master. I wouldn't want you getting hurt."

He smirked and left the room.

I didn't believe his last statement. He didn't care about my well being. How dare he tell me how to live my life? Far too long he had controlled me. He feared me, I could see it in his eyes. That is why he maintained such a strong grip on my life. I didn't care. As long as what he says is honorable, I'd obey. But he was beginning to twist me the wrong way, and I didn't like it.

Before long, Jin had arrived with his perfectly wrapped present. He was so proud of himself, and I was forced to listen to him explain in great detail how to wrap the perfect gift.

As you probably have noticed, the morning is not my best time of day.