Chapter 4

Kira sighed as she walked slowly up the steps on the front of the hut. Today had been a long day. Ever since that boy had left the classroom, she hadn't been able to think of anything but fighting, and didn't know why. She had only felt that way once before, and the feeling was something she never wanted to relive.

'He is the enemy,' the voice had said to her as he had left. She remembered thinking how he could be her enemy when she had only just seen him that morning. There was something about him, though, that gave her that feeling in her chest, right above her heart that made her squirm where she now sat on one of the cushiony seats when she thought about it.

"Oh, Benji," she sighed as the cat came and sat in her lap. "I don't know what to do. What is my brain trying to tell me?" Kira stiffened as she felt a wave of heat course through her body.

'Someone is here.' she heard the voice she had heard earlier resound in her head. She unwillingly put Benji in the floor and stood to her feet.

'Wait,' she said to herself as her feet moved toward the door. 'How do I know someone's out there?' She had been having strange sensations like this the entire day. It was almost as if she had a sixth sense, and the rest of her senses had magnified greatly.

Before going out the door, she reached for the wall, grabbing one of the many katanas that hung there. What kind of person - or thing - would travel this deep into the forest? It must be something very evil…

As she thought this, there was a loud roar from behind her that made her jump and turn quickly. Out from behind the hut came a gigantic beast that was enveloped with fire and had deep blue glowing eyes. Kira's eyes widened as the beast stepped closer and closer.

'It's a demon!' her mind screamed as she tried to steady herself and tried her best not to look scared. She raised her katana high over her head and stared the demon in the eyes, ready for the attack.

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"I see you're busy again, as usual." Koenma jumped when he heard the emotionless voice behind him speak. He turned from the hand-held game he had been playing to find a petite fire apparition standing in front of him.

"Ah, Hiei," he said, smiling at his friend. He followed Hiei's gaze to what he held in his hands and blushed, throwing the toy to the side. "Those things are simply fascinating, don't you think?"

"Hn," was all that escaped Hiei's lips and Koenma tried to hid his flushing cheeks. "Yes. Well, as you may know, I am not here for small talk. We have a very important matter to discuss."

"Oh, yes, of course. You're speaking of the girl, Kira, I presume? Well, I've already sent Yusuke, Kurama, Botan, and Kuwabara to retrieve her so--"

"That's not exactly what I had in mind." Hiei cut Koenma off in mid-sentence and shoved his hands into his pockets. He watched as Koenma's eyes went wide and his complexion became very pasty all of a sudden.

"You're not…you can't…I…there's no way…You know it's never worked before!" Hiei simply crossed his arms over his chest and met Koenma's eyes with his own crimson gaze.

"It's true that the ritual has never worked before this time, but we never had her before. She is the key. She will be the one to break my curse."

"NO! YOU CAN'T! DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LAST 'SUBJECT' YOU USED FOR THE RITUAL?!" Hiei snorted irritably. He had thought Koenma, of all people, would understand where he was coming from.

"Yes, but you said yourself, and I could sense her power. She is the one. She is not like the others. She is strong enough for this. She will survive it!" Hiei saw Koenma's eyes soften a bit and was secretly relieved when he sat back down in the seat he had left in his rage.

"Well, of course she would survive it. After all, she is…I still say no! It wouldn't fair for her. You wouldn't want to hurt her, would you? Well, would you?!"

"No, of course not." Hiei remembered the feeling he had had when she had walked into the classroom. He had been fighting the urge to jump her right then and take her into his keep. He remembered the pull of her fiery spirit on his and how good it felt just to look at her…
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"Benji?!" Kira was surprised when the gigantic flaming demon had lost its fiery qualities and turned into the small kitten she had been caring for. She blinked her eyes a few times as the kitten cuddled against her legs.

"What…" Before she could finish her sentence, the cat had turned back into the huge fire demon and was growling towards a patch of trees. Kira raised her katana once more and started toward the trees. She felt her heart beating faster and wondered why she felt so excited. Then she heard a familiar voice.

"…Uh, yeah, sure does! OUCH! Urameshi, what was that for?!" (A/N: Sorry to all the Kuwabara fans! I just cant' resist! -) Before Kira realized what was going on, Benji had jumped into the trees and there was a resounding scream. Kira ran into the patch of trees and stopped when she saw Kuwabara under one of Benji's flaming paws and Yusuke, getting ready to shoot him. The boy called Suichi (though she had heard him called Kurama many times by his friends in class) was watching bemusedly as an unfamiliar girl with blue hair was raising an oar high over her head. When they all noticed she was there, they lowered their weapons, and Kuwabara kept screaming and squirming under the giant fire demon.

"This your cat?" Yusuke asked, breaking the partial silence between all them. Kira hesitated, still holding the katana above her head. Why were they here?

"Tell me why you're here," she demanded, mimicking he own thoughts. The girl with blue hair appeared in front of her, smiling from ear-to-ear.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, excitedly. "I'm Botan. Very nice to meet you, Kira. And this is--"

"I know who they are. How do you know my name?" The girl continued smiling while shaking Kira's hand.

"Oh, we know all about you in the spirit world, Kira. If you could just help us out, we'd be happy to explain everything."

Hmm...wonder what this "ritual" thing could be?...I don't know yet, but I'll try my best to update as soon as I can!