Well, here's chapter 10. Have fun reading it! I'm getting off the computer before my mom begins to yell at me in...5...4...3...2...1...AHHHH!!!

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Hiei woke up from his sleep wondering if his "dream" was really just a dream. Seeing Ume torturing Akio made him realize it wasn't. Despite how much he really didn't want to, he had to stop Ume at all cost, even if it meant her life. He slowly got up, using his katana for support.

Ume was staring into Akio's eyes, watching him squirm and suffer; then in the corner of her eye, she saw Hiei running toward her with his trusty katana. She disappeared seconds before the strike landed and reappeared, a foot or so behind Hiei.

"You can't really be thinking about killing, me can you? After all we've been through?" Ume said trying to sound naïve and innocent.

"We've been through nothing."

"Excuse me? What do you mean? I AM Ume after all."

"You are nothing but a demon that kills for fun."

"Is that so?" Ume looked pissed off.

She hit Akio on top of his head, knocking him out. She tossed him to the side so he wouldn't be in the way.

Well, since Ume likes you so much, I'll fight you with one hand, at least until it gets interesting. Of course, you can always back down now."

"…I'm not going to back down…"

Ume just shrugged, "Alright, suit yourself, but don't say I didn't give you a chance to live."

With that, Ume formed a sword out of mid-air.

Hiei had his katana, Ume had hers; as far as anyone could see, it was a complete stalemate but there was one problem. Hiei was worn-out from fighting Akio and was in a disadvantage but he was going to fight anyways. Neither of them was moving. The town clock then struck 2 A.M. The battle started, swords swung, punches landed, metal clashed, blows had missed, Spirit Energy was unleashed and after about a few minutes, they stopped fighting for a while. Hiei looked worse and completely injured, on the other hand, Ume had nothing but a single wound from Hiei's blade.

"That hurt as much as a paper-cut." She mocked.

Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama couldn't take watching fights from the sidelines anymore. Just as they were going to fight a 3 vs. 1 battle, Hiei told them to back off.

"Don't come any closer. I will finish her off… for Ume's sake…"

"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO SIT HERE AND WATCH YOU TWO BATTLE IT OUT?!"

"Yusuke, I'm going to stop Ume, and no else will, not even you. If you leave me no choice, I'll kill you too."

"OH YEA?! WELL JUST TRY IT!"

"Yusuke, I believe Hiei has his reasons for wanting to stop Ume on his own, he usually couldn't careless who finishes her off."

"…Ugh, well, I still think it's a bad idea."

"Let the little runt do whatever he wants, I get to fight next if anything happens." Kuwabara grumbled, finally saying SOMETHING.

"…Thank you…"

Those two words were the only thing Hiei could say to his teammates.

They nodded.

"Well, that was very touching, but may I continue tearing you to bits?" Ume said standing there somewhat annoyed.

"Don't worry, it's about to get interesting."

Once again, they leaped into battle. It went on for hours. Hours passed by as Hiei struggled to avoid Ume's attacks and make some of his own.

"I can't believe this, this demon is just toying with me. She has so much strength, how can this be? There must be a way to stop her…" Hiei thought, "That's it!"

Suddenly he stopped fighting, and ran for it.

"Man, where does he think he's going? Guess he didn't want his friends to see him die."

Ume chased after Hiei with the others following right behind them. They eventually got to Hiei's favorite tree. He was sitting on top of the same branch that he was always on. He opened up one eye and stared at Ume.

"HIEI, THIS IS NO TIME FOR A NAP!" Kuwabara screamed.

Hiei just ignored him and stared at Ume. She dropped down to the floor, her face clearly indicated that she was struggling within herself; remember things about that stupid tree and Hiei. She began to rise and she was the same.

"Do you believe you can fool me with such antics? I will not revert back to my weaker self."

She was right; she had not changed at all.

Hiei's plan had failed him and he might die for his mistake.

Ready to take a hard hit from Ume, he covered his face with his arms but did not feel a single hit from Ume.

Hiei peeked out from under his hands and saw Ume, standing in front of him, her sword held up high. She was about to finish Hiei off when she turned around. Baffled, Hiei looked behind Ume, the su

Hiei got beneath the branch fast enough to catch Ume with his arm. In Hiei's arms, Ume was reverting back to her normal self. Her Spirit Energy was fading away fast. The transformation had taken a lot out of her.

Her heart barely beating, she managed to say a few words to Hiei.

"Thank you. Please fulfill my requests. I hope I didn't hurt you or anyone else. I've been wanting to tell you something, guess I'll never have a chance to say it…"

"Try not to talk like it doesn't suit a person like you."

"It didn't mean anything."

"You were always like that, kinda cold and always keeping your cool. That's what I liked about you…"

"Ume…"

Ume was slowly closing her eyes, she had stopped talking.

Hiei, Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara watched sadly as Kurama was picking her up.

"The least we can do is give her a proper funeral."

"Yea…Sure..."

Kurama's face looked stunned while holding Ume up.

"Kitsune (meaning fox),what's wrong?"

"It's Ume!"

"What is it?!"

"She's alive!"

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Dramatic ending, I know, I know. Heh…ok…I'm gonna stop now… Anyways, here's chapter 10. I finished it in just a couple of days. I was really in the writing spirit after receiving all those reviews, I guess. (this is me, getting a big head). Tee hee. Just one more chapter peoples, I am also planning to make a sequel dedicated to my friend, who's a Kurama-lover, and also any Kurama-lover. Laters.