Catse: Hiyya peoples! It's me again! And I've got an update! Yays! This isn't as much funny as it is a clue chapter. This gives a lot of the questions that are most likely to be considered while reading. But don't worry. All will be answered soon. The great wise master Catse knows all. (heheheh....just trying to be silly. Really hyper here!) Well, here's chaptah fowteen for you all! Yays!

0000000000000000000

Disclaimer: See chapter one....(As always....)

0000000000000000000

Haku, Tsuki, and Katai left with their parents to return home, leaving Kenya, Satou, and Seika in their wake.

Kenya continued to write down ideas for how he was going to bust Arune, and maybe even get to this demon lord Rioko if things became as worse as he thought they would.

He wasn't an idiot, and he could already see the true meaning behind the watches they were given. It wasn't only so they could track down demons, as a gift for when they were to become spirit detectives.

In a sense, they were badges. Their parents couldn't handle the job any longer, and so, with out really saying it, they had passed it on to their children. Although it seemed as if they weren't ready for that sort of a change. If that was the case, then that meant that they would probably be the ones to take care of this case: this new demon. They would have to be the ones to corner Arune, get to Lord Rioko through her, kill him, and bring back the stolen children. They were the only ones that could.

Kenya sighed as he put his paper into a folder he labeled "ideas".

It seemed as if the new team had been selected, but they still weren't sure on who would be the leader. They would need someone with a cool head...someone who could take command of a situation when everyone else was panicking.

He wasn't that kind of guy.

And god forbid Katai be given that job. If that were the case, she'd kill them all.

She did have her father's sense of humor and sarcasm, and his strenght and abilities, but when it came to taking care of things that seemed impossible, that's where she became different from her father.

Yusuke had a way of adapting, taking care of what ever came his way no matter the circumstances.

Katai was more the kind of person that would leave the job to someone else. She'd run, and come back later if no one took care of it.

That was if she were alone of course. But still, she just didn't have the qualities.

Haku was smart, but he didn't have the brawn or the might, nor the socialisation that was required with a leader.

Satou was too young...and Yoru was far too crazy, although older and more experienced.

It seemed as if the only possible leader would be Seika, given his experience on the streets and his ability to keep himself and everyone else cool and in line. His only problem, was that he didn't have the training required, but that could be easily mended if he was anything like his idol: Yusuke.

"So Kenya. What we gonna do tonight? It's a bit early to be headin' to bed, don't you think?" Seika asked from behind him, a yowl following proving that Niko was still with his master, and still as exited.

"I don't know. We'll find something I guess." Kenya replied, turning around in his roller chair to look at his newest friend.

Seika's long hair seemed to have grown a little, and now it hung at his shoulders.

"Seika. Where'd all the hair come from?" Kenya inquired, staring at the other detective.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

Kenya sighed and reached into a drawer, producing a mirror he kept for rare occasions when someone needed to look at their face.

"Here. Take a look."

Seika took the mirror and looked into it, nearly screaming his surprise.

"The hell! Where'd the do come from?! I've never had this much hair in my life!" He shouted, pulling on the said locks.

Niko glared at his owner, not to happy with the way his master was jumping around like a lunatic and pulling on his hair.

"Maybe Yoru put hair growth formula on your hair while you were fighting." Kenya joked, standing up to take the agitated cat-dragon creature from his friends shoulder on to his own.

"You think?"

"No. It's a joke."

"I know that! But I need some reason for this!" Seika shouted back, setting the mirror down on the table.

"Perhaps it has something in similarity to Yusuke." They heard a voice say calmly from the door.

Seika stiffened and turned to stare at Kenya's father, the skilled and lithe Hiei, legendary demon of all three worlds.

His many accomplishements at Yusuke's side had gone down in record, and finally, after everything he had done, he had been freed from Koenma's probation over him, leaving him to live free and happy as he pleased.

"What do you mean?" Seika inquired, staring at Hiei. He didn't really know this demon well, but in any case, he kept his eyes out for anyone that looked deadly. Afterall, he had nearly been whipped by the man's daughter.

"When Yusuke was...I guess seventeen if I'm correct, he found out that he held dormant demon blood in his body. During a battle with the former spirit detective of the living world, he freed that blood, and his hair grew to his ankles. The man freaked out and tried to yank his hair out of his head. Perhaps a similar change is happening to you."

Seika sat still for a moment, staring at the ceiling deeply in thought.

Then he broke out laughing, nearly rolling to the floor.

"What's so funny?" Kenya inquired, kicking his friend lightly on the side.

After a moment of laughing and nearly choking, Seika sat up and pointed at his hair. "I just imagined Yusuke with so much hair! He'd look like he stuck his finger in an electric socket!"

"All humans think the same in that category. Why completely beats me. That's the exact same thing he and carrot-top said."

"Carrot-top?" Seika asked, looking at Hiei with a confused twitch of his eye.

"What dad calls Kuwabara. You'll get used to it." Kenya smiled, letting Niko down onto his desk. "So dad, why did you come up here? You need us for something?"

Hiei nodded his answer.

"Yes. I've come to ask you to train with me below in the sword room. If things become as desperate as I think they will, you, Seika, and Yoru will need to make sure you're ready with the techniques. Have them mastered if you will."

Kenya nodded.

"Will Yoru really be coming?" Seika asked, looking a little sick as he searched on of the drawers on the desk for a rubberband.

He needed some way to keep his hair from his eyes.

"Considering what she and her friend attempted earlier. No. She'll be trained seperately. Unfortenately, if you all are sent against Lord Rioko, you will need what you can get. She will have to accompany."

"No way! That's not helping us! That's helping Rioko! Why does she HAVE to come with us!" Seika shouted, jumping up onto his feet.

"Even if Yoru is against all of you, she still has the mastery in her training that you yet to have. But I will say this. Should things get to drastic measures, and should she have to go with you, if she tries anything sinister, you all have the right to quarantine her. You know how to do so Kenya. If she manages to break through that, you must kill her. Come. Seika, Suta will train you on the family technique tomorrow. Tonight, you will watch the affects and try your hand at a little martial arts. Kenya, I'd like for you to show me what you know down stairs. I will meet you both down there in ten minutes tops. Understood?"

Kenya nodded to his father at the same time Seika did.

"Yes father."

"Yes sir."

"Good. See you downstairs."

Hiei stepped from the doorway and walked away, leaving the two with ten minutes to prepare.

"Come on Seika. I'll get you a uniform."

"A uniform?"

"Yeah. At the Dojo, we each wear uniforms in training. Considering you don't have one, I'll give you one of mine to wear for the time being."

"You guys have a Dojo?" Seika inquired, taking Niko up onto his shoulder.

"Yeah. It's called the Flaming Swords Dojo."

"Why's it called that?"

Kenya sighed.

"Long story. Come on let's get dressed."


Ten minutes later found the two downstairs in the corner office, made into a makeshift dojo for at-home practice.

The floors were made like a basketball court, straight, glossed, and horizontal.

A rack of weapons sat in one corner for decoration or use and one wall was completely coated in mirrors.

Hiei sat in the very middle, meditating. His sword, the reknowned Flaming Sword sat before him, neatly parallel to his body.

As Kenya and Seika stepped in the door, one crimson eye opened to stare at them.

"Finally. You two took a while." Hiei remarked, opening both eyes to look at them.

"Yeah well...We took a little bit to find Seika a uniform that fit him. He's a little bigger than I am as you can see." Kenya said with a smile, presenting his friend as if her were a model of somesort.

"Whatever." Hiei replied, and then, in an instant so fast that it could not be caught by the naked eye, he was up off the floor and on his feet, his sword held firmly in one hand.

"Tonight I will teach you some of the fundamentals of sword practice."

"Fundamentals of sword practice?" Seika inquired, staring at Hiei.

"In basic. He's going to fight us and see how much skill we have." Kenya informed, walking to the weaponry rack. After looking over the selection, he pulled his mastered swords: the Twin Dragon Fangs. "Come on Seika. Choose what you want to use!"

Seika stepped to the rack and stared at the weapons, as if he had never seen a single harmful object before. "What's up?"

Seika looked to Kenya for a moment before answering his question. "I've never fought with an actual weapon."

"What?! But you lived on the streets! You should know how to use a weapon!"

Seika shook his head. "I didn't get into anything that dangerous. I mean, one time I nearly got shot in the shoulder from walking wrong in front of a gang-master, but I've never used anything except my fists."

Kenya sat for a moment, digesting the information given him.

Then, he smiled.

"Okay then. I guess the best thing for you to start off with is this." He reached into the rack, and after a short search, produced what looked short version of a sword.

"They call this the Wind Dagger. It's a demon sword made for just as it's called: the wind. It's great for beginners because every slash usually hits a broad area, the wind acting as whatever attack you throw. It's perfect for someone who has no idea how to fight with weapons."

"Oh...okay." Seika replied, taking the dagger.

"Let us begin. Seika, you stand near the door. Watch how Kenya and I fight, and then I will challenge you to a simple match. From there, we will see what you need. Kenya?"

"Yes father." Kenya nodded his answer.

"Take your stance."

Kenya walked to the center of the room, right across from his father, and took a sword fighting stance he felt would work for the two swords he had. If it was one thing he learned from his father, one sword was never enough when fighting the Flaming Sword. Most times, it required two, and only then, if you were an expert on them. But Kenya couldn't complain. One time, a few years back, he had nearly beaten his father, unleasing his spirit energy in a blast of flames that had not only surprised the koorime but caused him to punish his son for weeks. The fact of the matter was that the battle was to be done without spirit energy, but even so, Kenya had a huge amount of it for a kid his age. Maybe not as much as Haku, he was sure, but it was still a high amount. And that it was fire also caught his father off guard. He was expecting his son to follow in the ice path, considering Yoru had. But no, his son had proudly embraced the flames of his energy, and done away with the ice of his heart that would cool the warmth of his blood.

Ice was perfect for someone like Yoru anyway: she was cold-hearted, cold-skinned, and cold-minded. Ice was her forte.

"Let's begin." Kenya heard Hiei just before his father jumped at him from the front, the Flaming Sword withdrawn and flaring with energy.

Kenya's first thought, was that Hiei would teleport and appear behind him, to strike his back or ankles to knock him down, but he happened to notice a slight flinch in Hiei's running technique, which meant he was planning on attacking from a side. Now Kenya only had to figure out which.

His father was good at confusion, and he'd look like he was heading to your left, but then, suddenly, he'd strike you at your right side.

Kenya didn't want to take chances, so he flipped backward just as Hiei struck at the left side of where he had once been.

Hiei again disappeared, and Kenya knew he wouldn't be able to find his father unless he made himself known. His father was hiding his spirit energy, and it would take only those with extreme spiritual awareness to locate him.

Kenya did the best he could figure. He leaned against a wall so as to prevent any attacks from behind, and kept his eyes on the room, searching for any sort of flash of black, or maybe a glint of red.

But his father wasn't an amatuer, and he would have been dead by now if it weren't for his training, and the fact that he was his father's son.

Just as he thought about lashing out in hopes of catching his father off guard, he spotted a splotch of black in the corner of his eye, and jumped, just in time for Hiei to appear with his sword thrusting in the area Kenya had once been.

"Good. Let's raise the level." And Hiei again disappeared.

"Alright father." And Kenya too disappeared from the scene.

He knew Seika couldn't see them fighting: the two of them were moving far too fast now. He didn't even see the clash of swords that errupted every time Hiei and Kenya met face to face, for the jabs were faster than the human eye could see.

Kenya dropped to the floor when his father sliced over head, but didn't expect the kick that followed the slice, and nearly flew into the wall if it weren't for the tennis shoes he wore.

'Good rubber. Man am I glad I chose a good pair of shoes!'

Hiei hid his energy again, but this time, instead of attacking from the front, he jumped in behind and attacked at Kenya's back.

He nearly hit, only Kenya noticed and dropped in time. It was now his turn to start attacking, so he hid himself around the room and kept jumping to confuse his father on his wareabouts. He could hide his spirit energy, but only to a certain extent, so he had to find alternatives in order to keep his father from finding him.

Unfortunately, just as he was landing in the middle, a blade came down on top of him and the only way to stop it, was to pull forth one of the dragon fangs. It stopped the attack of course, but stress on his blade would most certainly crack it because of the strenght of his father's sword.

"Enough." Hiei whispered, jumping away from his son to land on the far side of the dojo. "You did well Kenya. You kept up as I expected you would. Seika. It's your turn."

Seika sat against the side wall, his jaw hanging down as he stared in awe.

Apparently, he had been completely surprised by the use of speed in the "scuffle".

"But how—who—where—what—"

"You're missing why aren't you?" Kenya inquired, sitting down next to his friend as he rubbed his sweat onto the sleeve of his martial arts uniform.

Seika was left in awe for a moment, before he jumped up with his fist in the air before him. "How were you able to move with out me seeing you?" He inquired, looking similar to Kuwabara when he was astonished over something.

Seika looked from father to son eagerly, waiting for one to answer.

"We are koorime. Speed is how we live." Hiei answered instead of Kenya. "Now take a stance Seika. You're fighting me now."

"But sir! I don't know how to fight! I mean I do, but I don't! You understand?"

Hiei was quiet for a moment. "No. But you'll learn to fight. The best way is when your tossed into the heat of battle with out warning. It's then that the truly strong are seperated from the weak. Now come and fight."

Seika gulped and stood in front of Kenya's father, the Wind Dagger in front of him in a rooky stance like what would be shown on a cartoon.

"Rule number one. Stances like are completely offensive, and will get you killed if it comes to a truly agile demon."

Seika nodded and watched Hiei take a stance, gesturing for Seika to try it.

"Rule two. Treat that sword as an extension of yourself. Otherwise, you will be killed." Seika chuckled at that, leaving Hiei with a slightly agitated form to his face. Kenya of course understood the nervous laugh. The statement "extension of yourself" had triggered Seika's some-what nasty mind, and he had probably thought up an image that would truly gross out his father should he see it.

'Seika...You're never really serious are you?'

"Rule three. Always, and I mean always, keep your eyes on the opponent unless it is impossible to do so. You'd be surprised how much information comes from stance, flinches, and eye movements when your in a real battle. Rule four, hide your own flinches, and eye movements from the opponent, or, if you must, create some to completely thwart him."

Seika nodded, and soon, after rules and a few problems fixed, Seika was standing like a true swordsman, prepared to fight at any time. Which was why the wobbling of his legs caused Kenya to want to laugh. Seika had never really fought a real opponent that had fought his way to survival amongst many different demons in his lifetime!

"Now. Attack."

Seika stared at Hiei a moment, and then jumped forward, striking at Hiei only to find he had disappeared.

"Oh man! Where'd he go?" Seika inquired, searching the room like the beginner he was.

Kenya watched his father smile from behind his friend. He already knew Hiei wasn't going to hurt Seika...severely. But just enough to teach him to watch his back.

Hiei jumped in and sliced, but suddenly, and even Kenya was surprised, there was a dagger stopping the sharp edge of his sword.

Seika gasped his surprise as well, and Kenya only just barely noticed a few traces of the silver in the bluish-grey eyes.

'So. I wasn't seeing things earlier. Seika really is going demon. But how? He's completely human isn't he?'

"Good." Hiei commented, covering his surprise with his usual indifferent mask. "You did well. We will continue this next hour in training you in Swordsmanship. You both must be prepared for the instance that we should send you into the field."

"So it is possible then." Kenya murmured, as Seika walked up to him, gasping in his own surprise and use of reflex. Or maybe it was the demon in him that did it? If it was a demon....

"Yes. Lord Rioko is a clever one. He's create a barrier that the others and I cannot crack. That's where we were earlier. I even brought your mother alone in hopes she could try to break the barrier. After all, she is the kekkai and the kekkai is her."

"But it didn't work." Kenya replied, sighing.

"No."

"But then why would we be the ones sent? Aren't you the original Spirit Detectives? The most powerful in the realms right now? How come you can't crack the barrier?" Seika inquired, sitting next to Kenya.

"We're not sure yet, but we think that maybe the barrier has been set for only the enterance of children, but it could be virgins as well. None of us can enter because we all have kids."

"What about Koenma? Or Botan? I mean, Koenma looks like a kid. Can't he get in?"

Hiei shook his head. "No. The fact of the matter is, no demon, nor spirit being can get in unless they have human blood. That is the theory at least. It's a very picky barrier. Which is why only human children are entering and we can't. But it's also possible that the barrier opens up for those it will allow. Again, we don't know."

"That would explain how Arune would get the children in. She herself is a child, and probably a hanyou to boot. She'd be the perfect candidate for sneaking them in, especially if she has ways of controlling their minds like you do Dad, with your Jagan."

Hiei nodded. "That too is a factor. But if that is the case, then we would have to wonder how she manages to get around with out being noticed."

"This is way too complicated for me! Can I take a nap or something?" Seika inquired, leaning back.

"No!" Kenya and Hiei replied in unison.

"Hn. If this is too complicated then a true detectives case would be too much for you to handle." Hiei told Seika with a smirk, folding his arms. "Now. Let us train. We have much to accomplish if we are going to keep you two prepared for the instant you may go into the field. Take positions so we may begin!"

00000000000000000000

Catse: Well, what do you think? Please review! I can't say R&R. Doesn't that mean Read and Review. Doesn't make sense if I'm saying that after you already read right? Oh well, gotta go. Please give all comments and questions in a review. Ja Ne for now!