Disclaimer: Don't own YYH, and all invented characters are pure fiction. Oh, andI changed chapter 7 around! Now, there is a difference in how Katrina's mom had Kurama!

Chapter 42: Expect The Unexpected? Isn't This A Little Extreme?

Well, it looks like I'm going to be stuck with Jin for a while. None of the other people are here yet, and even Jin is starting to realize it. I actually do not hate him anymore. I think it's just a matter of getting used to him.

That's the thing with Jin, he's weird, but he could still be a good friend. Under desperate circumstances, that is. Like if everyone else on Earth dropped dead. Sure, he's creepy, perky, and downright frustrating, but there are far worse people/demons out there. Jin must have been created in a lab or something, becuase he sure doesn't act like other demons. I mean, even Hiei is worlds different from Jin. Kuramamay be softer and quieter and less evil then most ( at least he tries not to kill people) but he's still not the happy-go-lucky red-haired elf dude. Now there's a mouthful. Still, Jin isn't so bad. Even though he's such a slow moron...like take a few seconds ago. Jin just aked me why my hair was so black. Officially off-topic! Shouldn't he be worried about the others?

But at least he's waiting with me outside of the palace. We are currently in a tiny little alley near Sensu's living quarters, so we cannot be seen. This was the alley we were supposed to meet in. The alley smells of filth, and the ground is very hard, and I can feel it strongly through my thick sneakers. There are puddles of some greenish glutinous fluid. The entire thing is a hellhole of doom. I guess it make sense that Jin picked the spot. Dumb demons like dumb, filthy spots.

I have been waiting here forever with him. He's run out of things to talk about, (which gives you an idea of really how long it's been) so we are just standing here in total silence. Much as I hated him talking incessantly, I have to admit it was still better than silence.

So, for lack of speech, I mutter to myself about how I hate my life. Just think about it. I find out that I have to rescue my father (that obviously cares nothing about me), and then I get wrapped up in this whole conspiracy (obviously against me)which was setup by God (go figure) so now I have 3 different people who need to be rescued (why am I playing the role of Prince Charming in this fairy tale? Why the hell can't I be the damsel in distress?) And of course, these people are protected by a huge (unbeatable) demon, which is also coincidentally after me (for reasons I shall never know) and anyone close to me so they can eliminate my allies and thus capture me (BALONEY-HEADS! WHY CAN'T THEY SEE THAT IT'S JUST NOT HAPPENING?) And lastly, on top of it, I'm going to have to make up homework at the Jun School. (Seriously, don't I get some kind of heroine discount on homework?)

I try desperately to stem the flow.

Finally, after about twenty minutes, I can't take it anymore. I stand up. "Jin, I'm going to look for them. Something's really gone wrong. They should have been here a long time ago."

"Okay. I'll wait here for a little while, to see if any of them come back. You come back soon, too. There won't be anything you can do if you don't find them, and we don't need to lose you too."

"I know. I'll come back eventually, and then it'll be your turn to look while I wait. Okay? We can take it in shifts."

He nods his agreement, and I set off. Walking a little bit, and trying to get my sense of dirrection down,I move past all of the dismalcottages. It looks lik something out of a horror film. All of the houses seem to be made of something resembling straw, and I'm sure if there was any wind, it wouldhave toppled them in seconds.

Finally, the windy, hard dirt trail stops and ends right before the worst of the fog. For some reason, the town has better air than the outside area. Ithink it's because of the Parasi. Maybe they give off worse demonic smelly fog.

There is not exactly a shortage of paths to choose from. I remmeber we came straight in, so I take the right, a different route from which I came in, because I have a greater chance of finding them on different pathways than my own, otherwise I think I would have run into them. I really hope that they are close by, otherwise my eyes will tear up again and I will once again die. And there'll be no smiling idiot to save me, either. I'll be Parasi Kibble.

Compromising,I squint my eyes tightly, and half cover them with my palms to avoid most of the bad air.

Itry to look forward, fail, and stepout again into teh fog that I hate.I check my sneakers after every few steps, because I already lost one boot in that marshy gack, and I don't want to lose another pair to it.

I finally have to hold in my nose to go in deeper. The fog is now a a sick pale yellowish-green color, and the smell is utterly, utterly revolting.This is hopeless. I can't just hope I'l run into someone like this. I can barely see two feet in front of me! I'm nto going to find them!

Wll, at least I know that I was on a completely straight route, so all I hate to do is double back, and I'm fine.

I start to spin around,butI see some black in the fog up ahead. Interested, I move forward. The shape increases, and once it sees me, it stops. I stop too. What is it?

Then,I see it disappear in a milisecond.

Only one person can do that...

"Hiei?"

The black thing reappears right in front of me. It is him. He nods quickly, and grabs my arm and rushes me towards someone lying on the ground. I realize it's Kurama. He has a bad rip in his sleeve, and he must have a leg problem or he's be standing. He looks up at me, and sits up.

"What are you doing here, Kat?" Asks my brother.

"Trying to find you guys! Where have you been?"

"Fighting demon caterpillars," mutters Kurama.

"Parasi? What…did they do that to you?" I ask, noting a rip in his sleeve. Some old dried blood frames it.

"Yes. Eventually, we had to flee. Kind of frustrating, trying to beat ten at once, even for the two of us." Says Hiei, appalled that there is someone out there stronger than him.

"Yeah, I guess so. But, have you seen any of the others? Me and Jin-"

"Who?" says Hiei. I notice he's looking at me again. It's a start.

"Jin. Says he's related to Mie and that he's part of the Shin Obi. Anyway, Jin and I tried to call everyone on their Commirs a little while ago, but no one responded."

"That's odd. Maybe the fog causes interference. Didn't you try to call Touya?"

"Who?"

"Another member of the Shin Obi, one of Jin's pals, powerful ice demon like Yukina. I guess he and Jin split up. But, I would have thought Jin have told you about Touya, though."

"Oh well. Now I know. I was thinking we should search for the other people, too."

"Well then, who are we still missing?"

"Let's see…" I count on my fingers. "We still need Genkai, Botan, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and I guess Touya, too."

"Okay." Kurama stands up straighter. "We can't make the same mistake of splitting up again, Moronic idea, really. We'll just stick together and keep our eyes open. What else is there?"

So we start our slow march again. Kurama keeps tripping, so we have to stop often. Still no sign of anyone else, or luckily the demon crowd.

"Jin asked me to be back soon, so I guess we should go back. Besides, Kurama needs to see a healer, and from what I understand, Jin can heal somewhat. And Hiei, you can stop hiding that now." I gesture to his side.

Hiei takes quite a bit of persuasion. He keeps saying he's fine, though I see him wincing every once in a while from a slight wound on his side. Why is he so eager to say he's fine all of the time, the brat? He could die, and no one would ever know the cause.

One thing that Hiei impresses me about is his ability to think in a crisis. He also is an excellent liar. One would think he'd never met me that day and…

I shudder. DON'T think about it. DON'T. It's eating you up.

Anyway, finally, Kurama and I win Hiei over and we start to go back. We still are meeting up with no monsters, and it's creeping me out. I don't even sense any power.

When we do get back, everyone pulls up their hoods and we trudge up to the tower. I lead them into the alley. There I see Jin in the same spot, but he's not alone. A tall boy with light blue hair is deep in conversation with him. When he turns around to see what Jin is staring at over his shoulder, I notice three pointed strands of bright-green hair, off on a slant in the center of his forehead. Piercing white eyes look us all over from under his hood. He looks mean, or at the least, bad-natured. There's something forbidding about him.

I realize who it must be. "So that's Touya?" I mutter to Hiei on my left.

"Yes. Weird guy. I remember him from my village as a child. Never wanted to mix with anyone. He was the only one relatively nice."

I shrug. He does look unfriendly, but I can't choose my allies.

"Katrina, I was getting worried!" Yells Jin. We all shush him. I chance a glance at Hiei. Man, if looks could kill, Jin would die before he hit the ground. What's Hiei's deal?

Oh well. I can find out later.

"Katrina," mutters Touya. "The famous panther kitten."

Even Jin can't miss the sarcasm. He shifts from foot to foot nervously. "Touya," I mutter in retaliation. "The famous snow cone."

He narrows those unusual eyes. "Another comment of a jealous lesser intellect."

"You wish." What a stuck-up punk! I don't even know what he just said! Jealous lesser what?

"Wish for what? I can't wish for anything unless I know what it is."

I bare my teeth. "You wish I was dumb."

"Why wish for something that's already in existence?"

Oh my god. He'll regret those words.

I lunge at him before he has time to react, and so when I collide, we are basically rolling on the ground, in a dust cloud (ha so there RebelWriter). For such a jerk, he fights pretty hard. Scratching, punching, kicking, squealing, and everything else you can do to hurt someone is what we're doing.

I hear Hiei talk to Kurama. "Your sister must keep a rein on her temper."

"You're one to talk."

Hiei smiles.

Jin hesitantly tries to break us up, but Touya, mistaking Jin's arm for mine, lunges and chomps.

Now there are three people fighting with each other.

Finally off of the ground, I pant and try to catch my breath. Touya's skin is so cold, I can't touch him for long. Touya, realizing what has happened, jumps off of the ground as well. As the dust clears, I see a slightly dazed looking Jin sitting on the floor, humming to himself quietly. That's our Jin, all right.

Kurama, seeing opportunity, jumps in between us and stands next to Jin. "Guys, can we please focus on the subjects at hand? C'mon…"

Not working. Touya has made a huge leap over top of Kurama's head, aimed right at me. Well, if that's the way he wants to play it…I also spring, and prepare for a head-on midair collision. I am almost to him…almost…

WHUMP.

OW! Something has dragged me and Touya down at the same instant…very hard. I wince and pull myself up into a push up position and look behind me to study the thing that has so daringly hurt me.

I don't know what I was expecting, but not this. It's a small vine, a small vine with a death grip on my left ankle. I glare at it and start cursing, trying to tug it off. When that doesn't work, I sharpen my nails and slash at it. Still nothing. But why can't even my claws get rid of a smelly weed?

I chance a glance at my opponent. Touya hasn't had much luck either. He keeps freezing his weed with pure bluish white ice, which he summons from his fingertips, then karate chopping it, to try to break though when it is most brittle. If I hadn't been hating him so much, I might have admired the genius of it. He is also using what I recognize as Shards of Winter, sharp bits of ice hard as steel. Not even that is having effect. Kurama told me about them once, and I guess I remembered it because he said it was the technique that nearly killed him during the Dark Tournament. Maybe this was the same guy Kurama fought. I really would like to find out more about this event, but the only answer I ever receive is a collective shudder. It seems to be a really painful memory.

Speaking of Kurama…

Coming to the same conclusion, we both turn to look at Kurama the Plant Dude towering above. (I mean, what is he, 6 feet high?) He stares down at us like a parent watching children in time out.

"Why are you guys fighting?" He asks evenly. Again, like a parent.

Cries of 'he did it' and 'no she started it' filled the deserted area. Kurama holds up a hand to stop us.

He speaks slowly, so every word vibrates in the air. "You guys fight over insults, and yet there are many we have to save. Lives hang in the balance, and all you two can think about is rivalry." He shakes his head disapprovingly.

God, now I feel awful. My brother can talk a cat into a doghouse when he needs to. It's way unnerving. I guess he is my brother.

"I'll release you both, if you promise to leave each other alone. Got it? Good. Now say it."

Leave the colossal stuck up jerk alone? Not a chance. But I have to get free. "All right. I'll leave His Royal Ass to play by himself. So long as he doesn't start anything."

Touya gives me a glare of pure hate. "And I'll leave the First Class Imbecile alone too."

Kurama rolls his eyes. "All right, good enough, I suppose. Now…" He stares at our binds, as though expecting them to bow down or something. To my surprise, they only retreat back into the ground. I stand up shakily. My left hip hurts. It's all Touya's fault! One hundred percent!

Reeeeeeeeeeeeally! It really was! I swear!

Jin has awoken. He's laughing soooooooooooooo hard, as he heals Hiei, of course to Hiei's great displeasure. What was that I said about him being a loyal friend?

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A/N You know what I'll say, R and R!