Authoress here.

Okay, I was going to put up the first chapter and then go by reviews before putting up a second, but I got bored and started typing this chapter before even getting the first one up. I couldn't help it! I'm obsessive compulsive!

START CHAPTER

Ayame entered her small home after her work shift was done and immediately after shutting the door and forgetting to lock it, she headed right for the couch. Flopping down, exhausted, she shivered. The boys in Masashimo's had made her feel uneasy. Even as she was walking away, she could feel their eyes on her.

"There's something weird about them," she said aloud, shifting so her cat to leap on the couch to sit beside her. "Something abnormal, almost."

Her cat gave her a strange look, then squinted her eyes shut in delight as Ayame began to rhythmically scratch behind her ears. She had been a stray that followed Ayame home from work the day before, and they had quickly become good friends. She was jet black without a single patch of white. Bad luck, some thought. Adorably strange, Ayame decided.

"Momo, what do you think it is?"

Momo the cat simply mewed and sprinted out of the room to chase after a particularly intriguing dust ball.

Ayame sighed and cast a fleeting glance around her empty house. Her parents had started their new jobs as soon as they had moved here, and she never got to see them anymore. Sometimes it would be just a short "hello" or goodbye" before they would be gone, and that was all. Neither seemed to hear their own daughter grumbling about schoolwork or the idiots who made a mess of the table that she had to clean up at Masashimo's.

She sighed heartily and peeled herself from the couch, heading towards the fridge in hopes of getting something for dinner. As she entered the kitchen, her eyes were drawn to the large window that faced her backyard. Their land bordered a dense forest, and she hated not being able to see the river that was only thirty feet from the fence.

A sudden bolt of blue light shot out of the woods and smashed through the window. She fell backwards and rolled as the fridge toppled over, almost hitting her. Afterwards, there was silence broken only by voices coming from the woods, their words undistinguishable. Ayame had fainted.

-In the woods-

"Yusuke, if you're going to kill a demon grunt, watch where you're aiming," Hiei snapped angrily.

Yusuke lowered his hand, clearly in a bad mood even now. "I shouldn't have left the arcade," he declared bitterly. "Who cares about any demons around here anyway? Dammit, I haven't missed that bad since I was in training."

"Idiot," Hiei muttered. With rapid sword skills, he had cut down the fleeing demon with ease after Yusuke had missed with his Spirit Gun.

Kurama walked forward to the edge of the woods where a metal fence stood. "Yusuke," he said quietly, turning around to face the teenager. "You hit someone's house."

"What?" Yusuke was worried now. "A house?"

With a nod, Kurama replied, "Right through a window."

Yusuke rushed forwards quickly to look at the damage he had caused, and his expression quickly changed. "That house has been abandoned for years, guys."

"The why is a light on?" Kuwabara asked softly. "Think it's a gang?"

Yusuke smirked and nodded, glad for the change of mood. "Yeah. Let's go in there and kick some ass. I could use the exercise."

Yusuke and Kuwabara rushed the house, and Kurama and Hiei stayed behind, leaning on the fence.

"I sense demon energy," Kurama announced suddenly, after the others were out of sight. "Coming from that house."

-Meanwhile-

Yusuke and Kuwabara had moved around to the front of house, and were startled to find the front door was unlocked. They stepped inside, letting the door swing shut behind them, and looked around.

Furniture and boxes were sitting in the living room of the house.

"Shit," Yusuke whispered, his chocolate brown eyes on the unpacked boxes. "Someone just moved in here."

Kuwabara headed for the kitchen. Upon reaching the door, he flinched back. "There's a chick in here! She's unconscious!"

Yusuke moved hurriedly to the kitchen, and looked at the girl who was face down on the floor. Her hands and arms had multiple cuts on them from broken glass. There was an inch between her and the fallen fridge. It had just missed her.

He clapped a hand to his mouth and exhaled onto his palm. "Shit," he repeated. "How the hell do we explain this one?"

When Ayame came to, she was on her couch with a blanket pulled over her. She felt movement by her left arm, and turned her head to see what it was.

A red haired boy was at work bandaging her arm. She let out a cry of surprise as she saw three other men around her.

The redhead glanced up at her and smiled. "Ah, you're awake."

"What the hell happened?"

"Stray firework," Yusuke said quietly. She shifted her gaze to him. "We heard the noise and came running."

Ayame's eyes then roved around until they landed on a small pinecone in Kuwabara's hair. "Why were you in the forest?" she asked accusingly, her eyes flickering back to Yusuke. It was in her nature to assess people before believing anything they said, and they hadn't passed the test.

"We weren't," came Yusuke's lightening fast reply.

"You're a bad liar," she replied sharply. "And that was no firework. They can't make them to be that shade of blue. Tell me what that was."

Momo entered the room cautiously, totally unnoticed until she rubbed against Kuwabara's leg. He glanced down, startled, then smiled and began petting her.

Ayame heard the purring from the other side of the room, and said quietly, "Momo, stop that."

"Momo?" Kuwabara repeated, not taking his eyes from the cat that jumped into his lap a few seconds later.

Ayame nodded, temporarily deterred from the subject. "Are you going to tell me what really happened or not?"

Yusuke felt a prickle go down his back, and glanced around sharply. Demon energy. Ignoring Ayame's question, he turned to his friends. "We have to get her out of here, now!"

Nodding, Kurama scooped her up and followed Yusuke out the door at a run. Kuwabara held tight to Momo as he exited the house, and Hiei was already standing outside.

Despite her complaints, Kurama didn't put Ayame down until they reached his house. She had been dropped onto the couch, and was looking rather grumpy. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"Hey, I remember you! You're that girl from Masashimo's!" Kuwabara exclaimed suddenly.

"I remember you, too. You're that idiot who popped a ketchup packet all over himself," she replied coldly. "Now stop changing the subject. I want an explanation for what happened, and it had better be good."

END CHAPTER

Boredom and a sudden inspiration make a story chapter. This one is going to have a shocking twist at some point in time, so prepare yourselves.

I'm so overly dramatic.

Authoress out.