Kitsune: Hello! Chapter two shall be interesting, or at least, I think so!

Disclaimer: I, unfortunatly, do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters, but I do own the Phoenix Wings, Black Phoenix Tears, Jerriko, Chibi and almost anything else therein, except Aniue, who belongs to my friend!

Phoenix Resurrection

Chapter 2

:Love Lost:

As cautious as anything, the small demoness opened the door to the large apartment she shared with Aniue. It was a usual ritual, to see if she was still sharp or not in her senses. Poking her head inside proved almost fatal now in that regard as she leapt back to avoid her friend's claws, which would have decapitated her if she hadn't yelped and taken evasive action. She then quickly realized why she had been discovered. She may have hidden her youki, but her scent was mixed with sweat and blood, not to mention the oh-so-gentle scent of charcoal.

The door opened fully and there stood Aniue, in all her regal prowess. Now, however, instead of red hair, her mane was now white as the moon's nightly face and glowed much the same. Her eyes were still ice blue, but held more intensity and a smirk adorned her otherwise cold face. Twin blue streaks lay on both wrists while her arms were crossed.

"Nearly got ya Chibs. Don't tell me those fools wore ya out." she chided before letting her small companion pass her to get into their home.

"No! I just underestimated them is all. Besides, the necklace is in one piece." She pulled the chain from around her neck and held it out to the older, more experienced demoness. Aniue waved it off dismissively.

"Keep it. You went through all that to keep it safe. Now go bathe while I scrounge up something for us to eat." She shooed Chibi toward the bedroom so as she could get fresh clothes before the wolf herself walked to the kitchen. Chibi sighed as she walked to her closet and slid the door open, looking briefly at the pictures that were hung there on the back wall. She felt tears bite at the backs of her eyes as she looked at one in particular.

It was her riding piggyback on the back of an attractive male with shaggy black hair and gorgeous emerald eyes. His arms were tucked under her knees to hold her up, her left arm wrapped around his neck to also help. Both of them had the happiest grins imaginable on their faces with Chibi giving the camera the peace sign.

He would have been her mate if he hadn't been killed... protecting her. Ever since, she had immersed herself into training and other such things to keep her distracted, but at night, when her friend was sleeping, the mixed demoness cried herself to dreamland in grievance of what might have been between them. The small demoness chose to never love again, to save herself and others, the pain of caring for her in that way.

Snapping from her train of thoughts, she found the reason to be her clutching the necklace tightly in her fist, the edges almost piercing her skin. She set the piece aside, taking a fresh over-the-shoulder blue long sleeve off a hanger and pulling tight jeans from a drawer before looking in one last time and shutting the closet door.

"Jerriko..." she murmured as she trailed to the bathroom, longing in her eyes when she saw the razor but ignored it as she set her clothes down and turned the water on to take her shower.

She didn't care for the temperature, so didn't test it as steam began to rise up. She stripped down out of her clothes, revealing a body riddled with small scars, except for the horizontal, jagged scar across her abdomen. She had gotten that well over twenty years ago during a previous robbery. She carefully got into the scalding shower, not even flinching at this fact as she allowed the water to flow over her, to wash away the blood and sweat. A sharp pain in her ankle alerted Chibi to a problem, so she knelt down to check on it. There, she found a dark looking bruise and she inhaled sharply when she recognized what it was."Damn..." she cursed as she sighed. She'd deal with it later she considered. It nagged at her however as she straightened up to greet the water now pounding into her face. How had the fox managed to insert the seed of the Death Plant into her system? Possibly when he had her hung upside down like a butcher would a pig in the freezer.

As if her realization of its existence triggered something, her eyes became hot and heavy, but the girl attributed this sudden sleepiness to being in a hot shower as she quickly washed her form and hair and stepped out, wrapping a large fluffy towel around her body as she shut off the water. Sleepiness still lingered however as she reached over the sink to wipe a spot clean on the fogged mirror that stretched across the bathroom. Crimson eyes widened as she whipped around, but found nothing to be there behind her.

"I coulda sworn..." The thought of the seed also acting as a hallucinogen escaped her as she lifted herself onto the counter to try and get the plant from her system before it fully bloomed. Her nimble fingers felt bulky and she paused with an exhausted groan.

"I need to make him take it out, but how do I contact him? I don't want to worry Aniue..." She was resorting to thinking out loud as she was afraid of what would happen if she were to fall asleep.

She hopped off the counter letting out a soft cry as she landed on her left foot and nearly collapsed, but managed to keep her feet. It hurt so badly, but she had to be strong! She got dressed, brushing out her long hair, looking at her reflection, noticing fearfully that her skin was paler then before, almost ghostly so. Evidently the plant was doing more damage to her body then she originally assessed. Chibi knew she had to do something, and quickly.

"Chibs!" The girl jumped when she was called, placing a hand over where her heart would beat, which it currently was pounding at a greater speed then usual.

"Wha-what?" she managed, looking to the still closed door.

"Food." Aniue cracked open the door, sniffing the air slightly.

"Looking for something?" Chibi arched a brow at her friend's inquisitive act.

"Don't you smell the Death Plant?" The always keen nose of the wolf was troublesome, but Chibi couldn't help but be honest now in light of it's discovery.

"Yeah, the damn fox that came after me implanted it during our fight. Two-on-one isn't always fair." She admitted with an adamant shrug, "Then again, one-on-one with you isn't always fair either."

"Oh be quiet and tell me where it is." Aniue grunted, coming into the bathroom with her hands on her hips.

"Fine." She hopped onto the counter once more, holding up her left ankle and pulling back the pant leg for Aniue, who took it and looked it over, much to Chibi's discomfort. Aniue wasn't being too gentle, though it was also clear she wasn't being too rough either.

A clawed finger ran over the small sliver that was the entry wound and then sighed in frustration. She looked up at Chibi, telling her with her eyes that she should keep quiet, as this would hurt before turning her attention back to the accursed wound. Youki built around her right hand as the left held the foot tightly. Chibi's hands held tight to the marble beneath her, knuckles white in anxiety. The hybrid then plunged her pointer and middle finger into her friend's flesh and a small whine of pain escaped the latter mentioned mixed breed as the marble seemed to crack.

"Now for the hard part..." Aniue could sense and smell the seed, but scent was dimmed due to the fresh blood and actually feeling it was something else entirely. Her fingers twitched in response to her thoughts and Chibi whined again. The more experienced demoness growled lightly in warning. Something like this required a majority of concentration and pathetic whines did not help at all. She sensed Chibi gulp as her digits brushed the thin plant that was the problem. It had grown more then she had anticipated, which worried her just marginally.

"Chibi, focus you own fox energy on the plant and see if you can shrink it down to a seedling." she growled. A gentle nod before Chibi obeyed, focusing on the plant, which resisted for a few moments before quivering in her system and then regressing into an earlier life cycle. With a quick yank, Aniue pulled the dangerous plant from her companion's form and Chibi grunted before whimpering.

"Well done Girl." Aniue said reassuringly to her, tossing the now fully regressed shrubbery into the trash, turning the sink on and instructing the younger demon to dip her blood covered foot into the soapy water. Chibi did so and winced, scrubbing away at it until she pulled it out and Aniue rubbed something wet onto the injury. Phoenix tears as she found it to be when it started to heal.

"Thanks." she muttered and all she got was a grunt, making her feel worse then before, her sleepiness starting to lift though.

"Don't be like that. Its understandable that some injuries would ensue from our tussle with the Detectives." She scooped the girl up and hugged her tightly before carrying Chibi to her room and placing her on the yellow sheeted twin bed. "Just rest now. Its my week to work anyways."

"Oh fine... just hand me the Phoenix Wings so I can figure something out." The half wolf tossed it to her on her way out and coming back a few minutes later with two cups of ramen noodles. In short of thirty seconds after receiving her cup, the food was no more, with a single noodle hanging from the side of her mouth and Aniue laughed shortly, pointing to the side of her own mouth before Chibi slurped up the offending noodle.

"Hungry much?"

"Oh shut up..." Before Aniue could retort, the phone rang, forcing Aniue to get up and take her barely touched food and the tray with her as she went to answer it. After a few minutes, she stopped by the doorway.

"I'm heading into work for a few hours. I'll be back as soon as possible."

"K, have fun!" Chibi said sarcastically as the half wolf left, the sound of the slamming door assuring Chibi she was now alone, if only temporarily.