Yusuke Urameshi was not having a good day. He had to go out with Keiko who wanted to shop for clothes-boring! And of course, she was ever-vigilant because he had a habit of disappearing on her. She never knew the real reasons why he ran off and he wasn't about to tell her the truth. 'Oh yeah, well, the grim reaper has a mission for me and my boss is a toddler god who brought me back to life so I can be the savior of Ningenkai when demons try to do bad shit-gotta go, bye!' Yeah, that was not going to fly and she'd think he was just trying to get out of it because he didn't like her. Heck, he'd rather go boring clothes shopping with her than go to school and deal with those frickin' teachers any day of the week!

But anyway, not only did he have to bail on his...not-girlfriend... but he just got buried under tons of rubble by a super strong bastard that he was so sure he killed a few days ago. And now he had 2 months to get more training from that old hag Genkai and find a 5th fighter for them to participate in some stupid fighting tournament that he and his friends (and Hiei) were being blackmailed into joining. So now he was back out in the middle of nowhere, hiking in nature, climbing the 1028 stairs so he could get help from Genkai! Everything was super fricking peachy!

He finally got to the top and he panted, hands on his knees as he caught his breath and looked at the door where the short old lady stood, glaring at him with her big brown eyes. She looked like she was fed up with him already but hey, he needed the extra training and fast. There was no way he could defeat Toguro at his best when the asshole was holding back and still too much for him! The 15 year old boy straightened up, shouldering his bag. He packed light.

"Oh goodie... it's about time you came back, slacker. As if 6 months of my training would be sufficient..." Her gravelly voice grated on his nerves and he gritted his teeth before going to stand in front of her.

"I need to train...for a tournament. I've been invited to something called the Dark Tournament and participation isn't optional..."

Genkai's eyes widened momentarily before motioning for him to follow her. 10 minutes later, they were talking over a video game. The old bat was winning and making it look easy while he was struggling to focus on the conversation as his body swayed this way and that as if he could make his character move the way he was physically moving. But in the end, she won, he fell over to the side, and she agreed to train him and find him a fifth fighter.

"But it wouldn't be a bad idea to also find a replacement..."

Yusuke raised an eyebrow. "You got two friends who can kick ass? I thought it was a miracle that you had one..."

"Show's what you know, dimwit... Kagome!" The boy flinched at the harsh voice shouting. The sound of footsteps caught his attention and he looked over in time to see a pretty girl with long wavy black hair and bright blue-grey eyes entering the room. "Go get your bow..." She bowed a bit and, with a small glance in his direction, raced off again without a word.

"Uhh... look, she's pretty but that doesn't look like a fifth fighter. She looks more like a strong gust of wind will knock her over... You goin' senile, old lady?" Genkai flipped him off and growled at him to follow her before heading outside. He grumbled but got up and followed her, dodging the strange girl as she ran passed him with a bow as long as she was tall. He arrived in time for both females to look at him impatiently. They ignored his glare and began to talk in whispers. He couldn't hear a damn thing but jumped when Genkai seemed to lose her temper.

"Don't give me any lip, Kagome! You can't hide your talents forever! Now, shoot!"

Her blue eyes darkened, a soft flush exposing her anger. She huffed and turned to look out into the ancient forest filled with demons, She drew back the bowstring but held no arrow. The detective was about to say something when he felt a large amount of energy and saw what looked like a pink arrow made out of that same crackling energy a split second before she let it loose. Screams erupted from the forest around where the arrow hit. But unlike his shot gun or Genkai's spirit wave, that area of the forest felt different all of a sudden, clean...and none of the trees or wildlife (non-demonic) were obliterated.

"What the Hell was that?"

Genkai smirked. "That is my granddaughter, Kagome... and she will be your replacement fighter. After all, who would be better to take to a demon fight than a miko?" She looked at him, suddenly very serious. "Now get inside! She'll be doing her own training but we'll have to whip you into shape, push you to your limits and get you beyond them! There's no way you will survive if this is all you're capable of!"

(2 months later)

Hiei stood beside Kurama and Kuwabara, gazing off to the side. Though he appeared to be quite bored, verbally sparing with the big buffoon, he was completely intune with the slight threat around them. As much a threat as mosquitos could pose to a human, he was not concerned with them. But a few powerful auras were approaching their location and one really rubbed him the wrong way. He took notice in Kurama's youki rising to the oncoming threat but kept his calm collected façade as he complimented the oaf on his progress. It really wasn't all that much. However, for a human, it was sufficient.

The pirate-reject captain of the boat that would transport them to Hang Neck Island told everyone to get aboard which immediately sent Kuwabara to titters. They were missing Yusuke and whomever he got for their fifth fighter. Hiei knew he should have found someone but chose to rely on the detective to find a suitable fighter. Now they were a three-man team and one of them was basically cannon fodder...

"Wait, we're here. Hold your horses, Popeye..." The smart aleck comment came from the shadows that seemed to open up for Yusuke Urameshi, a small masked person in a Chinese fighting outfit, and a short yet taller than the masked fighter girl with wavy black hair that went to her waist and blue. This strange girl held an air of sadness and wore a small green sailor school uniform that showed way too much leg and was ripped in a few places. However, as innocent as she looked, there was something both alluring and dangerous about her. Hiei felt as though waves of sandpaper were rushing over his nerve endings and his aura rose to the hidden threat. Kurama's did the same as he warily gaged the situation.

Kuwabara, for all his spirit awareness, was not focused on the two strangers or his demon teammates' auras. He was too busy picking a fight...again. The forbidden child needed a way to get rid of this sudden excess energy and interrupted the fight by simply saying "Detective." A second later, flashes of silver and fast movements were all that could be seen by many around them. Some of the other demons were confused as to why they were fighting each other when they were on the same team and Kuwabara was voicing his concerns when the fighting abruptly ended with Hiei's katana being caught between Yusuke's fingers, a grin on his face.

The two mysterious fighters moved closer to the group and the girl smiled slightly, eyes still radiating sadness as her eyes followed the sword's path to being sheathed by Hiei. "Well, at least you gave them a pre-show before we head to the island. But we should probably save our energy and board the ship..."

The captain nodded impatiently and threatened them to hurry it up or they'd be sending out the assassins. Yusuke, in the typical slacker fashion, waved the guy off as he grabbed his bag and lead the way onto the boat. The girl and masked fighter followed, a large yellow backpack stuffed to near-bursting resting upon her slight shoulders. Hiei and Kurama followed suit, leaving Kuwabara to the back. But the two demons kept their eyes on the human female, the more mysterious of the two. One glance shared between the two spoke volumes-- the redhead would be leading with the introductions since the detective was the type who just gave no fucks and the dark-haired demon would use the Jagan to gage the actual threat of this one tiny human female (she wasn't as short as he or the masked fighter but she didn't look like she could survive a gust of wind, let alone a viscious demon tournament run by corupt humans.

"Hey, Urameshi?! Who's the two newbies?!"

Both Kurama and Hiei flinched at Kuwabara's less than subtle approach the moment they were all on the ship's deck. It wasn't so much that their plan had been interrupted but the carrot topped boy's voice grated on the ear drums.

Yusuke turned to look at his friend/rival in surprise before turning to the new fighters. "I thought I... huh... well, with all the excitement, I guess I forgot. So the one with the mask is just someone Genkai recommended for our fifth. Dunno his name but whatever. If he's good enough for Grandma, good enough for us. And the chick is Kagome. Genkai's granddaughter..."

Kagome shot Yusuke a look but stepped forward, holding out her hand to shake. "Hi. I'm Higurashi, Kagome. Grandma said that I would be a suitable replacement fighter... it's nice to meet--"

"Sorry, but I got a girlfriend. So... hey, I'm Kazuma Kuwabara. Strongest punk in Sarayashiki Jr High. And I gotta sword!" The curly orange-haired boy struck a pose with his white biker's trenchcoat.

"...you... yeah... uhm, I'm not exactly interested but thanks for the heads up. Your girlfriend is...a lucky girl..." Her outstretched hand began to retract, curling a bit as the strange tall boy made her feel awkward.

Kurama swooped in and gently took her hand. "My apologies for Kuwabara. He's rather...excitable. My name is Kurama and this is Hiei. He's not much of a talker-- ahh!" A harsh pink flash jolted around the young woman suddenly and shocked the redhead quite violently. Hiei was instantly in front of her, his sword clashing against that pink energy as it shielded her. His Jagan flashed irritably behind it's cloth covering.

"Miko--!"