Well, this chapter would've been up sooner had I not had a small writer's block and had we not had a snow day. Our school is fucking stupid as hell. We're allowed a maximum of three or five snow days before they start taking them off our breaks. The most our school has ever used is one snow day a year! I mean, last year we already had our snow day, and my dad was driving to work. It was snowing so badly that he couldn't see anything in front of him, and they still didn't close the school! Then this one time it got down to –27º! All the schools in the area except five were closed, and we were one of the five schools that didn't close. I swear, our school is so stupid sometimes!! But, anyway, time to thank the reviewers who have been waiting for this chapter to be put up!!

Devil-Angel- I know! Hakuryu is so cute! I love him so much! Yeah it was kinda fast cause while I was waiting for the site to come back up, I was typing up the second part. And I'm just gonna call Kanzeon a she even though it's a he/she. Hehe, anyway, thanks for the review!

Schizo the Mentally Disturbed- Yeah, my internet really sucks too. I'm not totally sure how the hell I misspelled her name. Weird. Oh well! Thanks for the review!

Doreygirl from MN- Thanks, and welcome to the reviewing family as I call it. Hope you'll stay a while!

Steven- Thanks, hun! It's up and I'll print you out a copy before I post it up!

I've also decided to make this part of the whole series for when the guys' feelings for the girls start to develop!! Ok, now, on to the story!!

Chapter 2

Kirashi yawned and stretched her arms above her head till her shoulders popped. They had stopped at a village for some rest and something to eat. Though Julin and Goku were always hungry, the others were starting to get there with their lack of food for the day. While traveling with no village in sight, the girls usually cooked for them, using different types of foods found in the area. They had learned what was good to eat and what was poisonous.

The town they had stopped in was quite busy to say the least. It was fairly big, which meant is probably wasn't a good idea to have Hakuryu out and about. They had parked him in an area near the inn they were planning to stay in. Julin and the others promised to cook some food for him later. He was pretty happy about that.

At the moment, Hitachi and Julin had gone off to get some needed supplies. They were running low on food and water and also needed medical supplies, just in case. Maki had also taken off, saying something about looking around. Kirashi had said that Maki was most likely going to trade with some of the villagers. Maki always made sure to collect at least one thing from each village they stopped at. Julin would sometimes go with her, but on the days she didn't, Maki made extra sure to bring something back for her as well.

Kirashi yawned again before pulling out her pack of cigarettes. Over time, they learned that all four girls pretty much drank alcohol, Maki and Julin drinking very little of it, and Kirashi and Hitachi both smoked.

"So, how long we stayin here?" Kirashi asked as she dug around for her lighter. She blinked slightly when a light was lit in front of her, but grateful all the same as she lit her cigarette.

"Probably just for tonight," Gojyo replied, putting his lighter back into his pocket. "How much farther do you four need to go anyway?"

Kirashi thought a bit, the smoking cigarette between her fingers. She took a drag and blew the smoke out. "Well, it takes about two months to walk there, so it might be another week. Then you can just drop us off and be on yalls way."

"Another week huh? That doesn't sound too bad," Gojyo replied, also taking a drag of his cigarette. Though Kirashi didn't talk much, Gojyo seemed more to enjoy her company than the others'. He seemed to be more comfortable around her and more relaxed. Usually, he'd seemed relaxed when someone else besides the guys were around, but was actually very alert and on guard.

"So, what's so big in the West that you need to get there so quickly?" Goku asked. Though it was none of his business, his curiosity was getting the better of him.

Kirashi took another drag of her cigarette. "I've got some business there that needs to be dealt with before it becomes a problem."

"Oh, boyfriend or something?"

"No. More like a traitor who's going to die," Kirashi replied before walking down the street.

Gojyo blinked at this. A traitor? "Well, it seems whoever this person is who's betrayed them in some way has some type of personal relationship to Kirashi," Hakkai said as he watched her walk away.

"Seems so. Come on, let's find Hitachi and Julin so we can get back to the inn," Sanzo said as he led the group down the street. Gojyo looked to where Kirashi had walked away, unable to see the girl anymore.

Julin bounced down the street beside Hitachi, who carried her bag filled with food and supplies over her shoulder. In the last town, they had picked up another hand made bag to keep food in. The person who had made it told them it could keep meat and things for quite a long time, sort of like a cooler. She was right. They had kept meat and things in it for days, and the food never spoiled.

"Hitachi! Can I get one of those?" Julin asked as she pointed to a stand filled with cookies and baked sweets.

"Fine, but only one. Grab another for Goku though," Hitachi replied. Though she was quite similar to Sanzo in many ways, she was also very different. Hitachi was more kind to the younger people in the group, which were Julin and Goku. She allowed them to get some sweets while Sanzo usually just told them no. When Sanzo told them no, Hitachi usually slipped them each a cookie or something of the sort. Hakkai usually caught them but didn't say anything.

"Ok!" Julin said as she bounced over to the stand, Hitachi keeping a close watch on her. However, she wasn't the only one watching Julin.

Uptop a building and out of sight stood Kougaiji, looking down at the younger youkai. She reminded him much of Lirin, a hyperactive child with a taste for sweets. That was Lirin in a nutshell. Hitachi had also reminded him more of himself, the protective older sibling keeping a close watch on the younger one. He really hated the fact that he had to do this to them, but he had to in order to save his mother from her curse. He didn't come alone though. Dokugakuji had taken off to find the other two youkai women. This was really going to hurt his pride. Taking the lives of two women and making Sanzo and the others watch. He had to do it first, but he had to get Sanzo and the others' attention before he could attack.

Dokugakuji watched as Kirashi walked down the busy street of the town. His brother seemed to be getting somewhat close to her. It was understandable. A beautiful woman with a dark past and an even darker secret had the unknowing ability to attract men. And Gojyo was no exception. It really bites when you have to kill someone who was unknowingly attracting a man that was an enemy to Kougaiji. Well, not so much an enemy to Kougaiji, just an enemy to his bitch stepmother.

Dokugakuji sighed. "Well, what has to be done, has to be done. Still sucks though. Sorry bro."

Kirashi sighed as she walked down the street. Why would Yukio do that to them? How could he betray them so after all they had gone through? It made no sense. But then again, Yukio's name did mean "gets what he wants." If Yukio wanted something, he'd do anything to get it. If that meant betraying the ones he held most dearly, then so be it.

"He will die, and I'll be the one to kill him," Kirashi said as she stomped her cigarette out.

"Looks like I was right. You do have a dark secret don't you?" Kirashi blinked and turned to see Dokugakuji standing behind her, his sword over his shoulder. "I'm Dokugakuji, Gojyo's older bro. Nice to meet ya."

"Uh…Kirashi, friend of Gojyo's I guess," Kirashi replied. This guy looked nothing like Gojyo. There were some similarities but also major differences.

"Kirashi, huh? Nice name. I'll make sure to have it written on your gravestone. Prepare to die," Dokugakuji said as he pointed his sword at her. Kirashi blinked again. She was in some major trouble.

Julin happily munched on the sweets she had gotten. Though Hitachi told her she could only have one, she was able to talk Hitachi into letting her have more. She bought a whole bag of them and even got a bag for Goku. Hitachi walked beside her, with her bag resting on her other shoulder now. With all the food and supplies they needed, the bag got a bit heavy for them to carry.

"Come on, Julin. We gotta get back so we can get something to eat. And don't spoil your appetite with those things either," Hitachi said as she took the bags from Julin.

"Hey! No fair!" Julin said as she pouted.

"Pouting doesn't work." Both Hitachi and Julin stopped in their tracks and looked at the newcomer. There, standing in front of them was Kougaiji. "It wears off after time."

Julin blinked at him and walked up till she was standing in front of him looking up into his eyes. "You're tall. What's your name?"

Kougaiji blinked at her. She definitely reminded him of Lirin, curious and childish. This would make it a bit harder to fight her. "I'm Kougaiji."

Julin blinked rapidly. Kougaiji? This was Kougaiji? "Oh! You're blackmail!"

Kougaiji looked at her with a confounded look on his face. "I'm what?"

"Blackmail! Hakkai said you were being blackmailed! That really sucks," Julin replied with a bright smile. She didn't seem one bit afraid of him. Though she was somewhat right. In a way, he was being blackmailed.

"Julin, remember what Hakkai also said about Kougaiji," Hitachi said as she watched him carefully.

"Oh! Right! That he was really strong!" Julin replied while bouncing on her heals. "Have you come to fight Sanzo and the others?"

"Er…no. I've come to kill you two," Kougaiji replied. These two were really starting to confuse the hell outta him.

"Really!? Cool! We get to fight a really strong guy!" Julin yelled as she bounced up and down. "I'm Julin by the way, and that's Hitachi! Maki always says it's very rude not to introduce ourselves, so I did. Now, let's fight!" she yelled before jumping back and taking her stance. Hitachi stood next to her and drew her sword. Kougaiji smirked a bit. This girl seemed more like Goku as well. This should really make it interesting.

Gojyo stopped walking and looked up. He didn't know how or why, but something just didn't feel right. It almost felt like something was tugging at his mind, towards the direction Kirashi had taken off to.

Hakkai looked at his friend. "Gojyo? What's the matter?"

"Something doesn't feel right. I think something's wrong with Kirashi. I don't know how I know, but I know something's not right," Gojyo said, his voice showing his uncertainty.

"You got the same feeling too, huh?" All eyes turned to Sanzo. He had been having a similar problem. He could feel a tug that was pulling him forward, urging him faster. Somehow, he knew something had to be happening with Hitachi. This really pissed him off, having these types of weird feelings coming up. Usually he just set them aside, thinking they'd die down in time, but this one was persistent.

"I kinda have that feeling too. Like something is happening, and I should be there to help," Goku said, staring straight ahead as well. Hakkai frowned a bit. He remembered what he had learned. That if someone you loved were to be in trouble, somehow you'd know about it. It had been a long time since he had even thought about it, but it seemed to be what they were feeling at the moment.

"We'd better find the girls as fast as possible. I'm going to find Maki, you three look for the others," Hakkai said. The others nodded, but weren't able to get very far before screaming was heard and two explosions went off in the direction Kirashi left and the one Hitachi and Julin had gone to. This was really bad.

Ok, that's chapter 2. It's starting to suck, but it will get better! I promise! I will do my best on it!! Review please!!