Okay…well, no first draft of this, so I hope it comes out okay…

QueenofAngstyfics: I go to Downieville School. There are 80 kids from grades K-12. It sucks. It only teaches two languages, and neither of them are Japanese – cry. They only teach Spanish and German, and the English teacher and the History teacher teach them. I'm in the 9th grade too, though…

Hiei rox…: no, I'm not gonna burst her bubble, Kenna.

KarmenJade: That'll be cool!

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"Uh…Ryu…I really don't think you're up to it…" Kage stuttered.

"Shut up, freak!"

"She has a point," added Allie

"Thank you! Finally you believe me!" said Ryu with an exasperated sigh.

"I wasn't talking to you," Allie said despairingly. This was going absolutely nowhere!

Ryu was about to respond when a cold voice cut through her thoughts. "Step back," was all Hiei had to say to get his threat across. Step back or be killed.

"Dammit out of my way!" screamed the irate Goth Princess, once again trying to charge the crow.

"This gets so tedious," muttered Karasu as he brought his hand down once again, in exactly the same manner as he had before.

"Stop insulting me, dammit!" shouted Ryu.

"How is it you're still talking, fool?" asked Karasu, a bit shocked. Looking, he saw a giant crater, made from his bombs. And, yes, the girl was in his face. She had dived away from the bombs, though how she had done it he would probably never know.

Pain erupted from the middle of Karasu's face. He heard a crunch. The damn girl had punched him. HIM. In the nose. It was off to the side, almost obscuring his vision on the left side. And it REALLY hurt!

Oops, here comes another fist…there. Karasu grabbed the fist with his long, bony fingers and twisted, quickly. The girl's whole arm twisted, and then her shoulder. Her head was soon ducked into her side as her body tried to follow the spiraling pattern. That was a good position. He let go.

Her shoulder crashed into the ground, slamming her neck sideways. Unfortunately, with the growl that emitted from Hiei, and the gasps from the weak girls, he couldn't hear the crack of separating vertebrae. But he knew it was there, so he didn't worry.

Slipping a hand toward his nose, he healed it without any trouble at all. There. No more messy red stuff rolling down his mouth.

"Die, Karasu," said Hiei coldly.

"My, we do seem worried. I hope you didn't have something…important…with the girl."

"I'll kill you just to have some peace and quiet," said the Voorime, disappearing in a flash of cloak.

"I'm so sorry, but I can't let you do that!" It started out as a statement, whispered, in fact, but ended with a snarl as Karasu's claws narrowly blocked a strike to his neck. Eyes squinted in concentration, he tried to track the small demon's progress.

Nothing.

Damn Jagan.

Karasu turned as he heard a crackle in the bushes. In fact, all of them did, even the inattentive wannabe doctor girl. There was the rest of the group, ready to leave, as soon as these weaklings would accept that playtime was over. Bui was standing with Kurama under one arm and Yusuke under the other, ready to take the rest of them, too. Ever since his loss to the Koorime, he had been dubbed a workhorse, and not given high assignments. Neither had Karasu, really, but he was working for Sensui now, not Toguro. Bui had been stupid to go back to Toguro when Sensui had given him the chance for a new life. Now he was a packhorse.

Kage gasped when she saw the boys. "Yusuke!" she screamed in shock, then, in a heart-wrenched whisper, "Kurama."

Allie growled.

Ryu did nothing, seeing as she had fainted dead away.

Currently, we can't see Hiei.

Kage's eyes widened yet again as she turned her eyes onto the Toguros. Saying nothing, she looked down, then at Ryu. Taking the girl by the shoulders, she pulled her out of harm's way, if that was even possible anymore.

Toguro smirked. The wench recognized him. Good, this would serve them well. His older brother dropping off his shoulder, he walked up to the prodigy. Placing his thumb and forefinger beneath her chin, he lifted up gently.

Kage gasped and tried to wrestle her chin back down. "Let me go, you disgusting horse!" she protested through clenched jaws, unwittingly quoting Koto at the Dark Tournament.

"Oh, so you were watching the Tournament?" asked Toguro, his voice as silky as a disgusting muscleman like his could get. "What, wanted to make sure I didn't get hurt? I'm so glad you cared." Still, he purred, as if inviting her to follow the script.

"I haven't watched the Tournament for 54 years, and you know why I watched it then," hissed Kage.

"Ah, yes, you watched it because I was in it, how sweet of you."

"I watched it to see you dead! Unfortunately, they failed! I'll just have to find some other way to kill you now!"

"Oh, you don't mean that. You know I only asked for the power so I could be with you forever," Toguro goaded. Everyone else just watched the verbal debate, including Hiei who was stationed in a tree high above everyone else.

"You wanted the power for the reason everyone wants it: to be powerful. It had nothing to do with me, and you know it, you horrid piece of pinched-off turd." Still, although her voice was laced with the minefield of malice, it was a whisper, a threat. She, too, was baiting him toward a trap. The only question was who would fall in first.

"Didn't I prove my motives after the tournament?"

This had a shocking effect on Kage. She shook, tightened up, her arms locked into her body. Ryu's head slid from the tentative perch on Kage's lap to the ground. Kage's whole stature was forced, she was shaking; she probably would have curled into a ball if it hadn't been for Toguro's death grip on her chin. Her eyes were wide with fear, showing white even around the black area at the top. Her skin got even paler than normal (is that possible?).

Slowly, carefully, Toguro ran his hand through a lock of her hair. His fingers brushed her chin as they ran past.

Kage's disturbing eyes rolled back, and her world went black, in contrast to her eyes, which were now completely white, while her body was still as rigid as humanly – demonly (?) – possible. After a few seconds, however, she unclenched and slumped to the ground, all muscles slack, next to Ryu.

Getting fed up, Older Toguro went over to the barely awake Allie. "Sleepy time, little girl," he hissed.

"What did you do to her?" demanded Allie.

A blow on the head so sound that it reverberated against her skull answered her inquiry. Like the rest, she slumped against the tree.

Sensui formed a Double Ryshuiken (name and spelling? I think that's what they called it, but my friend is borrowing my DVD…) and aimed it straight at Hiei. With its speed, it made a direct hit, although no one could be sure if he actually fainted or if it was just easier to follow them as a captive.

Scooping up the unconscious demons, Bui (the packhorse) walked through Sensui's portal to who knows where.

--------------------------------------------------------------And now I'm going to end it, mainly because I have to go (my friend just got here, and she wants me off the computer, like normal). So please review, and tell me what you think!