Okay, wow, I've been updating a lot lately, haven't I? Don't answer that! I know! I'm horrible at updating! I'm sorry!

Anyway, please read and review.

Oh and thanks to all the people who reviewed! Especially QueenofAngstyfics! You've been reviewing since the beginning! Thank you so much!

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Ryu opened her eyes and stared at the cobwebs. She began counting the webs. What the hell, what am I doing, I don't care about stupid cobwebs! She thought angrily.

Glad to know it.

Hiei? How the hell?

Stop broadcasting your thoughts, onna.

Broadcasting my thoughts?

Yes, onna.

Fucking stop calling me an onna! What does that mean, anyway!

Hn.

I need a translator! She sat up and looked around.

"Whoa. Weird forest…"

"…"

There were stones all around them. One window – crisscrossed with bars. Hiei was sitting on it, leaning against the thin glass, looking out. "Definitely a weird forest."

"Shut up, onna."

"Dammit stop calling me that you fucking shrimp!"

"I'm taller than you, so how am I a shrimp?"

"Shut up!"

"Both of you are short, get over it," said an annoyed voice from the corner. Allie sat there, head leaning back against the rocks, eyes half-closed.

"How long have you been awake?" asked Ryu suspiciously.

"Maybe if you looked around instead of staring at Hiei, you'd know!" she said, stressing the "Hiei" tauntingly.

"Shut the fuck up," said Ryu darkly, advancing on Allie.

"What? It's the truth."

"…" Unable to think up a comment, she took Allie's advice and looked around the cage or whatever the hell you called the jail they were stuck in, thanks to the packhorse.

Kurama was standing next to the door watching the dispute. Yusuke was sitting a few feet from Allie, one hand propped against his knee, his head in his hand, and he looked extremely bored. Kage was huddled in the corner closest to the door, watching, but slightly distant.

Oh yeah. There was something about a Dark Tournament that she had said she watched once. To watch steroid get killed. 54 years ago.

Hold up.

54 YEARS AGO?

She opened her eyes again. "What the fuck did you guys mean with the whole youkai thingy and the whole 54 YEARS AGO?" as if on afterthought, she added, "Man, Kage, you're really an old hag! I always said the white hair made you look old, but damn! How old are you?"

"Um…over 600 years old, that I remember. I lost track."

"You lost fucking track! How the hell do you lose track of your own age?"

"Sorry, I paid careful attention to my age for the first hundred years. But you know how we old people are, we tend to stay 27 for a loooong time." She said with a half smirk, although her eyes were still slightly distant. Like she wasn't completely there. Oh what the hell! More pressing matters now!

"600 years…guys, I'm confused…will you please explain now?" said Ryu, sounding like she was this far away from exploding.

"Um, no," was Allie's response, followed by, "too difficult."

"Hn." Guess who!

"Um…do we have to?" said the ever-polite Kurama.

"I dunno, I still don't understand, and I'm the king of demon world!"

"Yes, Ryu, we can," said Kage, still sounding distant. All this happened at the same time, but Ryu seemed to know what everyone was saying.

"Okay, then talk, you crazy bitch," she said without even thinking about it. Insults just came naturally to her. Wish we could say the same thing about Kage…

"Now, now, no insults," began Kage, "let's see…to begin, you are a demon. I don't know quite what type, something to do with Pyrokinetics. There are –"

"Hold on big word explain please come again?" Yusuke said, tripping over his own tongue in the process.

"Pyrokinetics. The power of fire." Seeing Yusuke's blank look, she pointed at Hiei. "Him."

"Oh! Fire apparition!"

"Yes. Now, moving on, there are three worlds, although one is split up a bit in the time sense. There's Ningenkai, or human world, Reikai, or spirit world, where God lives, and Makai, demon world, which also contains portals to the Feudal Era and the Bakmatsu period. Yusuke here is the Ma-zoku, newly appointed ruler of all of Makai," she went on, and in time explained everything, and I am too lazy to write it. If you don't know it then get some DVDs, dammit. Or write to me in a review, and I can recap.

"Any questions?" she finished brightly, although still distant.

"Oro?" asked a blank Ryu.

"Um…Oh, hell figure it out yourself," said Kage thoroughly fed up.

"Wow, Kage, you swore, didn't think it was possible," said Allie.

"Yes, so what?" she asked, not using any of her…unique…insults, such as gold-girl or lion eyes.

"Oh, nothing…"

"So, I work with fire," said Ryu, a scheming tone creeping into her voice. "Sounds like fun."

"Wait a minute, Kage, she doesn't just work with fire, I mean, what about her whole flipping out thing?" asked Allie.

"I don't know, alright?" asked Kage. She sounded really tired and frustrated.

"Kage, how do you know Toguro?" asked Yusuke bluntly. No working up to the point for him, no, let's just ask straight out, why don't we.

Kage shrank into the corner, huddling into the unforgiving rock.

"Ooh, must have been a bad incident…Oh, fuck it, I wanna know!" said the oblivious Ma-zoku.

"I don't want to talk about it," said Kage in a small voice.

"Alight then."

Kage turned her head away from the group and closed her eyes. She was asleep in a matter of minutes – severe energy loss. It'll do that to you.

Kage's dream:

I'm running. Not again. I won't let him catch me again. PLEASE don't let him catch me again.

I chance a look behind me. There he is, not even out of breath. Bastard.

Only ten feet behind me. No. He won't catch me again! Please! I can't take this any more!

Oh no, he caught up.

He pushed me into the brambles to the left of the path.

"Why are you running, little girl?" he asked as he began to tear at my clothes. He ran a hand through my hair, brushing his knuckles against my check as he did so.

Kage jerked out of the dream, shaking, curled into a ball and pressing against the rock behind her. Calming her breathing, she listened carefully. Footsteps. A key turning in the rock. The door creaked open.

And in stepped the younger Toguro.

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There you go well please read and review. Actually, that's pretty redundant putting that at the end of the chapter isn't it…whatever, please review!

-Kage